Impress at your next brunch with these soft and tender Buttermilk Blueberry Scones. They are incredibly easy to make and taste wonderfully light with just a hint of lemon.
Prep:Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet and sprinkle with flour.
Mix dry ingredients:Combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Blend in butter:Add butter to the bowl with the flour and cut in with a pastry blender, a fork OR your clean fingers. You should end up with a bowl full of pea-sized crumbs.
Add liquids:Add blueberries to the bowl with the crumb mixture. Whisk together buttermilk and vanilla and pour into the bowl, too. Stir with clean hands or a wooden spoon JUST until combined. Do not overwork! Do not burst the berries! A scraggly, messy dough makes the fluffiest, lightest scones.
Shape:Turn out the dough on your prepared baking sheet. Gather it into a ball and slightly flatten it into a roughly 7 inch (18cm) disk (this works best with slightly damp fingers). Cut into 8 wedges. Pull the wedges slightly apart, so they're about 2 inches (5cm) away from each other.
Finish and bake:Brush the scones with milk and sprinkle with both sugars. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to rest until cool enough to touch. They are best served warm - see notes for glaze.
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Notes
Ingredient notes
Baking powder/soda: Make sure your baking powder and baking soda aren’t out of date, otherwise your scones will not come out right.
Butter: Please do not use a buttery spread as a substitute for the butter. It needs to be cold and firm to work in this recipe. If you need to use margarine for any reason, you must use stick margarine.
Blueberries: I have made these scones with frozen blueberries before. It sort of works, but it does get messy and quite smudged/grey. I definitely recommend using fresh berries in this recipe for best results.
Buttermilk: The recipe works best when using actual buttermilk. But if you want to make these right now and don’t keep buttermilk on hand, use regular milk with 1 teaspoon white vinegar stirred in. Leave it to sit on the counter for 10 minutes before using in the recipe.
Baking tips
Measure your flour correctly (spoon it into the measuring cup and then level with the back of a knife) so you don’t end up with a dry dough
Be very gentle and careful with the dough – don’t overwork it once you add the liquid ingredients. Definitely no kneading, simply push it into a disc.
To handle the scones:
make sure to flour the baking sheet well, or the scones will stick
use a very sharp dough scraper or knife to cut the scones, this will give the sharpest edges and the best rise
be very gently when pulling the scones apart – it’s a little tricky, but they need to be handled carefully or they won’t bake nicely
Optional glaze
The scones don’t really need a glaze, but it’s a nice touch if you want to go the extra mile.I always just use ½ cup of icing sugar and stir in 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the warm scones shortly before serving.
Storage tips
Keep scones in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.They are, however, best eaten warm out of the oven.
Freezer instructions
You can, but they will still be better eaten warm right after baking.To freeze, place scones in a container or bag suitable for freezing and label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months).Defrost on a rack on the counter. It helps their texture to warm them up in the microwave or toast them before serving.