There was just a really loud bang in my apartment. No idea what it was, but it scared me half to death! All I know is that our power went out and then came The Big Bang and the power turned back on. What the bleep?! Now the alarm system keeps chirping and I have no clue how to stop it. Why does living away from your parents have to be so scary and confusing?

So since I’ve had my share of scary and confusing for the day, let’s go with simple and easy for our tea time scones. No crazy mix-ins, no experimentation, no wild steps like smothering dough in Nutella...just a classic scone that everyone loves: The Blueberry Scone.

When I say these scones are a year in the making, I mean literally. Not “I had the idea a year ago and am just now getting around to making them” either, but I bought one of the ingredients a year ago! This time last year, I was wandering through the not-so-colonial part of Colonial Williamsburg on vacation with my family, and found myself in a spice store. Danger zone! I walked out with jars of Tuscany Spice mix and six bags of flavored sugar. No idea what I was going to do with them, but now I have evil plans that nearly all involve topping scones.

Okay so yes, blueberry infused sugar is a specialty ingredient that negates my promise of keeping things simple. But it’s an optional topping that I really only used because when else am I going to use blueberry sugar? Totally fine to leave off and keep things easy-peasy (and quiet). If you want to find it, check out www.spiceandtea.com or attempt to make your own with sugar and dehydrated blueberry puree. Though that takes you out of the easy peasy realm so…not my fault.

Note that this scone dough gets wetter the more you work with it. All fresh fruit scones do this because some of the fruit gets mashed up and starts releasing their juices. So make sure to dip the cutter in flour before cutting in to compensate. Toppings are just as classic as these scones: clotted cream, whipped cream either sweetened or unsweetened, and lemon curd are all fantastic.

Let’s keep things simple, predictable, and easy, with no loud bangs if you please.

blueberry scones

ingredients

• 200 grams (1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp) all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) ultrafine baking sugar
• ¾ cup fresh blueberries
• 150-200 mL heavy whipping cream
• Optional: Blueberry Sugar, or sub for turbinado sugar to keep the crunch and sparkle

 

Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Oven rack should be in the top third of the oven. Pour blueberry sugar into a small bowl and set aside as well.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a medium-large mixing bowl. Add blueberries and toss to evenly disburse, careful not to break berries.

Add 150 mL heavy cream to flour mixture and lightly work into a dough. Add additional cream 1 tablespoon at a time until all ingredients come together. Dough should have come together without being wet. Do not overwork the dough, always opt to add a little bit more cream instead of kneading it extra to incorporate leftover flour.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat dough to ½ in thickness (or other desired thickness). Cut out scones with a 5 cm crimped biscuit cutter.  OPTIONAL Roll tops of scones in blueberry sugar (or turbinado sugar) and place on baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until edges are beginning to lightly brown and tops of scones are firm but not burnt.

Cool on a wire rack immediately.