These soft and fluffy blueberry scones are the perfect mother's day brunch recipe. Easy to make, bursting with juicy fresh blueberries and balanced with vibrant lemon zest.
These scones only use ingredients that you probably already have. Just some plain flour, butter a little bit of sugar and homemade buttermilk using some regular milk and a lemon. I'm also going to be so bold as to label these a "healthy" blueberry scone.
This version skips the sugary glaze and any white chocolate add-ins. Although, please feel free if that's your jam. No. These scones are the kind of bake that you can feel guilt-free about having for breakfast. They also avoid a sugar crash, so you'll be set for the day!
Fluffy Blueberry Scones
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Ingredients needed
- Whole milk- (you can use semi-skimmed here, but I'd stay away from skimmed milk) It's just a little too low in fat.
- Lemon- zest and juice so no waste
- Plain flour- many scone recipes call for self-raising, but we're skipping that and going with plain. But don't worry. We still get a rise and fluff!
- Sugar- just a couple of tablespoons
- Butter- The key to great scones is cold butter! But you already knew that. You could use margarine here, but your scone won't be quite as flaky.
- Baking powder- responsible for giving the scones lift and fluffiness.
- Blueberries- fresh. This recipe isn't right for frozen blueberries.
- Egg- Also brings lift and structure as well as richness to the scone dough.
Step by step directions
Step 1 & 2
- Like all good scone recipes, we start with our dry ingredients- flour, sugar, and baking powder- and some very cold, cubed butter. There's no need to use any fancy equipment like a pastry cutter, or even a fork here. Just your hands will do.
- Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. You may have some larger bits of butter and that is absolutely fine. They'll add extra flakiness to the scones.
Step 3 & 4
- Zest the lemon and add that to the flour and butter mixture.
- Measure out the milk and squeeze the juice of the lemon into it. This will instantly sour the milk making homemade buttermilk. Give it a quick whisk and whisk in the egg. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the mixing bowl and add in the blueberries. Mix this gently but make sure that all the flour is incorporated. Some of the blueberries will burst. That's exactly what you want. They create little pockets of burst blueberries as the scones bake.
Step 5 & 6
- On a floured surface shape the dough into a flat, round disc about 1 ½ cm thick. This dough is a little on the sticky side so make sure you dust your hands and the top of the dough with some flour. Cut the disc of dough in half and then cut each half into 3. So you have a total of 6 scones. You can cut the dough into 8. The scones will just be a little bit smaller.
- Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with some demerara sugar or regular caster sugar if that's all you have. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes and check them. They may need a few more minutes if your oven runs on the cooler side.
How to tell when scones are baked?
The visual indicators for telling if scones are baked are a golden brown top and a bottom that doesn't stick to the baking paper. Some of the blueberries will have burst during baking giving a very soft and juicy look to the fruit.
You can then use a paring knife to insert into the scone. If the knife comes out with sticky dough attached then the scones need more time. If its just a few moist crumbs then the scones are baked perfectly. They continue to cook slightly as they cool so you want to take them out before they dry and over bake.
Baking powder vs bicarb of soda
This scone recipe uses only baking powder for lift and structure while most scone recipes use bicarb. The difference is that bicarb needs acid as well as a liquid to give lift and structure. While baking powder is a complete leavening agent and only needs a liquid. So, while this recipe does use acid in the form of buttermilk, I still wanted to keep the ingredient list short and completely accessible for bakers and non-bakers alike. Yes. Aldi does sell bicarb and most people have it, but why use 2 ingredients when you can use 1?!
Storage
As with pretty much most baked goods, these blueberry scones really are best the day you make them. But if you're not consuming 6 scones in one day you will definitely have leftovers. They will last until the next day in the fridge and anything beyond that, I suggest you freeze them and take out what you need when you need it.
To reheat them a quick spin in the microwave will work or wrap them in foil and place them in a warm (not hot) oven for about 10 minutes.
I am a big fan of glaze on my scones, but sometimes just a classic warm scone with butter is what we all really need. If you do really need that glaze in your life then by all means. Mix some lemon juice (or water) with some icing sugar and drizzle over the scones once they've cooled.
More baking recipes
Tools used
Easy & Fluffy Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
- 330 g (2 ½ cups) plain flour + extra for dusting
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) caster sugar
- 1 ¼ tablespoons (1 ¼ tablespoons) baking powder
- 115 g (4 oz) cold butter, cubed (salted or unsalted is fine)
- 1 (1) egg
- 175 ml (6 floz) whole milk + a little extra for brushing the tops of the scones
- 1 (1) lemon, juice and zest
- 150 g (5 2/7 oz) fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) demerara sugar for sprinkling over top of the scones before baking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160ºc and line a baking tray with nonstick baking paper.
- Weigh the flour into a mixing bowl and add in 3 tablespoons of sugar and baking powder. Give it a quick whisk. Add in the cold cubed butter. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. You may have some larger bits of butter and that is absolutely fine. Zest the lemon and add that to the flour and butter mixture.
- Measure out the milk and squeeze the juice of the lemon into it. This will instantly sour the milk making homemade buttermilk. Give it a quick whisk and add in the egg. Pour the buttermilk into the mixing bowl and add in the blueberries. Mix the dough gently but make sure that all the flour is incorporated.
- On a floured surface shape the dough into a flat, round disc about 1 ½ cm thick. This dough is a little on the sticky side so make sure you dust your hands and the top of the dough with some flour. Cut the disc of dough in half and then cut each half into 3. So you have a total of 6 scones.
- Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with some demerara sugar or regular caster sugar if that's all you have. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes and check them.
- Leave them to cool for a few minutes before serving with butter and or clotted cream.
Nutrition
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COOKING ALONG WITH ME! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE A QUESTION, I’D LOVE IT IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT AND A RATING. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHAT WE’RE EATING, PINNING AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE SCENES TOO!
Gary
Absolutely loved this recipe! Thank you.
Deborah Rainford
So happy you loved this recipe, Gary. And thank you for leaving a comment and a rating.