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Ingredients:
For the scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into pieces
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest (or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil)
1 cup blueberries
For the topping:
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions:
Begin by preheating the oven to 375 degrees.
To begin making the scone dough, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl. Then, cut the butter into small pieces and add them to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, fork, or even your hands if easier, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture should look similar to coarse crumbs.
In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest or oil together. Once the wet ingredients are combined, add them to the dry ingredients bowl. Stir the two mixtures until combined and stir in the blueberries. Make sure to be careful not to smash or bruise the berries when adding them, as the color will bleed into the dough and cause the scones to be discolored. I recommend folding them in carefully.
Once all the ingredients are mixed together, the dough consistency should resemble wet cookie dough.
Next, press the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Then pat the dough into a one-inch thick rectangle. Once you have formed the rectangle, cut the dough diagonally into 10 large triangular scones. Place the scones onto a parchment-lined or well-oiled baking sheet. Brush on some melted butter and sprinkle the scones with sugar.
Bake the scones for 20 minutes or until they are lightly browned. You can also test to see if they’re baked by inserting a toothpick into the center of a scone and seeing if it comes out dry; if it does, then they’re ready.
Cool the scones on a rack then enjoy warm!
Commentary:
This recipe yields 10 scones, so you can adjust the recipe to make more if necessary. These traditional British pastries are a great pastry to enjoy for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee or tea. They can also be enjoyed as a mid-day snack. If you have left over scones, you can store them at room temperature for a day or so if they are well wrapped. If you need to store them for longer, then I would recommend freezing them.
You can make scones with a variety of flavors and fruits, so play around with the recipe.
I love these blueberry scones, and they are a hit for the family. My mother is Scottish, so I have always enjoyed scones. In fact, she used to tease us and say if we didn’t pronounce it the ‘correct’ aka British way, we couldn’t eat them. The British call pronounce it more like ‘scon’, or in a way to rhyme more with the word ‘gone’ rather than ‘bone’.