Blueberry Scones

I’ve been making scones for a long time and it just dawned on me that I haven’t done a proper post on this quintessential English treat.  Thank God (and my boss) for an extra day off so I was able to bake scones again.  Such pure bliss!

I don’t like hard and dry scones.  I love them flaky on the outside and moist on the inside. The key to making good if not the best scones is in the butter and milk used to make the dough.  The butter should be really cold- in fact I store the cubes in the freezer and would just take it out when ready to use.  The milk should also be cold hence I avoid using my bare hands too much because they get warm while working the dough.  A rubber spatula may be used to combine/fold the ingredients together and just use the hands when ready to cut the dough into pieces.

There are discussions about frozen blueberries bleeding when used for baking and this post is proof that it can be avoided.  I emptied two bags of frozen blueberries in a colander on a glass bowl to thaw and drain last Monday morning.  I kept it in the fridge covered with paper towel and today, used a cup and a half today for my scones. Here’s how I did it:

Start by sifting together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 3 tablespoons sugar.  Reserve two tablepoons after thoroughly mixed for the blueberries.

 Add in cubed butter (well chilled)

 Using a pastry cutter, cut into the flour until crumbly and you see bits of butter no bigger than the  size of pea  

 Make a well at the center and pour 1 cup milk (I used 1/2 cup whole milk whisked with 1/2 pkg  cream cheese which I nuked to melt)

  I used this rubber scraper to mix all the ingredients together

I added 1 1/2 cup of blueberries towards the end.  These are frozen ones that I left in a colander inside the fridge for two days.  This is proof that frozen blueberries won't bleed if well drained.  Just let it thaw in a colander and leave it for as long as you can but inside the fridge.

The dough looked like it's not going to hold the extra blueberries I added.  I'm supposed to make a log but it turned out oval. 

I sliced the dough into four equal parts then made triangles out of each portion.  Arranged in a parchment-lined jelly roll pan and brushed the tops with milk 

 I sprinkled Demerara sugar on top for crunch; baked at 400 degrees F for 25-28 minutes.

And VOILA!  The scones are ready!  No bleeding, yeah?

Flaky outside but moist and tender inside but I need more blueberry flavor so I made a glaze from a cup of sifted powdered sugar whisked with a tablespoon of milk and a teaspoon of blueberry flavoring

Now I smell the blueberries and got the sweetness I need.  The dough had only 3 tablespoons sugar in it so the glaze did the trick.  Nothing compares to fresh blueberries but it doesn't mean you can't use frozen ones and they came out delicious too!