We love to make these blackberry scones every summer when we can get blackberries at their freshest, plumpest, juiciest best. We try to visit a local u-pick berry patch each year, just for the fun of picking our own blackberries right off the bushes. It’s one of our favorite activities as a family. Then we make all sorts of delicious berry treats like blackberry swirl ice cream, blackberry nectarine crumble, and homemade blackberry pie. And these blackberry scones, of course.
What Is the Difference Between British Scones and American Scones?
Scones are originally from Great Britain and traditionally served at tea time with butter, cream, and jam. The scones are most often plain, although sometimes dried currants or raisins are added. These fruity blackberry scones are an American adaptation, where mix-ins like fruit or chocolate are much more the norm. Another difference between British scones and American scones is the fat ratio. British scones have less butter included in the scone dough. They’re also made with less sugar because their scones are sliced open and slathered in butter and jam before eating. All the flavors are built into American-style scones, so there’s no need to top them with butter or jam! (If you love scones, be sure to also try our Strawberry Scones, Triple Chocolate Scones, and The Best Chocolate Chip Scones Recipe!)
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
All-purpose flourSugarBaking powderBaking sodaSaltButter – Use very cold butter and cut it into cubes. Cold butter is what gives scones their distinctive texture!EggHeavy creamCoarse sugar – Sanding sugar, Demerara sugar, or turbinado sugar are all fine.Blackberries – Fresh is best!
Optional Honey Butter Glaze
Honey – Use runny honey, not the kind that’s solid at room temperature.Butter
How to Make Blackberry Scones
Here’s how to make perfect, buttery, tender blackberry scones at home: Prepare. Preheat your oven to 375ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Start the dough. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and cut it in with a pastry blender or use your fingers to work it into the dry ingredients until only pea-sized pieces of butter remain. Add the remaining ingredients. Whisk the egg and cream in another bowl, then pour this into the flour mixture and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Sprinkle the berries over the dough and lightly knead to combine. Form the scones. Turn out the scone dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a long, 1″-thick rectangle or round. Cut the dough into 8 wedges and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Bake. Brush each scone with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown. Make the glaze. While the scones are baking, microwave the honey and butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 90 seconds. Brush half of this mixture over the warm scones when they’re fresh out of the oven, then brush them with the rest of the honey butter after 15 minutes.
Tips for Success
Too many scones are dry, crumbly affairs that taste like sad cousins to a buttermilk biscuit. But understanding a few key things about scone creation will help you achieve wonderful, tender scones every time!
Scones need a light touch. Handle the scone dough as little as possible because overworking the dough can make them come out tough and heavy like hockey pucks, rather than light and tender. When adding the beaten egg and cream to the flour mixture, I like to use a fork to mix them together so I don’t overwork the dough.Pat out the scone dough rather than rolling it. Scones don’t rise much, so it doesn’t take much to pat the dough out flat and keep it nice and thick.Keep the dough from sticking. When cutting the scones, dip your knife or bench scraper in flour to keep the dough from sticking to it.The secret to great scones is using cold butter. The cold butter in the dough melts in the oven and releases steam, creating airy pockets in the scone. Some people swear by using grated frozen butter, but I find that just really cold, cubed butter from the fridge incorporated into the flour with a pastry cutter works just fine. The most important part is to not let the butter, or the dough once the butter has been added, sit out long.
Variations
This cream scone base really works for almost any fruit scone variation you would like to make—blueberry scones, raspberry scones, peach scones, cherry scones, and so on. The important thing to know about adding fruit to scones is to just fold in the fruit right at the very end when the scone dough has almost completely come together. Blackberries and raspberries are delicate and can become a squishy mess if you work them into the dough too much, staining the dough (and your hands) purple or pink. You could also add lemon, lime, or orange zest along with your favorite fruit for additional tasty flavor combinations. And, of course, you can always add chocolate chips, either with fruit or without.
How to Store
Scones are best served warm and fresh out of the oven, although you can make them ahead and reheat in a low oven. But they really are best when eaten within a day or two of making them. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can This Recipe Be Frozen?
Yes! Scones freeze pretty well, so if you need to make them in advance or have leftovers that you want to save for another day, you can freeze baked scones for up to 3 months, then thaw them on the counter and warm them in the microwave or oven. You can also shape the scone dough and freeze the scones individually on a baking sheet for about an hour before wrapping them and transferring to a resealable freezer-safe bag for longer term storage. Freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw them in the fridge overnight and bake the next day for the regular amount of time. Or you can bake them straight from frozen, although you will need to add 3-5 minutes to your bake time.
More Breakfast Recipes You’ll Love
Raspberry Streusel MuffinsEasy Blackberry TurnoversPassion Fruit Lemon Loaf CakeHomemade Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Topping
This post was originally published in June, 2018. The photos and content were updated in July, 2022.
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