You don’t have to go to a specialty store to get great scones. And when you make them yourself, you can try new flavors that you won’t find at the stores anyway. This version is a basic blueberry but you can substitute whatever berry or other chopped fruit you like best.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup berries or diced fruit
1¼ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons melted butter
raw sugar, for sprinkling
(these pictures show a double batch)
Directions
Combine all the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
We used raw sugar. Granulated white works just fine.
Stir the dry ingredients together, then stir in the berries or other fruit.
Add the cream and stir gently. You don’t want to crush the berries.
Turn the dough out into a floured surface and knead it a few times until it is even — no dry spots, no super-wet spots.
It’s going to be really sticky. If you’re used to doing bread you’ll want to add more flour, but don’t. It’s supposed to be like that.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces. (Remember, this is a double batch I’m showing. That’s why we’ve got four pieces.)
Form each piece into a circle about 6 inches across, then roll out to about a half-inch thick.
Brush the top with the melted butter, and sprinkle with raw sugar.
Cut into eight wedges with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
Place the pieces, with a little space between them, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
You can do these without the parchment, and instead oil the pan. But with the parchment they release with no effort at all.
Bake at 425° for 11 minutes, until they are lightly browned around the edges.
Serve warm from the oven, plain or with butter.
And that’s it.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
Subscribe to comments on this post
11 Comments
I looooovvvve you for this recipe. Those delicious blueberry scones are one of the few reasons I consistently visit a certain coffee shop chain. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Now how would the recipe change if I wanted Jalapeno Jack Cheese scones? Just replacing the sugary things with salty things? How much Cheese do you suspect I’d need?
Hmm, I might have an idea. I’ll get back to you …
I asked Jenni, the Online Pastry Chef what she thought, and here’s what she had to say:
Thanks, Jenni.
Yum, those look awesome. What do you think about dried or frozen berries? And, dig the tie-dye spatula.
Darn, I meant to mention that. These were frozen, so the juice tinted the batter. You can see how purplish it is where my wife is cutting them. With fresh berries, it would have been a more “blond” finish with more distinct berries in it.
Did you thaw your berries? I would guess that’s where the tint came from…
Here’s what I took from Cook’s Illustrated (published July 1, 2007) …
…for a hint on how to best incorporate the blueberries. To evenly distribute the berries without mashing them, we rolled the dough into a 12-inch square, pressed the berries into the dough and then rolled the dough into a jellyroll-like log that we flattened into a rectangle before cutting out the scones.
Mmmm… These look really good! A question from a rather inexperienced cook (that’s me):
- I’ve not tried the recipe yet, so want to double-check that 1 tablespoon of baking powder is definitely right? When I’ve read other recipes for cakes, biscuits, etc. they usually say a quantity of baking powder along the lines of a teaspoon, or less.
And two questions from a British cook (that’s me again):
- is “all-purpose flour” the same as what we Brits call “self-raising flour”?
- and is “heavy cream” the same as what we Brits call “whipping cream”? (min. 35% milk fat)?
Barbara, yes we thawed the berries. They must have gotten warm coming home from the grocery store then re-frozen when we got home, because they came out of the bag in a solid block.
Jon, no it’s not self-rising flour. It’s plain white flour, not bread flour and not cake flour. And yes, that amount of baking powder is correct.
I was wondering, are these more dense and hard type scones, or more fluffy, softer scones? I’ve had ones that where like a softer shortbread, and ones that were like a hearty thick breakfast muffin.
I would say they were light but crunchy.