Blueberry Drop Scones
Blueberries add a burst of summer sunshine to this flaky recipe. Try it with raspberries, blackberries, or cherries, too.
INGREDIENTS | YIELDS 6–8 SCONES
- 1 egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- Grated zest of 1 large orange
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced and well chilled
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- ½ cup cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and orange juice concentrate; set aside. In a separate large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Toss in zest.
Cut the chilled butter into the dry ingredients, breaking it into small, pea-sized pieces with your fingertips or a pastry blender. Be sure not to mix too much. Butter and flour should create a dry, crumbly mixture, not a paste. Toss in blueberries.
Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir gently until moistened. Scoop out ¼ cup portions of dough and drop on prepared pan, 2″ apart.
Brush with cream, sprinkle with sugar, and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Frozen Berries
Folding berries into a batter or dough is a delicate procedure. The fruits are soft, and burst easily. But there is a simple trick to avoiding the blue-green batter that occurs when the mashed berry pigment reacts with the alkaline in the baking powder: use frozen berries. They hold their shape, and defrost quickly during baking. If all you have is fresh blueberries, freeze them hard before adding them.
