Blueberry Scones are a delightful treat, perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack! These buttery, flaky pastries studded with juicy blueberries offer a wonderful combination of flavors and textures.
Put your blueberries to good use with my big and luscious Blueberry Muffins, Lemon Blueberry Bread, Blueberry Cake, Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes, and the world’s best Blueberry Crepe Filling.
Why This Recipe Works
Perfect Balance of Flavors: Blueberry scones have the perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors! The natural sweetness of the blueberries complements the buttery richness of the scone, while a sprinkle of sugar on top adds a little crunch to each bit!
Versatile: One of the best things about blueberry scones is their versatility. You can easily customize the recipe to suit your taste! White chocolate chips can be added for extra sweetness, or add some chopped nuts for a little texture! The possibilities are endless.
Easy to Make: Blueberry scones are relatively simple to prepare, making them perfect for an easy weekend brunch menu. With straightforward ingredients and easy-to-follow steps, you can whip up a batch of delicious scones in no time! Plus, they don’t require any special equipment, just basic kitchen tools you likely already have.
Ingredients
- Flour: All-purpose flour works great here. Alternatively, you can use a gluten-free replacement flour that is a cup for cup ratio for gluten-free blueberry scones.
- Sugar: For a hint of sweetness!
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Both baking powder and baking soda will help the scones get fluffy in the oven.
- Salt: To balance all the flavors!
- Lemon Zest: Lemon zest goes so well with blueberries, and adds a depth of extra flavor here.
- Butter: Cold butter is best to make super flakey and tender scones!
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries will both work. If using frozen, do not thaw them first!
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is the liquid here that adds moisture and a little bit of tang!
- Coarse Sugar: Sprinkle the tops with a coarse sugar like turbinado sugar before baking.
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt.
- Add the Butter: Add the butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you’ve created a mixture with a light, crumb-like consistency. Alternatively, use a pastry blender.
- Fold in Blueberries: Stir in the blueberries to make sure they’re coated in the flour mixture, then stir in the buttermilk until the dough just comes together. Switch to your hands, making sure all the flour has come up from the bottom of the bowl into the dough, but trying not to work the mixture too much for the lightest scones possible (and to avoid mashing up the blueberries!)
- Cut into Triangles: Turn the mixture out onto a well floured surface and using floured hands pat it down to create a 1 inch thick circle. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.
- Brush with Buttermilk & Sprinkle with Sugar: Transfer to the baking sheet and brush the top of each scone with buttermilk, and sprinkle over a generous amount of turbinado sugar.
- Bake: Bake for 15 minutes until the scones are puffed and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Expert Tips
- Keep the ingredients cold! To achieve perfectly flaky blueberry scones, make sure your butter and buttermilk are very cold. This helps create the perfect texture!
- Handle the dough gently. Overworking the dough can result in tough scones. Mix until just combined and be gentle when kneading and pressing into a disc shape.
- Use fresh or frozen blueberries! Fresh blueberries are ideal, but if you use frozen, do not thaw them. This prevents the berries from bleeding into the dough.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have buttermilk, don’t worry! There is an easy workaround I use all the time as a buttermilk substitute: vinegar. To make your own, stir 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 1 cup of regular milk and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding to this buttermilk blueberry scones recipe.
In general, scones are a dense pastry. However, they should also be buttery and slightly flaky! Dense scones are often a result of over mixing the dough or using warm ingredients. Ensure your ingredients are cold and mix the dough gently!
Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze the scones for up to 3 months.
More Pastry Recipes to Try
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Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 5 tbsp cubed butter - cold from the refrigerator
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup buttermilk
- turbinado sugar - for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt.
- Add the butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you’ve created a mixture with a light, crumb-like consistency. Alternatively, use a pastry blender.
- Stir in the blueberries to make sure they’re coated in the flour mixture, then stir in the buttermilk until the dough just comes together. Switch to your hands, making sure all the flour has come up from the bottom of the bowl into the dough, but trying not to work the mixture too much for the lightest scones possible (and to avoid mashing up the blueberries!)
- Turn the mixture out onto a well floured surface and using floured hands pat it down to create a 1 inch thick circle. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.
- Transfer to the baking sheet and brush the top of each scone with buttermilk, and sprinkle over a generous amount of turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 15 minutes until the scones are puffed and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- These scones are best the day that they are made but they will still be good gently warmed the next day.
- This recipe will also work well with blackberries or raspberries in place of the blueberries.
These look great! But if you knead it after adding in the raspberries won’t they all break? Or is that okay?
Hi Emily! The raspberries do break and will turn your dough a little bit pink – that’s okay! Just be as gentle as you can and don’t worry about the rest 🙂
I just made these raspberry almond scones for my family. They were easy and simple to make. And they are delicious! I
So glad you liked this Kristen, every time I make them I’m reminded of how much I love them with that icing on top!
I found this on pinterest and made these yesterday and the texture and flavors were perfect. This is an excellent recipe – my husband and sons said “best scones ever” and “award-winning”. Thank you for excellent directions and tips. This will be a keeper.
Wow this was delicious! Made it for a Mother’s Day treat and they were perfect. Not too moist and not too dry.
Wow this was delicious! Made it for a Mother’s Day treat and they were perfect. Not too moist and not too dry. I definitely needed more heavy cream in the icing though.
Made these this morning and they were delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe!