Okanagan Explosion Blue Berry Scones with Lemon Glaze

This one-bowl recipe comes together quickly. You can go from dreaming about warm blueberry scones to actually splitting one in half and slathering it with butter in a half-hour, flat.

Breaking into one of these Fresh Blueberry Scones is like opening a present; it's exciting to reveal the colorful pockets of berries inside.

To make this crave-worthy dessert, with perfectly sweet blueberry's from BC, the jewels of summer: fresh blueberries.

Let’s get started.

KINDA IMPORTANT

If you want to make scones with a traditional consistency somewhere between cake and biscuits, choose all-purpose flour.

If you’re looking to make scones that are more tender and delicate, choose Pastry Flour.

HERE IS WHATS YOU'LL NEED FOR INGREDIENTS

2 cups (212g) Pastry Flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

6 tablespoons (85g) cold butter, cut into pieces

2 large eggs, beaten

1/3 cup (74g) yogurt, plain or flavored

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon (6g) lemon zest (grated lemon rind); or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil

1 cup (170g) blueberries, picked over and rinsed

2 tablespoons (28g) melted butter

additional sugar for sprinkling on top

GET YOUR OVEN READY IF YOUR PLANNING TO BAKE RIGHT AWAY

If you’re planning to bake the scones right after you prepare the dough, preheat the oven to 375°F. (This way the oven will be nice and hot when your scones are ready.) You can also leave the oven off and prepare the dough to be baked later, for a fast make-ahead treat.

If you measure your flour by volume, be sure to fluff up the flour then gently spoon it into your measuring cup. Use a knife or another straight edge to swipe off any excess.

Put your perfectly-measured flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, sugar, and baking powder and whisk well.

OK, now work in the butter

Now it’s time to work in the butter. Be sure to use cold butter (from the fridge, not frozen). If you wonder what kind of butter you should be using, we’ve got just the article for you: Butter for baking.

Cut the butter into pieces; usually start with 1/2” cubes then use your fingers to flatten the butter into leaf-like shards. You can also use a pastry blender for this step, rocking the tool back and forth to combine the butter with the dry ingredients.

Stop mixing once the butter is in small, pea-sized chunks. This will give your Fresh Blueberry Scones little pockets of buttery deliciousness.

Leaving the butter in small chunks also creates that classic craggy scone look and feel.

Now its time to combine the wet ingredients

In a large measuring cup, mix together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

What kind of yogurt should you use? We like plain whole milk yogurt for baking, though you can use low-fat or even Greek yogurt too. If you use flavored yogurt, expect the scones to be slightly sweeter and have a touch of the yogurt's flavor.

Use a fork or a whisk to break up the egg and homogenize the mixture.

NOTE: You can zest your lemon right into the other wet ingredients.

Now its time to make magic, Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir the dough gently until all the ingredients are combined semi-evenly to make it heavenly.

Adjust the consistency

At this stage, the dough should be the consistency of wet drop-cookie dough. (Think sticky chocolate chip cookie dough.) If there’s still quite a bit of powdery flour at the bottom of the bowl, drizzle in a few teaspoons of additional milk. Give the dough a few more folds, incorporating the freshly hydrated flour into the rest of the dough.

In the humid months of summer, you might find that the dough is quite wet and difficult to handle. You can add an extra tablespoon of flour to the dough to bring it to the right consistency.

Alternately, cover the sticky dough with plastic or your favorite reusable wrap and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour. This will make the dough easier to handle once it's absorbed some of the liquid.

Those amazing BC Blueberry's Time for blueberries

Once the dough has just the right consistency, stir in the blueberries. Use gentle folding motions to avoid breaking the berries.

If a few end up bursting, that’s OK — but whole berries impart an impressive look, so try to keep them intact if you can.

Shape the fresh blueberry scone dough

When you’re ready to shape your scones, dust your work surface with flour. Use enough flour that you could write your name in it and easily read the word. Don’t use so much that your surface seems totally white — that would make your scone dough dry.

Next, take the dough out of the bowl and place it on the counter. Using your hands, pat it into a 1” thick rectangle. An 8” by 10” rectangle works well here. Use a dough scraper or bench knife to tidy up the edges.

At this point, you can wrap the dough in plastic and put it in the fridge for a few hours, or up to overnight. Having scone dough ready to bake in the morning is a glorious gift you can give yourself (and any lucky house guests).

You can also freeze the unbaked scones if you want to bake them later. To do this, use a bench knife or a sharp knife to cut the dough into 10 triangular scones.

Cut the dough in half length-wise first and then cut equal-sized triangles from there. Feel free to use whatever process you like to divide the dough evenly; you can even shape the dough into a 1"-thick disc if you prefer cutting wedges from a round.

Bottom line: You want to end with up 10 scones that are about the same size so they bake evenly.

Time to Bake y'all

Right before the scones go into the oven, brush the tops with melted butter. This encourages them to turn golden brown during baking. Sprinkle with Sparkling White Sugar or granulated sugar for a little extra crunch and sweetness. 

Bake the scones for 20 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned. If you insert a toothpick, paring knife, or cake tester into the scones, it should come out clean.

Cool the scones completely on a rack. This prevents the bottoms from becoming soggy. You can store leftover scones at room temperature in an airtight container for several days. Reheating scones before enjoying is a fantastic way to refresh them.

OK y'all, the final result below is explosion of flavor in your mouth, Try this Recipe and others we will be sharing throughout the summer, Happy Baking

Let us know what you're excited to make with fresh blueberries this season in the comments, below. Happy Baking!