Let's start the month sweet, with Raisin and Orange Scones

Today is the day! Today marks the start of the Vegan Challenge 3.0, and I am so excited. We are more people doing it than we have been the previous times, which is amazing. Hopefully some of you out there who aren't going for an entire vegan month might still find inspiration to try some vegan meals every now and then. Everyone doesn't have to take giant leaps, but giving a few steps a try won't hurt! Part of my vegan challenge was to post something here everyday. So far so good, right? I figured I would give the month a soft and sweet start, something to encourage all those taking big and small steps out there. So here you go, a recipe for delicious, soft (but crunchy on the outside) oat scones with orange and raisins. Perfect for a grey afternoon or a weekend breakfast (or any other time actually...). Just like other members of the wonderful scone family, these are super easy to make.

For this recipe I used maple syrup, mainly because I had it and it is plain delicious. If you don't have maple syrup at hand and believe in eating honey (I'll leave that up to you), you can use that instead. You could also use regular sugar, but then take it a bit easy on the flour. Don't add it all at once but save about ½ dl and add it gradually at the end to give the dough the right consistency.

There are many ways you could change this recipe to suit your taste, what you find in your pantry and what's in season. You can swap the cinnamon for other spices, the raisins for other dried or fresh fruits, add nuts... The possibilities are endless! Flavors I'm dying to try are:

• 1 dl candied ginger + 1 tsp dried ginger + 1 dl coconut
• 1 fresh diced apple + 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 ½ dl frozen raspberries + 2 tsp cardamom
• 2 dl frozen blueberries + lemon of orange zest
• 1 mashed banana (instead of flax egg) + chocolate (for those days you need some real luxury!)
• 1 dl chopped dried figs + 1 dl chopped nuts + ½-1 tsp ground cloves

Makes 6 big rather scones or 8 kind of small ones

1 flax egg or chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia or flax seeds + 2 ½ tbsp water)

1 ¾ dl vegan milk

½ dl + 1 tbsp maple syrup (see note)

2 dl oats

3 ½ dl all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

90 g coconut oil

Zest from 1 orange

1 dl raisins

Set the oven to 200 degrees C. Mix the "egg", milk and syrup on a small bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients but the raisins in another bigger bowl. Using a fork, incorporate the coconut oil and orange zest into the dry mixture. You don't want to use your fingers, as this will melt the oil. Instead you want to leave it flaky and crumbly. Once this is done, add the wet ingredients, still mixing with your fork or switching to a wooden spoon. The dough should be firm but kind of sticky. Add the raising. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, either covered in paper or greased and sprinkled with flour. Flatten it out to a round that is about 3 cm thick. Cut it into eights or sixths depending on how big pieces you want, but don't bother separating them. Sprinkle with sugar and shredded coconut and pop in the oven for about 22 minutes or until firm and nicely browned on top!

Enjoy as it is or with marmalade or nut butter. Eat it while it's warm, that's when it's the best!