The Best Blackberry Scones. A Simple and quick recipe.

These delicious fruity blackberry scones are packed full of juicy berries, and best of all, they come together quickly. With just the right amount of sweetness, they make for a delightful afternoon treat, especially when enjoyed with a warm cup of tea.

Blackberries

Blackberries grow wild across much of the world, and here in BC, they thrive almost everywhere. You’ll find them in fields, gardens, ditches, and along roadsides—popping up anywhere they can take root. That’s why I’m always surprised to see them for sale at garden centers. Then again, the cultivated varieties are thornless, which makes them tempting in their own way.

In the UK these plants are known as brambles and I think that name suits this prickly plant. Even though this plant does appear menacing the blackberry fruit redeems it making bramble a perfect name, that is to me. Plus I have a soft spot for the brambly hedge books that I read as a child. If you love cute animal cottagey stories then these are for you. Check out the brambly books here.

Tools and Ingredients for Blackberry Scones

Here are a few suggested tools as well as a list of ingredients you will need for this blackberry scone recipe.

Tools:

• Measuring spoons and cups or a kitchen scale.
• Mixing bowl, a large bowl enables you to work with the scone mixture easily.
• Jug or bowl, this will be for mixing the wet ingredients together before adding them to the dry.
• Wooden spoon
• Knife or a dough scraper, these scrapers are fantastic for cutting dough I use mine all the time.
• Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat
• Cooling rack, maybe not a kitchen essential, but every baker should have one.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour, this is a plain white flour always try and use a good quality flour if you can. Even if it is just plain white flour it makes all the difference.
• Salted Butter, use unsalted if you prefer.
• Sugar, I have used granulated for this recipe but you can use castor (berry). I would just reduce the amount a little.
• Baking powder, the rising agent that is needed in nearly all baking recipes it should be a pantry staple.
• Egg, large sized and preferably not right out of the fridge letting it get up to room temperature is ideal when making any scones.
• Milk, any milk will work for this recipe including cow alternatives if you can have lactose.
• Yogurt, for a lot of scone recipes you use buttermilk this helps to keep them moist but I have found yogurt does the same. It adds a wonderful flavour to the scone.
• Vanilla extract, this is optional and not an essential ingredient.
• Blackberries, they are the key ingredient. This recipe calls for frozen berries meaning the recipe can be enjoyed all year round.

How to make Blackberry Scones

Start the recipe by defrosting the frozen blackberries they hold excess water when frozen which needs to drain off.

Take the flour, sugar, baking powder and room temperature, place them in a large mixing bowl. You will also want to preheat your oven at this time.

There are a few options for rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients you can use your hand which is the method I prefer. You can also use an electric beater or a stand mixer, these can speed the process up if you are short on time.

Once the butter has been rubbed in and there are no longer any lumps of butter remaining prepare the wet ingredients.

Into a small jug add the egg, yogurt, milk and vanilla. Beat them until the egg’s fully incorporated.

Add the wet ingredient mixture to the dry and bring it together roughly using a wooden spoon at first and then using your hands. Just before it comes together add the defrosted blackberries.

This can get messy, the blackberries will still be quite wet and soft. So, gently bring the scone dough together to form a ball.

Shape and Bake

Place this dough ball onto a well floured surface and using your hands flatten it out to around one and half to two inches thick disc. Cut this into eight wedges and carefully place them onto a line cookie sheet.

Place the scones into the preheated oven and bake for around twenty minutes.

When you remove the scones from the oven let them stand on the tray for a few minutes before transferring them over to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Tips for Making Blackberry Scones

Never over knead the dough otherwise your scones will be tough and chewy.

These scones are based on American scones, reduce the sugar and use a cookie cutter to turn them into more of an English style scone.

You can use fresh blackberries if you have them.

If you don’t want dry scones then do not overbake them.

The defrosted blackberries are pretty soft and will break up so you will need to be gentle when adding them.

The butter should be at room temperature. This will make it easy to rub in.

Have the egg at room temperature too if you can. A tip I learned was to run it under warm water to take the cold edge off it.