(Recipe can be found on the America’s Test Kitchen site here…it’s so worth having a membership to this site. I’ve made tons of great recipes from them!)
Step by Step Instructions:
These Blueberry Scones are so crazy good, and you only need the following: Granulated Sugar, All-Purpose Flour, Milk (I used skim milk but the recipe calls for whole milk), Baking Powder, Baking Soda, 7.5 ounces of Blueberries (that are put in the freeze until you’re ready from them), Sour Cream, 1 Lemon, and 2 Sticks of Butter (Pop both of those sticks in the freezer until they are frozen).
The first thing I did was pre-heat my oven to 425 degrees. Then I zested 1 lemon and measured out 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest.
This is where the recipe gets interesting. Take 1 stick of butter, score the paper for 4 tablespoons as you see above. Then grate 4 tablespoons of butter on the large holes of a box grater. Once those 4 tablespoons are grated, pull out the other stick and do the same thing.
Here is the grated butter, which needs to go back in the freezer until you need it. You’re probably thinking, Kelli does that mean I’m stuck with 2 half-grated sticks of butter? Yes, my friends it does. Actually you’ll take 2 tablespoons and melt them for later on. But yes, just use them for future cooking. Carrying on…
Now it’s time to start putting the scones together. Start off by combining 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of table salt, and the lemon zest.
In a small bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of milk & 1/2 cup of sour cream.
Pull the frozen butter from the freeze and add it to the dry ingredients. Using your hands combine the butter and dry ingredients until the butter is well coated in the flour. As you can see above, you can’t really see the bits of butter.
Pour in the wet ingredients.
Then use a spatula to begin to combine the dough together but don’t over mix. When it starts coming together stop.
Then heavily flour your surface.
Pour the dough onto the floured work space, and knead it about 6 to 8 times until it forms a ball as you see above.
Then use a rolling pin and roll out the dough to a 12-inch square.
Then using a bench scraper, fold the dough into thirds like you see above. Think of it as you’re folding a letter.
Using the bench scraper again, fold the short end of the dough at the top down and the bottom up so you’ve folded it into thirds again. You’ll end up with roughly a 4-inch square.
The bench scraper came in handy to move the dough over to a plate and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
While the dough chills, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter.
Then I floured the work surface again. Flour is your friend with these scones.
Take the dough out of the freezer so it’s cold but not frozen.
Then roll the dough out to another 12-inch square.
Grab the blueberries from the freezer and spread them over the dough. Give them a careful push so they are pressed into the dough a bit.
Now put your cinnamon roll making hat on and that’s the idea with this step. Roll the dough from top to bottom using the bench scraper to aid you if the dough gets a little stuck to the surface. You’re looking for a 12-inch long roll that is roughly 4 inches wide.
Grab a sharp knife and cut the dough into 4 sections as seen above.
Then cut each of those rectangles into a triangle but cutting them across the middle like you see above.
Move the scones to a lined cookie sheet. Brush the melted butter liberally over each scone. Then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Yum!! Bake these lovelies for 18-25 minutes or until they are golden brown on the top.
In the meantime as I’m thinking that I’ll be out of town, I went ahead and wrapped up the remaining 4 scones in plastic wrap and then in foil and popped them in the freezer for another day.
When the scones are done, let them cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire cooling rack. Then dig in! They are ridiculously good. Fabulous flavors, just sweet enough, and nice and buttery with the lemon zest giving a great flavor balance as well.
Makes 8 Scones
Ingredients:
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), frozen whole
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (about 7 1/2 ounces), picked over and then frozen
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces), plus additional for work surface
1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces), plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Preparation Instructions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Score and remove half of wrapper from each stick of frozen butter. Following photo at left, grate unwrapped ends on large holes of box grater (you should grate total of 8 tablespoons). Place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt 2 tablespoons of remaining ungrated butter and set aside. Save remaining 6 tablespoons butter for another use. Place blueberries in freezer until needed.
2. Whisk together milk and sour cream in medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; fold with spatula until just combined. With rubber spatula, transfer dough to liberally floured work surface. Dust surface of dough with flour; with floured hands, knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.
4. Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square. Following illustrations, fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to counter top. Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes.
5. Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll into approximate 12-inch square again. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough. Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from work surface. Roll dough, pressing to form tight log. Lay seam-side down and press log into 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
To Make Ahead:
After placing the scones on the baking sheet, either refrigerate them overnight or freeze. When ready to bake, for refrigerated scones, heat oven to 425 degrees and follow directions in step 6. For frozen scones, heat oven to 375 degrees, follow directions in step 6, and extend cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes.
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