As you may have heard, the East Coast got slammed with a blizzard. In anticipation of being snowed in for days, I’m staying with my parents since Boyfriend has to work downtown. Yesterday when I woke up and their was almost 2 feet of snow outside, I decided to make muffins. After about 20 minutes of browsing through my Pinterest board, I decided on these blueberry scones. I haven’t made very many scones, but love that they’re a slightly sweet, but not overly indulgent and make a delicious breakfast or teacoffee-time snack. And these scones have an AMAZING texture. They’re crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, super delicious with a little bit of jam.
If you’re like me, you don’t usually have buttermilk on hand. So a quick trick is to measure out the milk and then add a splash of white vinegar to the milk. Let that sit while you make the dough to give it time to sour, then you can just add it in when you need the buttermilk. Easy, and no leftover buttermilk that you don’t know what to do with/can’t use up in a timely manner (although I hear that if you have leftover buttermilk you can freeze it…I haven’t tried that though).
What’s your favorite snowstorm treat?
Blueberry Scones
Makes 12 large scones (if that’s too many for you, halve the recipe, or form the scones and freeze the dough, let thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake in the morning)
Adapted from Alexandra Cooks
- 4 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 sticks (1 cup) + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, very cold
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or milk with a splash of vinegar)
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (don’t thaw the blueberries)
For Tops
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted
- Sugar for sprinkling, regular or turbinado
Preheat oven to 400°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large food processor, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Pulse a few time to mix the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into 1/2″ pieces and add to the food processor, pulse several times until the butter is about pea sized and well dispersed. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
If you don’t have a food processor, freeze the butter, while you combine the dry ingredients and the lemon zest in a large bowl and stir. Use a box grater to grate the butter quickly, or just cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the butter is about pea-sized and well dispersed.
Pour in the buttermilk and add the blueberries, and mix by hand until the mixture comes together. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more buttermilk (I added maybe a 1/4 cup more), until the mixture holds together.
Flour a clean work surface and divide the dough in two. Shape the dough in flat rounds that are about 1 1/2″ tall. Spread melted butter over the tops and sprinkle with sugar. Cut each round into 6 wedges (for 12 total), and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 22-28 minutes, or until golden. Serve with butter and/or jam.
