Even Better Blueberry Scones

I rarely bake with blueberries, despite the fact that they taste insanely good in baked goods. Blueberries are pretty expensive most of the time here in Colorado. So when I get them, I pretty much shove as many of them in my face as possible, immediately. They are too much of a treat to waste on any recipes. So I generally stuff my face with the blueberries and bake with the apples. (Clearly God designed apples for making pie. Divine in baked goods, merely edible as is. I rest my case.)

But… I don’t know how the blueberry situation has been going down in the area where you live; but all this summer I’ve been able to find blueberries for a really good price. (Though I suppose really good price is relative, good price for Colorado is not so good for other places. But either way…) Naturally, I’ve been buying buckets upon buckets of blueberries.

In fact, amazingly, I’ve managed to hit quantities that I (even with the help of my kids who can eat 16oz of blueberries in under a minute flat) can not manage to keep up with. So I’ve actually been baking with the berries. I’ve made a few batches of quick muffins which were awesome, plus one batch of mini blueberry coffeecakes, also awesome. But mostly I’ve been making scones. And oh my gosh. Amazing. Simply amazing.

I already have a blueberry scone recipe on the blog, which I like quite a lot, but I tried a new method that has turned out so well, I just have to share. You  know when you get a perfect batch of sweet berries? Then you bake with them, and the recipe is buttery wonderfully perfect? Yeah that’s so what happened here. Transcendent scones people. I’m telling you.

However, I will also tell you I tried this method/ recipe with a batch of berries that were in the tart not so sweet side, and still excellent. I also tried it with frozen berries (works great too) because I wanted to know if I could freeze some of my berry windfall for making scones this fall and winter once the berries disappear. (P.S. Useful tip: Place washed and dried berries on a parchment paper lined baking sheet to freeze them. After a few hours once the berries are completely frozen transfer them to a ziplock freezer bag for storage.) So basically what I’m saying is you kinda can’t loose with this one.  So, go make scones, k?

Even Better Blueberry Scones– Yields 8 scones. Adapted from Smitten Kitchen. 

2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 tbsp) butter, chilled
1/3 cup cream
2/3 cup milk
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper* and set aside. 
2. Add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed. 
3. Use a sharp knife to cut the stick of  butter into 16 cubes. Add the butter to the mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender, or two forks, to mix the butter into the flour until the largest piece of butter visible is pea sized. The resulting mixture will be crumbly and not yet resemble dough. 
4. Add the cream and milk to the mixing bowl. Use a fork to stir the milk into the flour mixture. Stir until a shaggy dough forms. Add the blueberries to the bowl and use lightly floured hands to mix the blueberries in. The dough will be coarse and somewhat crumbly. You may find it does not all stick together well, this is ok.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, shape the dough into a round, flat disk, about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches tall. Push any loose berries or scraps of dough into the disk. 
6. Use a sharp knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on the parchment lines baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are a golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the scones to cool on the baking tray. The scones will save in an air tight container in the fridge for several days. 

*Note: USE THE PARCHMENT PAPER! Some of the blueberries will burst while cooking. They will run and stick to everything, except parchment paper. Save yourself a hassle and trust me on this one. 

*Note: These scones freeze incredibly well and save for quite a while when frozen (like 3 months or so!). So make a double or even triple batch so you can them out of the freezer for a fresh breakfast treat whenever you like! To freeze: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the scones to be frozen on the parchment paper and place the baking sheet in the freezer. Allow the scones to freeze completely, 6 hours or so. Transfer the scones to a ziplock for storage once completely frozen. To bake after freezing: Do not defrost before baking. Simply place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and bake as normal, though you will need to add an additional 5-10 minutes to your bake time.