Aunty Liz’s wholemeal date scones

Disclaimer: I had no regular scone cutters when I made these the first time – hence the heart-shaped scones.

These babies take me right back to high school. They were made by our house mother every other day, it seems, to satisfy a hungry man’s craving for sweet, solid carbs. The man in question being her husband Dave, an Aussie bloke with a quirky sense of humour, a hard-working builder who had designed a two-story monstrosity to house 12 teenagers. He deserved a treat.

Though perhaps not quite as light and fluffy as your regular scones topped with jam and cream, these feel so much healthier and are best served warm with butter.

As I remember, Liz used scissors to snip the dates into small pieces. So much quicker and easier than using knife and chopping board!

Ingredients
2 cups wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour
1 cup plain white (all-purpose) flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
Pinch salt
1/3 cup sugar
¾ cup milk
¼ cup oil or 50g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
200g (1 ½ cups) chopped dates, soaked for a few minutes in hot water and then drained
Extra milk and sugar for sprinkling before baking

Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Line a large flat baking tray with baking paper.

Sift flours, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and then stir in sugar and drained dates. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil and egg, then stir all at once into flour mixture.

Leave dough a bit moist and add more flour on board. Knead lightly and quickly, then flatten to 2cm (¾ inch) and cut into 5cm rounds or large 5x5cm squares. Place about 1cm apart on baking tray, brush lightly with milk and sprinkle with extra sugar if desired. Cook for 15 min or so or until they are lightly browned on bottom and sound hollow when tapped.

Leave a few minutes then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Eat warm with butter.