Fragrant Coconut...

What smell makes my nose immediately do a happy dance the minute it whafts in the aroma?  Coconut as it is toasting in the oven!  The smell is pure heaven, and dare I say it, almost as good as vanilla!  When I smell it my mood is immediately lifted, and I feel like I have eaten dessert just by simply smelling it!  Now when I talk about coconut I am not talking about the nasty sweetened gummy stuff you find in bags at the supermarket that finds its way into spongy macaroons not edible for human consumption...no, I am talking the wonderful large flake unsweetened stuff you find in the health food store.  Sometimes I take large flake coconut and simply toast it and sprinkle salt on it if I want something salty and crunchy...it is way better than any potato chip I have ever encountered.  It is fabulous atop a banana cream pie as well, or on some wonderful coconut rice pudding!  So I guess when I was deciding what type of scones to make today, my descision was easy!  I had a can of coconut milk in the cupboard as well, so i thought coconut!  And for some good measure I threw in cashews and a dash of lime zest!  Nothing like bringing the tropics to Minnesota in the middle of winter!  Now all I need is a big fruity girly cocktail to go alongside...

Double Coconut Cashew Scones
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lime zest
1 stick cold vegan butter, cut into chunks
1 cup full fat coconut milk (not sweetened, and not coconut cream!)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup toasted cashews
1 cup toasted large flake coconut
milk
turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425 with the rack set at the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and zest. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture starts to clump into pea sized pieces. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla into the coconut milk. Add the coconut milk to the dough, and stir a few times, but do not overmix. The dough should hold together when squeezed, but still be clumpy. fold in cashews and coconut until evenly distributed. place dough on a floured work surface, and shape into a 4 inch wide log. Use a bench scraper to cut into trianges. There should be about 8. Place scones on the prepared baking sheet, reshaping slightly if necessary. Brush the tops with the milk, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 8