Blueberry Brunch Sausages and Scones

Cooking is definitely one of my love languages, so it makes sense that on our anniversary, I wanted to make something special for my husband and I to share for brunch as we wrapped up our work for the day and headed out for an early training session before starting our celebrations. 

As I was browsing Facebook a few weeks ago, I came across a recipe for chocolate scones. I LOVE SCONES – they’re rich, not too sweet, crumbly, chewy, and a little bit crunchy all at the same time. 

I had a love affair with scones in college, in fact, mostly because I was always running late and never had time to eat before class. 

I tried through the years to make various types of scones – vegan, gluten free, avocado-based. Unfortunately, most were just not the same – until now. 

I credit Earth Balance for creating non-dairy butter sticks for the success of this recipe. While using tub-based non-dairy butter or avocado works, to an extent, the stick butter is firmer, and thus works better because it stays in small chunks in the batter, and melts nicely during cooking. 

Originally, these were supposed to be Cinnamon Raisin Scones, not blueberry scones, but I totally wasn’t thinking and dumped blueberries in there instead. Oops. But, that’s the good thing about scones – you can dress them up however you would like! 

I also really love sausage – I basically have it every morning for breakfast. However, I rarely eat pork and beef (personal preference, not for dietary reasons), so I decided to do turkey sausage patties instead. I love using dried fruit in meat – dates, blueberries, raisins (raisins go GREAT with beef). Something about the combination of sweet, savory, and fat is just delicious. 

I baked the sausage in the oven, as we were trying to get all of our work done before starting our celebrations for the day, but you can also cook them in a pan (they will be a little juicier then). 

These two items go really well together (especially since they both have blueberries) – I served them with arugula and fresh fruit to round it out! 

Blueberry Scones
MAKES: 16

Ingredients:
2c gluten-free all-purpose flour
3/4c cassava flour
1t baking powder
1t baking soda
1/3c light brown sugar
1/2c butter (1 stick), COLD
1/2c unsweetened almond milk
2 eggs

Instructions: 
1. Chop butter into small cubes, place back in refrigerator until ready to use. 

2. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in bowl. Remove butter from fridge and add to bowl. With hands, break down butter into smaller chunks and incorporate into dry ingredients. 

3. Mix in eggs and milk, until incorporated. Batter will be on the drier side.

4. Remove batter from bowl, and knead gently (you don’t want the butter to melt), shaping dough into 2 circles on lined baking sheet. Cut dough circles into 8 pie pieces each. If desired, brush batter with extra non-dairy milk and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top before baking

5. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Turkey Sausage Patties
Makes: 8-10 patties

INGREDIENTS: 
1lb ground turkey
1/3c dried blueberries
2T maple syrup
1T breakfast sausage seasoning (I use Primal Palate) 
1c gf bread crumbs (you can also use almond flour)
1 egg

INSTRUCTIONS: 
1. Combine all ingredients in bowl, and mix gently with hands until incorporated. 

2. Form mixture into patties and lay on baking sheet. If baking in oven, bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Can also be baked in pan!