Irresistibly Flaky and Buttery: The Best Blueberry Scone Recipe!

Blueberry Scones

What could be more comforting and delicious than a batch of classic blueberry scones? These blueberry scones have a wonderfully light, flaky texture with a delicious buttery flavour to them. They are so simple to make and I promise once you take one bite you may not be able to stop! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

These blueberry scones are shaped in triangles, similar to the scones that you get in America rather than the rounds you see here in Australia and the U.K. I find making scones this way a bit simpler to make as it involves just cutting a round of dough into 8 pieces rather than cutting out circles which is simple enough but you tend to get a bit of wastage when rerolling scraps.

5 Secrets to Light and Fluffy Blueberry Scones!

1 - Make sure that your baking powder and cream of tartar are still in date. These are the main leavening or raising agents for the scones.

2 - Use buttermilk for a softer texture. Buttermilk tenderises baked goods like scones and cakes. I rarely have buttermilk on hand and always make buttermilk myself by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to milk to make up 160ml/5.6flozs of buttermilk.

3 - I prefer to use rehydrated dried blueberries rather than frozen because they tend to become less mushy when kneading them in the dough.

4 - These are flavoured with vanilla and lemon zest (I use the juice from the 1/2 lemon to make the buttermilk).

5 - You can use other dried fruit in this, whatever you have is good. Always rehydrate your fruit however as it can suck the moisture out of your scones if not.

Blueberry Scones

Dear Reader, a few days ago I came back from my one week away on holiday for my birthday. It started off with a long weekend on the Scenic Rim hinterland of Queensland, then segued into a trip to the South Coast and then I left Mr NQN and went to Uluru which I adore. I had a great time but it's always nice to come home especially to my little family. Mr NQN came to pick me up at the airport with Teddy and Milo and it was a very cute reunion with everyone excited to see each other.

When I got home I put away some things in the kitchen and I saw a lot of little specks on the kitchen island. "What is that?" I said to Mr NQN. "Yeah they kind of appeared one day..." he said. He looked away which I noticed but didn't think much of. I sent our pest control guy a picture of the offending specks and he delivered me the news.

"Looks like you've got a mouse," he said.

Mr NQN heard the anguished cry all the way from his office. First we had mosquitoes, then a fly infestation, then slugs. We battled all of them and Peter had essentially covered every opening in our house for us but now, what a mouse? A MOUSE? It's about now that I'm going to admit that I don't find mice as offensive as some people do. I actually wanted a mouse as a kid because there's only so far you can get with a fish emotionally and mice seemed, well cute. But I also don't really want one in my house and it's the droppings that gross me out the most. I cleaned every inch of the kitchen island twice.

Blueberry Scones

"How did we get a mouse?" I said and Mr NQN looked away.

"You left food out didn't you?" I said eyeing him.

"Maaaaybe," he said and then scurried away. It turned out that his lackadaisical housekeeping while I was away had meant that food was piled up around the sink with dirty dishes, uneaten scraps and just general mess. A feast no doubt for a hungry rodent.

That night we were all upstairs in the bedroom. Our bedroom has no door and sits above the kitchen. I heard the doggy door snap open and shut. It has two doors so it has a distinct two beat snap to it when a dog comes through.

"Did you hear that?" I said to Mr NQN looking at both Teddy and Milo sleeping soundly on the bed. "It was the MOUSE!!" I said alarmed. Could it be that they're just coming through the dog door as every other avenue is sealed shut?

The next day I baked a batch of these scones but made sure to clear up every single scrap of food. Since I've been back and cleaning up there haven't been any trace of them in my kitchen. However Mr NQN did sheepishly admit that they were now signs they were in his office where he routinely leaves piles of dishes. I now call Mr NQN the Pied Piper of our suburb!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever had mice? What have you done about it? And do you have a favourite scone shape? Or flavour?

Blueberry Scones

Blueberry Scones

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An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 10 minutes soaking time

Cooking time: 25 minutes

  • 120g/4ozs dried blueberries (you can also use 150g/5ozs frozen blueberries)
  • 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs boiling water

  • 2 cups/300g/10.6ozs plain all purpose flour

  • 50g/1.7ozs caster or superfine sugar
  • 3.5 teaspoons/18g baking power
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 120g/4ozs cold butter, cut into cubes
  • 160ml/5.6flozs buttermilk
  • Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 egg beaten for egg wash
  • 3 tablespoons raw sugar

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment. First soak the blueberries in the boiling water (if using frozen blueberries you can skip this step). Cover and allow to rehydrate for 10 minutes. Drain well and spread out on a double layer of paper towels.

Step 2 - Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream or tartar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Then add the butter and pulse until you get a sandy texture. Place into a large bowl. Whisk the milk, lemon zest and vanilla together and add this to the bowl and knead it all in until it just comes together (do not overknead). Add the blueberries.

Step 2b Thermomix directions: Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream or tartar and salt in the Thermomix and set to 10 secs, speed #5.5. Add the butter and set to 15 seconds, Speed #5. Place into a large bowl. Whisk the milk, lemon zest and vanilla together and add this to the bowl and knead it all in until it just comes together (do not overknead). Add the blueberries.

Blueberry Scones

Step 3 - Place the dough onto a sheet of parchment and shape into a round around 3/4 inch high (it will expand out when baking so just keep this in mind for your baking tray). Cut into 8 triangles. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle raw sugar on top. Bake for 25-28 minutes turning halfway through the process checking the centre is done and no longer soft or doughy. You can also dust it with icing sugar too at the end just before serving. Serve with blueberry jam and cream or butter.

Blueberry Scones

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