Buttery, tender scones are made even better with the addition of wild blueberries in every bite and a simple blueberry glaze drizzled over the top for a sweet finish. These Maine Wild Blueberry Scones are a perfectly wonderful start to your day or a great afternoon treat!
There is something so celebratory of a sweet breakfast treat like a scone! If you like these wild blueberry scones, you might also want to try my Raspberry Streusel Muffins or Blackberry Turnovers!
It’s Maine Week on House of Nash Eats and I’m celebrating by kicking things off with these Wild Blueberry Scones that are simply divine! Seriously, my husband used to think he hated scones, but now he loves them thanks to these beauties (and my other scone recipes that convinced him how delicious they actually can be!).
If you are new to my site, I have an ongoing series where I’m visiting each state, one at a time, by making some of the recipes or using ingredients that they are best known for. It’s called American Eats and it’s so much fun exploring another place from the comfort of my kitchen!
Paul and I visited Maine years ago on an East Coast trip that we took during law school for a conference that was held at Harvard. After the conference was over, we drove to up Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
While we didn’t actually eat any blueberry scones during our time in Maine, they were one of the first things I thought of when I was brainstorming recipe ideas to represent the Pine Tree State. That’s probably because of the children’s picture book “Blueberries for Sal” which was written by Robert McCloskey in 1948. It’s one of my favorite children’s books and it is set in Maine, where McCloskey spent a lot of time during the summers when wild blueberry picking was at its peak.
My only problem was I didn’t know where I could possibly get my hands on any Maine wild blueberries seeing as how I’m living on the opposite coast in California. Fortunately, I just happened to be walking through the freezer aisle at my local grocery store and found a brand called Wyman’s that is from Maine, selling frozen wild Maine blueberries! Bingo!
This post isn’t sponsored by Wyman’s, but I have to say that their blueberries were just wonderful! They had such a fantastic sweet flavor and they are smaller than the average blueberries that we see fresh. It’s a family owned company based out of Maine and they actually sell a number of other frozen fruits, as well as dried wild Maine blueberries and blueberry juice through their website.
It took me a few tries to get these scones just right. I think I made 6 or 7 batches while trying to solve the issue of too much moisture from the frozen blueberries, which resulted in more of a muffin-top texture than an actual scone. The trick is to completely thaw the blueberries first, then drain off the juice, saving it for a glaze.
Speaking of the glaze, it’s totally optional, but visually super appealing. The color is totally natural and comes from the blueberry juice rather than any food coloring (affiliate link). I love how vibrant it is, even if it doesn’t actually taste very blueberry-ish.
Honestly though, I love these scones just as much without the glaze. There is just something so wholesome and comforting about a fresh scone sprinkled with coarse sugar on top for a little sparkle!
I like them both ways and still haven’t decided which I like best.
Scone Ingredients
These scones are what I think of as “American-style scones” with fruit in them. They are actually pretty similar to a biscuit in terms of ingredients and technique.
- All-purpose flour: When measuring flour, it’s best to spoon it into your measuring cup and scoop it off the top. Never pack the flour into your measuring cups.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar gives a nice, subtle sweetness to the scones. Then coarse sanding sugar is sprinkled on top for more sweetness and crunch. If you decide to make the optional glaze, you will need a little powdered sugar as well.
- Salted butter: The secret to really excellent scones is to use very cold butter. I even stick mine in the freezer so it’s super cold and easy to grate.
- Heavy cream: This ingredient adds wonderful richness and flavor to the scones.
- Egg: An egg helps bind everything together.
- Leavening agents: Baking powder and baking soda work together to lift the scones while they bake so they are light.
- Salt: A little salt helps make all the other flavors pop and keeps the scones from tasting bland.
- Vanilla: I almost always use a little vanilla in my baked goods for the best overall flavor.
- Blueberries: I highly recommend you look for frozen wild Maine blueberries to make these scones. You can use the larger, fresh blueberries available in the store instead, but you won’t have as many blueberries to each bite of scone.
How do you make blueberry scones from scratch?
- Prep: Start by preheating the oven to 400°F. The high temperature helps lift the scone and start it baking quickly before the butter completely melts.
- Combine dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Grate the butter over the flour mixture: Toss the butter in flour, then cut it in using a pastry cutter so it’s evenly dispersed.
- Add liquid ingredients: In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the cream and vanilla extract. Add this to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until a shaggy dough starts to come together. Add the blueberries, gently mixing them in as well. The dough will be very loose, but that’s okay.
- Press and knead the dough until it comes together. Turn the shaggy dough out onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Use the paper to press the dough together, sort of lifting and kneading it a couple of times until it can be shaped into an 8-inch disc. If it’s warm in your house, you might want to stick it in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Cut and shape the scones: Cut into 8 wedges using a sharp knife or a bench scraper. Space the scones apart on the baking sheet, then brush with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Refrigerate for 15 minutes so the butter is nice and cold before baking.
- Bake: Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until the scones are golden brown on top.
- Glaze: While the scones are cooling, make the simple blueberry glaze by whisking the powdered sugar with enough of the reserved blueberry juice, the vanilla, and salt to make a nice glaze. If you need to thin it out more, you can use additional juice or some cream. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones. The glaze will dry and set after an hour, if you can wait that long.
Can you freeze scones?
Yes, these scones can be frozen if they haven’t been glazed first. To freeze, let the scones cool completely, then transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter and rewarm in the microwave for a few seconds before serving. You can always make a simple (albeit less dramatic), vanilla glaze just by replacing the blueberry juice with cream or milk.
My tips for making the best scones
- Be sure to use COLD ingredients. The cream, butter, and eggs should all be cold for the best results. I swear by using frozen butter in my scones.
- Don’t overmix. It’s tempting to keep mixing the dough since there isn’t a whole lot of liquid involved and it doesn’t want to come together. Parchment paper is your friend and will help you pat the dough into a disc that is tight enough to hold it’s shape and not crumble to pieces once cut into scones.
- Don’t skip chilling the scones again before baking. This serves a couple of purposes actually. It ensures the ingredients are cold going into the oven for the best reaction. But it also lets the moisture disperse a bit throughout the scones as the dry ingredients absorb some of it without additional mixing.
More Delicious Scone Recipes
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Maine Wild Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
Scones
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup very cold butter I use frozen salted butter, cubed
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/2 cup heavy cream plus extra for brushing on the tops of the scones
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons coarse sanding sugar for sprinkling
- 1 cup frozen wild blueberries thawed completely, reserving juice
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons blueberry juice from thawed blueberries
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Additional cream or milk if needed
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Grate the butter over the flour mixture. Toss to coat the butter in flour, then cut it in using a pastry cutter. A food processor (affiliate link) could also be used.½ cup very cold butter
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the cream and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until a shaggy dough starts to come together. Add in the thawed blueberries towards the end so they are evenly dispersed. It’s very much like a biscuit dough.1 large egg, ½ cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
- Turn the shaggy dough out onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Use the paper to lift and press the dough together, kneading it a couple of times until it can be shaped into an 8-inch disc. If it’s warm in your house, you might want to stick it in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Cut the disc into 8 wedges using a sharp knife or bench scraper. Space them out on the baking sheet, then brush the top of each scone with a little extra cream and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Refrigerate for 15 minutes so the butter is nice and cold before baking.2-3 Tablespoons coarse sanding sugar
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until the scones are golden brown on top.
- While the scones are cooling, make the simple blueberry glaze by whisking the powdered sugar with enough of the reserved blueberry juice, the vanilla, and salt to make a nice glaze. If you need to thin it out more, you can use additional juice or some cream.1 cup powdered sugar, 2-3 Tablespoons blueberry juice from thawed blueberries, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, Additional cream or milk, Pinch of salt
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones. The glaze will dry and set after an hour, if you can wait that long.
Notes
- Freezing instructions: Scones will freeze well if they haven’t been glazed. Just let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-safe airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter and rewarm in the microwave for a few seconds before enjoying.
- Using fresh blueberries: Fresh blueberries can be used in place of frozen, although you won’t have the juice for the glaze. A simple vanilla glaze made with milk or cream instead of juice can be used instead. You can also use regular, larger blueberries in place of the smaller wild Maine blueberries. There just won’t be as many blueberries to each bite of scone.
Nutrition
More States I Have Visited in my American Eats Series
Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • New Jersey • New York • Oregon • Puerto Rico • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Utah • Wisconsin
I love this recipe! I love scones but don’t always have heavy cream on hand. These scones are just as good as full fat recipes if not better. Great texture on the outside with fluff on the inside,just beautiful Thank you so much for sharing.
I haven’t made scones in about 20yrs-yikes I can’t believe it’s been that long. I had a good recipie and made them often adding in different fruits, nuts or flavors but over the years I eliminated flour/gluten from my diet and got rid of my cookbooks. Now I have an occasional wheat product but not on the daily. I do appreciate the rustic texture and mine had a nice crumb not too dry but not spongy. I appreciate the advice of using cold butter and cooling the scones before baking. I have started to do that with cookies also-leave in fridge over night and bake the next day. Thank you 🙂
Yes, cooling helps so much with flavors and keeping the shape. I’m glad you liked these!