Buttermilk Blackberry Scones Recipe

Scones are basically the cousin of muffins, and they have a lot of similarities, most notably their irresistibly sweet taste. That being said, there's a pretty good argument to choose a scone over a muffin: Scones are generally a little more firm than muffins and they don't fall apart super easily, making them easier to eat on the go and a little less messy. Most of the time, scones also boasted a nice glaze on top, adding a little more sweetness to the already-sweet breakfast treat. Plain and simple — scones are one of the most popular sweet breakfast treats, and they're surprisingly easy to make in your own kitchen.

Recipe developer Jessica Morone came up with this buttermilk blackberry scone recipe that makes the best kickstarter to your day. "I love the flavors in this recipe, the sweetness of the blackberries is perfectly balanced with the tart lemon glaze in these light and flaky scones," Morone raves. She also explains why she loves the addition of buttermilk, stating that it "is more acidic than regular milk, so it helps to make the scones rise and also helps to break down the gluten in the dough making the scones more tender." Keep reading to find out how to make what's sure to be your new-favorite scone! 

If you bake a lot, you may already have some ingredients for this recipe in your pantry. When you go to the store, you will need all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, lemon zest, unsalted butter, an egg, buttermilk, vanilla Greek Yogurt, vanilla extract, blackberries, fresh lemon juice, and powdered sugar.

Since you will need your oven to make this dish, preheat it to 400 F. Then, grab a large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper, which will prevent the scones from sticking to the baking sheet. Set it to the side for the time being since you won't need it quite yet.

Then, take out a large bowl and add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and lemon zest. Use a whisk to mix together and combine.

Now, grab your butter, a cutting board, and a knife. Cut the butter into ¼-inch cubes and toss them into the dry ingredients. Continue mixing with your hands until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Then, you can move onto the next step. 

Take out a small bowl and start adding the wet ingredients to it. This includes the egg, buttermilk, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract. Use a whisk to combine them well. "I put vanilla Greek yogurt in these scones as the special ingredient because it is flavored yogurt and not just plain, it adds a nice extra flavor. It also adds some extra moisture to these scones," Morone explains. 

Another pro tip? "You want to use very cold ingredients, so the butter, egg yogurt and buttermilk should all be cold," Morone shares. "This helps to make the scones flaky." 

Now, it's time to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Just fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just moistened.

Toss the blackberries into the bowl that has the batter and gently fold until everything is well incorporated. "Make sure you don't over-mix or over-handle the dough, you want to mix only until everything comes together and be very gentle when you are handling the dough, because otherwise the scones can end up tough and chewy," Morone notes. 

Then, go ahead and transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to shape the dough into an 8-inch circle. From there, cut the dough into eight equal-sized wedges and transfer them to the baking sheet you prepared in step one.

Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the scone with the last two tablespoons of buttermilk. 

Now, they're ready to go into the oven. Set your timer for 18-20 minutes and continue cooking until the tops of the scone turn a nice golden brown color.

Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and then mix together the glaze. All you need to do is combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar together. Then, drizzle the glaze over the warm scones.

Time to dig in! The scones make an excellent kickstarter for the morning and pair well with a cup of coffee or tea. Morone also provides a few additional serving suggestions that improve these already-great scones. "Because of the lemon glaze on these I think they are perfect to eat all by themselves," she says. "But if you want to add something to these you could cut them in half and add some lemon curd, jam, or butter to them. They go really well with a cup of coffee in the morning as well." 

This batch will last for a while! "If you store these at room temperature they are good for 1-2 days, or you can refrigerate them for up to a week," Morone says. We hope they hit the spot!