My Blueberry Scone Recipe is buttery and filled with juicy fresh blueberries, perfect for brunch with tea and coffee or as a midday snack. Made with buttermilk, these scones are super tender and will not disappoint.
Melt-in-your-mouth blueberry scones with buttermilk are just the thing to serve for breakfast, brunch, and all occasions. These tender scones are filled with fresh juicy blueberries and will leave you wanting more. They are delicious as is but also perfect with my homemade lemon curd.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Simple enough for beginner bakers – These easy blueberry scones are great for novice bakers. The dough is simple to make, meaning all that’s left to do is cut it into scone shapes and then bake.
- Buttery and sweet with the perfect texture – Crisp and crumbly on the outside and soft, tender, and flaky on the inside, these scones combine so many tasty flavors and textures. They’re the perfect balance of sweet and buttery, plus feature bursts of tart blueberries.
- Complete control over the ingredients – While I love grabbing a blueberry scone at a cafe when I’m out and about, the truth is you never really know what’s in them. Bakery scones can sometimes be dry or have artificial flavors. When you make them yourself, they’re guaranteed to be fresh!
- Great for meal prep – Blueberry scones with buttermilk are perfect for weekend baking when you have more time than on busy weekdays. You can serve them for brunch, then wrap up the leftovers for breakfast or snack during the week.
Tools you’ll need
You don’t need to run out to the store to pick up any special equipment to make my blueberry scone recipe — just the standard tools that most at-home bakers already have on hand.
- A baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat for faster cleanup. This is a recipe for easy blueberry scones, so you want to make cleaning up easy too!
- Measuring cups, spoons and mixing bowls to measure out and mix the ingredients.
- A spatula or wooden spoon for stirring and incorporating the ingredients.
- A quality knife to cut the dough into scones.
- A pastry brush to apply the egg wash.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- All-purpose Flour – The base of your scone dough. All-purpose flour works great here — no need to use any sort of special cake flour. You can always replace it with your preferred GF 1:1 option if you need to.
- Sugar – You’ll use granulated sugar in the scone dough, as well as some turbinado sugar on top of the scones before baking. You can substitute white sanding sugar for turbinado for even more sparkle and crunch.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder – These are our leavening agents, meaning they both help these blueberry buttermilk scones rise. The combination of both gives the scones a good lift and baking soda also promotes browning.
- Unsalted Butter – Cold, unsalted butter is key to getting the signature flaky texture of scones. When cubed and then incorporated into the dough, very much like pie dough, the butter will create air pockets as they melt during baking, leaving you with those tasty flaky layers. Salted butter can be used instead but you’ll want to reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipe by half.
- Blueberries – Add bursts of sweet and tart flavor and color to your scones! I recommend using fresh blueberries for the best results. Frozen blueberries can be use if you’re making these out of season, check the FAQs section below for more tips on using frozen berries.
- Egg – Helps bind the ingredients together — plus the yolk adds richness.
- Buttermilk – boasts a subtle tangy flavor too, and contributes to a moist and tender crumb. It helps these easy blueberry scones rise in combination with baking soda thanks to the added acidity. Sour cream or yogurt is a good substitution here.
- Vanilla – Enhances the other flavors in your buttermilk blueberry scones and adds a touch of warmth.
- Salt – I use kosher salt in this recipe, if you’re using salted butter as mentioned above, reduce the amount of salt by half.
How to make blueberry scone recipe
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This blueberry scone recipe is an adaptation of my basic buttermilk scones with fresh blueberries added to the batter. Hence, you will start out exactly the same, by mixing together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and working the cold butter into the mixture. The one difference is you will toss in the fresh blueberries right before adding the wet ingredients.
In a smaller mixing bowl or a measuring cup, beat together egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Reserve 2 tablespoons to use as egg wash and add the remaining to the dry ingredient mixture. Fold until a shaggy dough forms.
Tip: It’s crucial to be gentle in this step so you don’t crush the berries and stain the dough.
Turn the dough out onto the counter, pat it into a rectangle and fold it over itself a few times like folding a letter. Then shape into a circle or a square. Cut into 8 scones. Place the scones on a lined baking sheet, freeze or refrigerate while the oven preheats.
Tip: If you’re using frozen blueberries, it is best to shape the dough into a circle as soon as you turn it out of the bowl since the frozen berries thawing will make the dough difficult to work with very quickly.
When the oven is ready, brush the top and sides of the scones with the reserved egg wash, sprinkle generously with turbinado or sanding sugar. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
More baker’s tips
- Keep things cold – just like with pie dough, you want to keep these easy blueberry scones cold before baking so they hold their shape and rise taller.
- Don’t forget that egg wash – make sure to reserve some of the egg/buttermilk mixture to use as egg wash on top of the scones to enhance browning while baking.
- Insulate the bottom – if needed, use an insulated baking sheet or stack baking sheets to keep the bottoms of these blueberry scones from getting too brown.
- Variations – try this blueberry scones recipe with other berries and fruits for more fun fruity variations.
Storage
If you plan on eating your buttermilk blueberry scones within a few days, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll keep for 1-3 days tops since they contain fresh fruits. For longer storage, you can refrigerate them for up to 5 days.
My blueberry scone recipe also freezes really nicely. To freeze after baking, let them cool completely before placing on a baking sheet and flash freeze until solid. Then store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the dough — wrap tightly in plastic and aluminum foil before storing. Let the dough thaw overnight in the fridge before baking as instructed here.
To reheat from frozen, make sure to let the scones thaw overnight. Pop them in the oven at 350 degrees F and heat for 5-10 minutes or until warmed through.
FAQs
A slightly sticky dough is perfectly fine. But if it feels excessively sticky and difficult to handle, simply add a tablespoon of flour at a time until you get the consistency you want.
Don’t forget that when you’re shaping the dough on the counter top, you’ll be using extra flour too and that will also get absorbed into the dough. So be careful not to add too much because the more flour you add, the drier you scones will turn out in the end.
You can easily make your own buttermilk by combining regular milk with something acidic, like vinegar or lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of your acidic ingredient to enough whole milk to make one cup.
For this blueberry scone recipe, you can also use sour cream or yogurt if you don’t have buttermilk. Or stir together half sour cream or yogurt and half whole milk.
Make sure you use fresh baking powder! If it’s expired, it won’t help your dough rise. You also want to avoid overworking the dough too much. When mixing the wet and dry ingredients, use a gentle folding motion until just combined. Overworked dough will contain too much gluten, giving you dense results.
It is okay to use frozen berries for these blueberry buttermilk scones, but make sure you add them into the dough while they’re completely frozen, do not thaw. And work as quickly as you can, since they will start releasing water as they thaw. Two things to keep in mind as this happens.
One, the berries will stain the dough as soon as you add them in. Not a big deal since they will be eaten all the same, but aesthetically, they may not look as pretty.
Two, the juice released while they thaw will make the dough stickier and messier. They will also release a lot more water during baking, which will alter the texture of the scones. You will probably need to use a bit more extra flour as you shape the scones and bake them a little longer for them to cook through.
More delicious fruity scones
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Strawberry Scones
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Orange Scones
- Cranberry Orange Scones
Hungry for more?
Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cup all-purpose flour, 270 g
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 66 g
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 4 oz unsalted butter, cold and cubed, 113 g
- 1 heaping cup of fresh blueberry, 175 g
- 1 large egg
- ⅔ cup buttermilk, 160 g
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, or white sanding sugar
Instructions
- Add flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder to a medium mixing bowl and mix to combine.
- Toss the cubed butter in the flour mixture and work it into the flour with the tip of your fingers until about large pea size. Toss in the blueberries.
- In a measuring cup, add buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid mixture, reserving about 2 tablespoons to use as egg wash.
- Fold with a spatula or wooden spoon until a wet dough forms, be careful not the crush the blueberries.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board, fold it over itself a 2 – 3 times, and shape into a circle about 1 ½” thick.
- Cut into 8 scones. Place the scones on a lined baking sheet and freeze or refrigerate while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Take the scones out of the freezer or refrigerator, brush the top and sides with the reserved egg wash, and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 23 – 24 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Just like with pie dough, you want to keep these easy blueberry scones cold before baking so they hold their shape and rise taller.
- Make sure to reserve some of the egg/buttermilk mixture to use as egg wash on top of the scones to enhance browning while baking.
- If needed, use an insulated baking sheet or stack baking sheets to keep the bottoms of these blueberry scones from getting too brown.
- Try this blueberry scones recipe with other berries and fruits for more fun fruity variations.
- You can use frozen blueberries, see the post for more tips on how to adjust the process of making these scones with frozen berries.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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So amazing! I can’t believe how well these turned out, my family loves them.
Glad to hear, thanks Lindsay!
These were so simple and delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, and they look just like the photo. Bookmarking to make again!
Thanks Emily! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
This is a fantastic recipe! Easy to make. Just the right balance of flavors and textures. A delicious treat to wake up to everyday during a quarantine! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you so much for your wonderful review, Andrew!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I was looking for something to make for breakfast because I had fresh blueberries and came across yours. However I used 1cup of spelt flour and 1cup of regular white flour and I also made my own buttermilk as another reviewer did. I have to say me and my husband was in heaven when we bit into the finished product. Will definitely be making these again. Thank you.
Thank you Ann! I’m happy to hear these were a success with the substitutions 🙂
I did not have buttermilk so I used milk that I had soured with a little vinegar. This is THE best scone recipe I have ever tasted. I saved it and will never use another scone recipe again. Can’t wait to try different fruit variations!
Thank you Debbie!
This the best scone recipient ever! I have made the most at least halfway a dozen times now. I use less sugar and add in cranberries along with blueberries
Hey there.. thanks so much for this recipe. I made this for the first time ever and it was so easy to follow! The end result looks exactly like yours and the taste is super awesome! My 4 year old can’t get enough!
Hey Crissie! I’m so glad to hear you guys enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for visiting and baking with me!
These scones were outstanding! I made them exactly as your recipe read and were perfection. The crunch on the outside from the turbinado was great. Had with a cup of coffee and a little lemon drizzle. This is my go to recipe for sure. Can’t wait to check the rest of your recipes.
P.S. mine even looked like yours 😋
I’m so happy to hear they turn out perfect for you, Sharon! Thanks for visiting and can’t wait for you to try other recipes, let me know if you have any questions at all.
I just made the scones and they are delicious. I had a question about texture. I used frozen blueberries and did read your comment about the possible changes frozen vs fresh provides; however, my scones flattened out somewhat and were almost cakey rather than flaky. I separated them slightly on the baking sheet which may have contributed to the spread. Will baking them in a container with sides help? I am also attributing the cakey texture to the addition of an egg but not sure. The butter was cut into the flour as directed, pea-sized and the dough handled judiciously. Thoughts? The taste is amazing and will definitely make again.
Thanks!
When the scones flatten, it most likely due to too much moisture, whether from the frozen berries, or from the butter being worked too much, or the dough being worked too much (but perhaps not the case here with the butter). My scones are usually crispy on the outside and slightly cakey on the inside so that’s not unusual. I personally prefer a softer texture and the richer taste with the added egg. I think it’s a great idea to bake with a container with sides, it will help them rise higher. Some other things you could try next time is to cut them thicker, freeze them before baking to preserve their shape and to help any of the melted butter within the dough to solidify. For more flaky texture, try folding the dough over itself multiply times and rolling it back out, see this buttermilk biscuits recipe for the method. With the berries in the dough, it might be harder to do the folding method since you might burst the berries, but with any other scone dough, it should work beautifully. Thanks for the feedback btw! Let me know what you try next time. 🙂
Thank you SO much for this recipe and for so generously sharing it. I am very particular about scones, in terms of texture and taste. I like a bit of crunch on the outside and flaky tenderness on the inside. Your recipe produces both! Best scones I have ever made AND tasted. TY!
Thank you so much for you wonderful review! I’m so happy to hear these live up to your expectation 🙂
Can I use almond flour with this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Mary, I don’t recommend almond flour for this recipe for a few reasons:
1) I have never used almond flour in this recipe before so I can’t be completely sure what to expect.
2) Almond flour doesn’t have any gluten so it will result in a completely different texture.
3) Also because almond flour doesn’t have any gluten, I suspect the dough will not hold together well and could be more mealy, fall apart easily.
However, I understand you may not have access to flour right now and if you have to make the substitution I would make one suggestion to replace some of the milk with an extra egg white to help bind the batter together. I would love to hear how it turns out if you decide to use almond flour.