Looking for a delicious use for salal berries? Try these salal berry scones. They are a stove-top scone, which makes them perfect for camping!
We have a LOT of salal berries at our cottage. And if you’re camping in the PNW, there’s salal berries everywhere!
If you’ve never foraged for salal, I recommend asking someone to show you what they look like. The plant is pretty distinct. However, there are lots of poisonous dark purple berries out there. The best way to avoid making an unfortunate mistake is to have someone knowledgeable show you what they look like.
What can you do with Salal Berries
The thing about salal berries is that they’re not the most snack-friendly. They’re sticky on the outside, and tend to collect a lot of fuzz. While they’re full of flavor (similar to a blueberry or currant), they’re a bit chewy and not exactly sweet.
Salal berries can be used in all your favorite berry dishes:
Salal berry scones are my favorite way to serve salal berries! They really let the berries take centerstage and shine.
A camping recipe
I decided to make this a camp stove recipe since salal berries always seem to crop up whenever we’re camping or at our cottage! (Our cottage is really just a glamping spot with a bunkie and an outdoor kitchen with a BBQ and a Coleman stove).
Though the recipe may seem like you’re making pancakes, they’re more similar to Welsh cakes or griddle cakes. I serve them like scones, fresh and hot with a smear of butter. Yum!
Here’s a few features of this recipe that make it camping friendly:
- The scones are toasted on the stovetop rather than baked in the oven.
- They’re also made with self-rising flour… which is much more camping friendly than bringing along a set of measuring spoons and baking powder.
- Since I’m gluten-free, the recipe naturally works with gluten-free flour. However, we’re often hosting people at our cottage, and I don’t make everyone eat rice flour. 😉 So the recipe has also been tested with regular self-rising flour.
- Because most people don’t bring large mixing bowls to a campsite, the recipe can be mixed up in something as small as a 2-cup bowl (though a 4-cup bowl is certainly easier). If I’m serving a lot of people, I mix up several batches, usually starting with my GF batch, then moving on to the wheat.
Salal Berry Scones
Looking for a delicious use for salal berries? Try these salal berry scones. They are a stove-top scone, which makes them perfect for camping!
Ingredients
- 1 cups of self-rising flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup of butter
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salal berries
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Mix together the flour and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have a nice even crumb. This is easiest done by hand, but you can also do it with a fork and knife (or a pastry knife, if you happen to be in a proper kitchen).
- Rinse the salal berries, rubbing them to remove any leaves and fluff that may be stuck to them. Stir the freshly washed berries into the flour mixture. Crack in the egg and mix to combine. If you're using wheat flour I recommend beating the egg on the side so that you don't end up over mixing. Overmixing isn't a thing with GF flour.
- Heat a cast-iron skillet or camping pot over low-medium heat. If you're working on a camping stove, that's probably your lowest setting. Leave the pan to heat up while you form the scones.
- If you have easy access to running water, then hand-form the scones into small cakes. (You'll need to wash your hands before and after you're done). If you're camping, then drop 2 tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto the skillet, then flatten them out with the back of a spoon. You may need to add a bit of water or milk to get the scones to the right consistency for dropping.
- Dry fry the scones, flipping them over halfway through, about 3 minutes on each side. I recommend checking the first few to make sure they're cooked through before serving. Serve immediately with all your favorite scone accompaniments (tea, butter, jam, a spot of clotted cream).
Notes
- While unsalted butter is trad for scones, using salted butter is more camping friendly. This recipe uses salted butter.
- I have tested this recipe with both GF flour and regular self-rising flour. If you're using regular (wheat) flour avoid over-mixing or kneading. Otherwise, you'll end up with dense scones.
- We made these scones on a backpacking trip and had to adjust the cooking method for the weather conditions. Because our lightweight camp stove tends to burn hot, and it was a cool, rainy evening, we cooked them on the lowest possible setting with a lid on the pot to get them to cook properly. We also didn't add the egg... but an egg is definitely better than using 1/4 cup of water. 😉
- My teen, Max, recommends adding lemon zest to bring out the flavor of the salal. (And I'm thrilled that he notices such things!)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 171Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 321mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 3g
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