Learn how to make the best blueberry scones from a simple list of ingredients. This recipe makes cream scones with blueberries in them. Serve them with clotted cream and jam for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea.
What are blueberry scones made of
If you want to make cream scones with blueberries, you will need the following ingredients:
- all-purpose flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the scones structure. If you don't use enough flour, your scones may spread too much as they bake
- granulated sugar though used sparingly in this recipe is important to help tenderize the scones and preserve them so they don't dry out too fast.
- baking powder is a complete chemical leavening agent that doesn't require any special ingredients to work, as long as you add moisture (in this case from butter and cream) and heat (when you bake the scones in the oven). Do not use baking soda, which requires adding an acid to help baked goods rise. Read up on baking soda vs baking powder if you are unsure of the difference.
- salt is really important to balance out the sweet flavour. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the cookies will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case.
- butter, preferably unsalted butter because you will add salt to the dough, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise your cookies may be too salty
- fresh blueberries, though frozen will work here too. Use frozen blueberries straight from the freezer. Don't defrost them because they will release a lot of water, which will mess with the scone texture.
- whipping cream (35 % fat) adds moisture and fat to the dough, leading to a more tender and light scones that doesn't go stale too quickly.
Milk versus cream
The liquid used to bring the dough together can be cream, milk, or buttermilk, but which one you use is entirely dependent on the chemical leaveners you will be using.
If you are using baking soda, you will want to use buttermilk, an acidic ingredient that will react with the leavener to help the scones rise. On the other hand, if you use cream or milk, you'll want to use baking powder because it combines the acid needed with baking soda all in one complete powder.
And if you considering replacing cream with milk in your scone dough (or milk with cream), remember that cream, especially whipping cream, is 35 % fat (or more), which brings a lot of richness to the dough, while adding slightly less water, and this will yield scones that are more tender and more rich that store very well and don't dry out the way scones with milk or buttermilk do. But if you just have milk, use that. All roads lead to scones! And you can compensate by adding more butter to your recipe to replace the fat.
Ways to dress these up
Before baking, I like to brush the tops of unbaked scones with cream (or an egg wash) and turbinado sugar. Turbinoda is a coarse golden cane sugar that adds a lovely crunch to the tops of baked goods, and a little sweetness.
After baking, you can drizzle the scones with a simple glaze made from milk and icing sugar, or you can make a lemon glaze from lemon juice and icing sugar (like the glaze on these lemon shortbread cookies).
Preventing scones from spreading
To prevent scones from spreading when they bake, it's the same principle as for other baked goods: chilling cookie dough prevents spreading and chilling a pie before baking helps the crust hold its shape: bake cold scones in a hot oven. Bake these scones at a higher temperature, like 400 ºF or even 425 ºF to set the outer crust before the butter has a time to melt within. They will bake into golden brown scones that have a good shape. This is one of the secrets to making the best scones!
Frequently asked questions
If you find your scones bake up crooked, rising sideways instead of upward, it could be the way you are cutting them. With biscuits and scones, small changes to the cutting movement can have a big impact, for example if you twist the cookie cutter instead of cutting straight down and releasing straight upward, this can lead to crooked scones and biscuits. Modify how you cut the dough and you will see a big difference in how they bake!
If you want to make this scone recipe with whole milk instead of cream? This is how to do it: add 58 grams (¼ cup) extra butter for a total of 173 grams (¾ cup) cold butter and replace the 35 % cream in the scones dough with the slightly less 3.25 % whole milk, so use 250 mL (1 cup) milk.
Storing scones
Cream scones like this recipe with blueberries can be stored at room temperature. You can reheat them in the oven or a toaster oven to serve them warm, but I find that scones made with heavy cream, butter, and some sugar, don't go stale too quickly.
You can also freeze the unbaked scones:
- Freeze the unbaked scones on a parchment-lined sheet pan until frozen solid
- Transfer to a freezer bag to store long term
- Bake from frozen—note that they will take longer to bake from frozen
You can also freeze baked scones in a freezer bag. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator and warm in a toaster oven to serve or defrost and warm the frozen scones directly in the oven.
Learn how to make the best scones with blueberries with this easy recipe. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries to make these blueberry scones!
Scones with blueberries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 375 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 100 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 15 mL (1 tablespoon) baking powder
- 2.5 mL (½ teaspoon) Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 115 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter very cold, cut into small pieces
- 300 grams (⅔ lb) fresh blueberries
- 310 mL (1¼ cups) whipping cream (35 % fat) plus a little extra for brushing on the scones before baking
- 15 mL (1 tablespoon) Turbinado sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt.
- Drop the cold butter cubes into the dry ingredients, and press the cubes of butter into the flour with your fingertips to get large flour-covered flakes (approximately the size of corn flakes).
- Incorporate the blueberries carefully so that they don't burst.
- With a big fork or a Danish dough whisk, stir in the cold cream until the dough clumps (don’t over-mix it!). The dough should be a clumpy, floury mess at this point.
- Using your hands, press and gently squeeze the dough together, working it just enough to be able to gather the dough into a fat disk. Watch the blueberries!
- On a lightly floured surface, pat out the dough into a 10 x 7.5 inch rectangle.
- Cut the dough into 12 equal scones (2.5 x 2.5 inch squares).
- Place the scones on a parchment lined sheet pan, spaced out evenly. Chill for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F while the scones are freezing.
- Just before baking, you can brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. Sprinkle with turbinado.
- Bake the scones for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges and tops are golden brown. Serve warm
Notes
- use 375 grams self-rising flour and do not add the baking powder and the salt.
- Add 58 grams (¼ cup) extra butter for a total of 173 grams (¾ cup) cold butter
- Replace the 35 % cream in the scones dough with the slightly less 3.25 % whole milk, so use 250 mL (1 cup) milk.
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