What is the perfect scone for you?
Imagine a scone that is crisp on the outside, yet soft, moist, and buttery inside. For added flavor, imagine a burst of blueberry and lemon flavor.
That would be a bestseller, right?
John Kanell of the Preppy Kitchen shares a recipe close to his heart. When he found the secret to baking the perfect scones, he knew he had to share it.
What’s nice is that this recipe is super easy.
You’ll need the following:
- 1 large egg
- Lemon zest
- 1/3 cup of white sugar
- 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup of heavy cream
John’s recipe included incorporating lemon zest into the white sugar. To do this, get a large bowl, put in your sugar, and grate some lemon zest. Using your clean hands, work that zest into the sugar.
You’ll notice that the zest of the lemon would release some oils and will mix with the sugar. Can you smell it?
Once done, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add cold cut-up butter and work it into the flour mixture. You can use a pastry blender but it’s better to use your hands.
Pressing the pieces of butter between your fingers. You don’t have to worry about the sizes, though. You can have bigger chunks of butter and some pea-sized.
Add in your blueberries.
Next, get a small bowl, combine, and whisk your cream and one egg. Slowly pour the mixture into your dry ingredients. Using your spatula, mix until well incorporated.
Be careful and take your time. We don’t want to burst the blueberries yet.
Flour your work area and turn out the dough. Knead it gently a few times to shape it into a ball.
Next, you need to lightly press the dough into an 8-inch circle. Proceed to cut it into 8 wedges.
Get your baking sheet and place your parchment paper. Put your wedges on the baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes or longer.
Before taking it out from the freezer, make sure that you preheat the oven to 400F.
Get your scones from the freezer and transfer them to a large baking sheet. Make sure to place them about 2 inches apart.
Once you are done, brush lightly with more cream and sprinkle with sugar.
Then, it’s time to bake. Bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops are lightly brown. Make sure that the bottom edges of your scones are golden.
Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Tips from John:
- The butter needs to be cold. The butter chunks will melt in the oven with the scones, leaving you with flaky scones.
- Try not to overwork the dough. If you do, gluten will form, making your scones chewy.
- Make sure to use the proper flour measurement. Too much flour makes the dough dry, which prevents the blueberry scones from rising and causes them to crumble after baking.
- Use a scale to measure flour for the best results. It’s one of the best investments that you can have.
- If you don’t have fresh blueberries, frozen ones are also okay. Add them frozen and make sure to add more baking time.
Excited to try them out? Go ahead and create your delicious scones.
Watch the full tutorial below.
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