Blackberry scones drizzled with a simple lemon glaze makes for a delicious brunch or “I love you” breakfast.
No matter where I live, I love to get out and find ways to take advantage of the natural harvest that is all around us.
Whether that is blueberry and cranberry picking on the tundra or Harvesting a moose in the wilderness…
Or hauling in salmon from the Prince William Sound in Valdez, Alaska.
When we lived in North Carolina, I was out geocaching one day, when I came upon a huge blackberry patch. There were blossoms everywhere. Several weeks later I went back to check on their progress and I was amazed. It was the mother lode! These blackberries were so big and plentiful that I could fill an entire colander or mixing bowl without ever moving my feet.
One year, I measured how many berries I had picked. Then I went to a grocery store and found out how much a little container of organic blackberries were. At that store, the little container that held about a cup of organic blackberries was $6.
That year I picked 12 gallons of blackberries. Twelve Gallons.
$6 a cup, 16 cups in a gallon, 12 gallons of berries = $1152.00 in blackberries!!!! And all it cost me was my time.
I would go home, clean the berries, and then make several batches of jelly, preserves, and fill many many freezer containers with the beauties. We would have blackberry goodies all year long. I went back to my secret blackberry patch every summer after I had found it. I never told anyone where it was until I moved away from the state.
There was only one exception to my “no tell” rule. My good friend and neighbor, Pam, went picking with me and I taught her how to make jelly the last summer we were there.
One of the my favorite things to make with the bounty I had stashed away in my freezer were these delicious blackberry scones. I made them quite often. Now that we are living back in the south again, I am on the hunt once more for another secret blackberry patch.
To begin, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
In a small bowl, place 1 cup of frozen blackberries. Sprinkle them with a tablespoon of flour and set them back in the freezer, so you don’t end up with mush.
In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, three tablespoons of sugar, and 1/8 tsp of salt. Stir those together.
Slice up 6 tablespoons of cold butter and drop it into the flour mixture.
With a pastry blender…or in a pinch, two butter knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are no pieces that are larger than a pea.
In a measuring cup, combine 1 cup of half & half and a tablespoon of vanilla.
Stir it in. Mmmm…that smells heavenly.
Pour the creamy mixture into the mixing bowl and stir everything together until just mixed.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
Now you are going to pull the blackberries out of the freezer and gently work them into the dough.
Pat the dough into a square shape, about 3/4 inch thick.
Cut the dough into 4 squares.
Cut each square diagonally into two triangles.
Place the wedges on a baking sheet or stone.
Grab another half tablespoon of cold butter and cut it into 8 little pieces.
Place a butter bit on the center of each scone.
Put them in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until they are a lovely golden color.
Place the hot scones on a rack that is positioned over a sheet of foil or parchment paper – this makes clean-up easier.
Now these scones are wunderbar!…but this is what puts them over the top.
You need 1 cup of powdered sugar in a small dish.
Add to that 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Whisk it smooth.
And drizzle the glaze over the top of the warm scones.
Drool.
Wild Blackberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
For the Scones:
- 2 c +3 Tb flour, divided*
- 1 Tb baking powder
- 3 Tb sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 6 ½ Tb cold butter, divided*
- 1 Tb vanilla
- 1 c cold half & half
- 1 c frozen blackberries
For the Glaze:
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 3 Tb lemon juice
Instructions
For the Scones:
- To begin, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the frozen blackberries in a small bowl and toss with 1 Tb of the flour. Put the bowl back in the freezer or you will end up with mush instead of berries.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining flour, baking powder, salt, & sugar. Cut 6 tablespoons of the butter into small pieces and then "cut" the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The butter should not have any pieces larger than a pea.
- Measure your half & half and then stir the vanilla into it. Pour the mixture into the center of your dry ingredients and stir it together until just combined.
- Take the blackberries out of the freezer and, with floured hands, gently work the blackberries into the dough.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a square-ish shape, about 3/4 inch thick. With a knife, cut the dough in half each way, making 4 squares. Cut each square diagonally making 8 triangles. Place the triangles onto a baking sheet or stone. (I have a well-seasoned baking stone, you may want to line your stone/sheet with parchment paper.)
- Take the remaining 1/2 Tb of cold butter and cut it into 8 tiny pieces. Place one piece on top of each scone.
- Bake for about 15-17 minutes, until scones are just turning golden brown.
- Remove them to a cooling rack that has been placed over a sheet of parchment paper or foil (for easy clean-up).
For the Glaze:
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle it over the top of the scones.Enjoy!
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
Unit Conversions:
Unit Conversion for measurements (if displayed), going from US to Metric is an auto-generated conversion. If you are using the metric measurements, please double-check to confirm that these are accurate with your favorite preferred conversion tool.
OMG these are seriously the best ever scones to come out of my oven!! Normally my scones are like little rocks, but these are freakin amazing!! So light, fluffy and airy. Thanks for sharing!!
That makes me so happy to hear Eleanor! Truly tickled that you enjoyed them :)
How do 8 triangles yield 12 servings? Am I missing something? I am still going to use your recipe this morning. I retired from a very technical industrial career 20+ years ago
and am not trying to be offensive.
I substituted frozen wild Maine blueberries and the scones were fabulous. What an easy and yummy Christmas morning treat! Thanks for recipe!
Wild blueberries are the best!!! Merry Christmas!
Wow! Those look great! We did the same this year with wild cranberries!
Mmm… you are so lucky to be able to pick berries! We have citrus trees, but berries don’t grow too well down where I live.
My husband was just asking me if I could bake some scones for him. These look like the perfect scones for me!
And what a little cutie you have in the photo above! :)
Nothing nicer than a beautiful scone. So going to need to stock-up on blackberries.
Love your journey and love these pics — I especially love this recipe since I am a total blackberry lover!
You make making scones sound so easy! Keeping your stash secret must have been torture!
Oh, I love scones so much! I haven’t yet made blackberry scones though. I need to correct that!
Wow!! Send me some of those (berries or scones!) They look so tasty
I love freshly picked blackberries, and my dad picks them for me every year, but this year the crop just wasn’t there. I also cannot get enough wild Alaskan salmon. King is my favorite and I routinely have it shipped to me. One of the greatest foods in the world.
Wow, that was a lot of blackberries! Grumpy really wants to go on a Moose hunt. I hope he can do it someday soon!
I adore scones and homemade are even better. With blackberries, the best. Great post and pictures!!
I’m a little envious of that secret blackberry bush and those scones. They look delicious and I can see how that lemon glaze would put it over the top.
Oh, my gosh. I wish I had some of your fabulous blackberries in my freezer. You are now officially the Queen of foraging :) Great recipe, too.
I hope you do find a secret blackberry patch near you soon. There are some blackberries in the woods behind my house but nothing like the patch you described. When I see the berries next year I’ll be sure to pick some and make these scones.
Blackberry Scones??? Can I come over for breakfast?? These look so good!
You’re always invited! :)
What beautiful scones, Constance! What an impressive haul of blackberries you were able to pick! I wouldn’t have told anyone either! Crossing my fingers that you come across your secret patch next season.
Thank you Stacy!!
What extraordinary experiences you’ve had, Constance! I do hope you discover another berry patch near your home =) Speaking of extraordinary … your scones do look extraordinarily scrumptious!
P.s. Like those blues streaks in your hair =) Very cool and hip. (You do still use those words, don’t you?)
LOL, thank you Kim!!