Lightened Up Carrot Cake Scones with Cream Cheese Frosting

Disclaimer: I'm going to be optimistic for a moment and say "now that winter is officially over" even though I live in the Midwest and we all know how untrue that may be....

Now that winter is over, I'm ready to make the switch to lighter spring time foods. This means I can safely tuck my trusty Crockpot back into its home right above the fridge and start planning for meals with fresh ingredients instead of canned ones. April starts in just a few short days and I am beyond ready to step my cooking and baking game up. With that said, I decided to finally take the plunge and make something I have been talking about for at least a year: scones. I'm not exactly sure why I thought that making scones would be such a tedious process but it was actually quite easy. I let this thought stop me from trying time and time again....but not today! Today was the day I finally faced my baking fears and made scones, healthier ones at that.

I'm not going to lie, I enjoy a good scone. I am quite picky about my scones though, so I thought I would make something that I hadn't tried before so I could A) force myself to try something new and B) finally make scones! Plus, who doesn't love a good carrot cake? For those of you who do, you're welcome. For those of you who don't, try again, you're still welcome.

Yield: 8 scones

Scones

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground all spice
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup grated carrot (about 3 large carrots)
• 4 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 oz chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup low fat buttermilk
• 1 egg white
• sugar in the raw for sprinkling

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 oz fat free cream cheese
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375° and line a large baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add both flours, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, and salt. (If you do not have a stand mixer, feel free to use a whisk or hand mixer). Mix until combined. Add the grated carrot and mix again - you may need to mix this a little with your hands to ensure that the carrots do not clump together. Add the cold butter and mix until the butter becomes the size of a pea. 

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chopped walnuts. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk. Using your hands, stir the milk into the dry ingredients until the dough comes together. Place dough onto a floured surface and knead until just combined - this should only take about 10 seconds. Be careful not to over knead the dough - this can cause the butter to melt. Form the dough into a 10" circle, about 3/4" thick. Using a pastry cutter, or a knife, cut the dough into 8 equal sized triangles.

Brush each scone with the egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden, about 20-22 minutes. Allow scones to cool completely. Once cooled, begin making the cream cheese frosting. Either in a small bowl or a small food processor, add all frosting ingredients and mix until smooth. Transfer to a Ziploc bag. Cut a small piece off the corner of the bag and use to pipe the frosting on the scones.