Blueberry Scones Recipe

Blueberry scones and all scones are wonderful!

Whipped up in minutes and full of flavor. I make them with spelt, my grain of choice for baking absolutely everything, but you will find them totally adaptable to Gluten-Free. You will easily find Xanthan Gum in health food stores.

Do you happen, as I always do, to have an unseasonable yen for blueberry cake or muffins?

Simply use frozen blueberries!

Try your best for the ones marked Maine wild blueberries: delicious! Marked IQF (individually quick frozen) or IFF (individually flash frozen). This means that the berries (or any other fruit, whole small fruit or larger fruit cut in chunks) are first frozen very briefly in one layer, then conditioned into their final packaging. The step of freezing them individually before freezing them in a group affords you the possibility of taking out only the amount of berries you need (perfect for smoothies and fruit sauces), saving the rest for next time; it also means they won’t make a mess and turn your whole batter purple. Simply leave them in the freezer until the minute you need to fold them into your batter; they have ample time to thaw during baking.

Ingredients

3 cups flour: all-purpose, whole wheat pastry, or spelt (gluten-free: GF flour plus 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
¼ cup sugar
⅓ cup margarine spread, or butter if you are making them dairy
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup plain yogurt or dairy-free yogurt, low-fat OK
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups fresh blueberries, or frozen and unthawed

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix the flour, sugar, and margarine spread with a pastry cutter or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest and mix. Add the yogurt and egg and mix until just combined. Fold in the blueberries very gently, so as not to extract their moisture.

Roll out the dough on a very lightly floured board to ½-inch thickness. Cut out with a 2-inch cookie cutter or a glass (or quite simply, as I do, shape little balls and flatten them with your hands). Place the scones on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment. Bake about 15 minutes, or until lightly colored.

Makes a good dozen

Yield: Makes about 20 scones.