What I miss the most about traditional baked goods is the mouth feel.  The satisfying crunchy outside and soft middle of french bread, the consistent springiness of cake, the crisp resistance of pizza dough.  For three years I have looked for something that feels like normal baked goods.  Something that isn’t mealy or dry enough to sap your body of all remaining water stores and stick to the roof of your mouth forever.

For three and a half years I have tried recipe after recipe.  I finally hit upon it.  Today I made raspberry scones.  They were chewy and consistent.  The outside was crisp and the inside soft.  They didn’t flake apart or crumble to bits. They were just right.

The secret?  Sweetened condensed milk.  I’m not a food scientist so I can’t explain why there would be such a drastic difference in mouth feel using sweetened condensed milk as a replacement for milk, sugar, and butter in a recipe.  I have no idea why it worked so well. I really don’t care why it worked so well.  All I know is I that I finally made a GF baked good that felt normal.

The Recipe:

2 – 21/2 cups Pamela’s Pancake and Baking Mix  (Pamela’s has served me in good staid.  It is the mix for me!)

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 14 oz can fat free sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Set your oven to 375 Degrees.

Mix the egg, sweetened condensed milk, raspberries and vanilla together in a stand mixer until the raspberries have broken apart and the batter is a light pink.  Add 2 cups of Pamela’s baking mix.  Mix thoroughly.  If the batter seems a little too pancake like and not enough like a dough, add the additional 1/2, 1/4 at a time until the batter is more dough like.

Spray a round pie pan with non-stick spray.  Pour the dough into the pie pan.  Stick in the oven for 35 minutes or until the top is dark golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the pan.  Allow to cool for ten minutes, cut into generous slices and devour.