Blackberry Scones are tender, buttery, lightly sweet, and packed with juicy blackberries.  These fruity, American-style scones are perfect for an afternoon snack or a lazy weekend morning.  

Blackberry Scones

We love to make these blackberry scones every summer when we can get blackberries at their freshest, plumpiest, juiciest best.  We try to visit a local u-pick berry picking patch each year, just for the fun of picking our own blackberries right off the bushes.  It’s one of our favorite activities as a family.

Then we make all sorts of delicious berry treats like blackberry swirl ice cream, blackberry nectarine crumble, and homemade blackberry pie.  And these blackberry scones, of course.

My husband was never a fan of scones until he tried these twice-glazed pumpkin scones.  I mean, glazed scones are sort of like donuts, so it makes sense.

You could absolutely glaze these blackberry scones as well.  Half the time I make these I use a honey butter glaze that is super yummy!  But I love blackberry scones with just a little coarse sugar to add a little sparkle, crunch, and extra sweetness to the tops of the golden scones, without the stronger, more in-your-face approach of the honey butter glaze.  It’s not an easy choice, but the good news is you can’t go wrong either way.

What is the difference between British scones and American scones?

Scones are originally from Great Britain, and are traditionally served at tea time with butter, cream and jam.  The scones are most often plain, although sometimes dried currants or raisins are added in.

These fruity blackberry scones are an American adaptation, where mix-ins like fruit or chocolate are much more the norm.  I fell in love with American-style scones when I was working at a law firm in Palo Alto and one of the secretaries who loved to bake would bring in dozens of scones in all sorts of wonderful flavor combinations once a month for the office to enjoy.  It was always exciting to get the email blast that it was a surprise scone day and all the associates and partners in that wing of the building would gather to take a scone break together.  Those were fun days!

Another difference between British scones and American scones is the fat ratio.  British scones have less butter included in the scone dough.  And less sugar too.  But that is because their scones are sliced open and then slathered in butter and jam before eating them.  All the flavors are built in to American-style scones so that there is typically no need to top with butter or jam before consuming them.

How do you pronounce the word “scone”?

When it comes to pronouncing the word “scone”, it’s more cut and dry in the U.S. than in England.  Here, most of us use the pronunciation of scone with the long “o” that rhymes with “bone”.

But across the pond, barely more than half of Britons pronounce it “scawn”, which rhymes with “gone”.  It can depend on which area of Great Britain you are from, since folks in northern England and Scotland tend to favor the “scawn” pronunciation, while those in the midlands and London regions are much more likely to use the pronunciation most Americans are familiar with with the long “o” vowel sound.

How do you make fruit scones?

This cream scone base really works for almost any fruit scone variation you would like to make–blueberry scones, raspberry scones, peach scones, cherry scones, and so on.  You could also add lemon, lime or orange zest along with your favorite fruit for additional tasty flavor combinations.

The important thing to know about adding fruit to scones is to just fold in the fruit right at the very end when the scone dough has almost completely come together.  Blackberries and raspberries are delicate and can become a squishy mess if you work them into the dough too much, staining the dough (and your hands) purple or pink.  So I just sprinkle them around and fold them into the dough once or twice, then pat out the scone dough and cut them out.

I love how the blackberries provide bursts of sweetness in the perfectly tender and slightly sweet scone.

How do you make the perfect scone?

Too many scones that I have tried are dry, crumbly affairs that taste like sad cousins to a buttermilk biscuit.  But understanding a few key things about scone creation will help you achieve wonderful, tender scones every time!

• Scones need a light touch.  Handle the scone dough as little as possible because overworking it can make the scones come out tough and heavy like hockey pucks, rather than light and tender.
• Pat out the scone dough rather than rolling it.  Scones don’t rise much, so it doesn’t take much to pat the dough out flat and keep it nice and thick.
• When cutting out the scones, dip the cutter in flour to keep the dough from sticking to it.
• The secret to great scones is using cold butter. The cold butter in the dough melts in the oven and releases steam, creating airy pockets in the scone.  Some people swear by using grated frozen butter, but I find that just really cold, cubed butter from the fridge cut into the flour with a pastry cutter works just fine for me.  The most important part is to not let the butter, or the dough once the butter has been added, sit out long, which could allow the butter to come up to room temperature rather than staying cold.
• When adding the beaten egg and cream to the flour mixture, I like to just use a fork to mix them together.  I feel like it gives me better control so I don’t overwork the dough.
• Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk using a pastry brush to help them turn a beautiful golden brown color.
• And finally, scones are best served warm, although you can make them ahead and reheat in a low oven.  But they really are best when eaten within a day or two of making them.

Blackberry Scones

Yield: 8 scones

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Blackberry Scones are tender, buttery, lightly sweet, and packed with juicy blackberries.  These fruity, American-style scones are perfect for an afternoon snack or a lazy weekend morning.  

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Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• Coarse sugar, for sprinkling
• 1 cup blackberries

Optional Honey Butter Glaze

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together to combine. Add the cold butter, cutting it in with a pastry cutter, using your fingers or a food processor, or grating it in and tossing to coat with the flour mixture. until only pea-sized pieces of cold butter remain. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and cream together, then pour into the flour mixture and mix with a fork, just until a shaggy dough comes together.  Sprinkle the berries over the dough and lightly knead the dough in bowl 2-3 time just to combine, being careful not to crush the berries too much.
4. Turn out the scone dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a long, 1"-thick rectangle or round. Cut into 8 wedges with a sharp knife or bench scraper, then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each scone with a little cream using a pastry brush and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the scones are golden brown.  Remove from oven.  Serve warm or continue with the next step to add a honey butter glaze.
5. While the scones are baking, make the glaze (if desired) by microwaving the honey and butter in a microwave safe bowl for 1-1/2 minutes.  When the scones are done baking, remove them from the oven and brush with half of the honey butter glaze, then cool for 15 minutes, and brush again with the remaining glaze.  Serve warm.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 543 Saturated Fat: 19g Cholesterol: 117mg Sodium: 390mg Carbohydrates: 59g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 20g Protein: 6g