Blueberry scones

My mom’s English scone recipe: flaky, crumbly, buttery, and bursting with berries.

(By the way, it’s pronounced “scon”—rhymes with on, not cone.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (260 g)
• ⅓ cup sugar (65 g)
• 2 tsp. baking powder (10 g)
• ⅛ salt
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, frozen and grated (85 g)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (150 g)*
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk or cream (120 ml) (plus a little extra for brushing tops of scones)

*You can use frozen blueberries, but they might turn your batter an unattractive greyish-purple.

Steps

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend frozen butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

In a measuring jug, combine cream, beaten egg, and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir just until dough comes together. Do not over-mix or scones will be tough.

Note: To keep the scones light and soft, limit the amount of liquid you add to the dough. Reserve 10% of the egg-vanilla-cream mixture, and only add it if the dough seems really dry. Dough will seem dry at first, but will form a ball with a little work. (Minimize your handling of the dough so the butter stays cold, which will help keep the scones flaky.)

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently four or five times, then pat dough into an oval, about half an inch (1.3 cm) thick.

Sprinkle blueberries on half the oval, then fold the other half over and press down gently to seal. (This prevents the blueberries from bursting like they would if you tried to mix them into the dough earlier.)

Cut dough into triangular scone shapes, or use a cookie cutter. Place scones onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops with milk or cream.

Bake at 400° F (205° C) for 18-22 min or until tops are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Scones are best eaten on the day they are made, but can be stored in an air-tight container for a few days.