Flaky, buttery, berry-licious Blackberry Scones are packed with juicy blackberries and make the perfect snack or on-the-go breakfast.
What do you like to pair with lemons? Since I had a large jar of lemon curd left over from my lemon snack cake, I wanted to make something that would pair deliciously with the lemon curd. On the blog, there’s already strawberry lemonade sandwich cookies and blueberry lemon muffins. What else could I pair lemons with? How about juicy blackberries!
I got to work on the perfect Blackberry Scones. The secret to any scone recipe, as I’ve mentioned before, is cold butter. The butter melts while in the oven and releases steam to create pockets in the dough, which translates to flakiness when out of the oven. So YUM! For these Blackberry Scones, I used grated frozen butter for the flakiest scone ever! Each butter shred equals a steam pocket! Doesn’t that sound amazing?
In an effort to keep the butter cold while working the dough, make sure to handle the dough with your hands as little as possible. Only touch the dough when necessary and do not over knead. The heat from your hands can warm the dough and melt the butter! I used a spatula to mix when possible and made sure every ingredient was in the freezer or refrigerator right up until ready to use. Just as a precaution, I gave it a quick chill in the freezer right after mixing the dough, before rolling it out.
Follow the preceding tips and you will be on the right track for buttery, flaky Blackberry Scones that’s lightly crisped on the outside and heavenly soft on the inside. Spread on some butter, or lemon curd, or jam. Heck, you can just enjoy them on their own. Just make them ASAP!
Blackberry Scones
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups fresh blackberries
- ½ cup whole milk, cold
- ½ cup sour cream, cold
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen and grated, plus 2 tablespoons, melted, for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
- Place the blackberries in the freezer until ready to use. Whisk together the milk and sour cream and place keep chilled in the refrigerator.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, zest and salt. Add the grated butter and milk mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Turn the dough over onto a well-floured counter top and bring the dough together with clean, well-floured hands. Work quickly so not to warm the dough and sprinkle on flour as necessary if the dough becomes too sticky.
- Roll out the dough into a 12x12-inch square. Fold the square into thirds, like a business letter. Then, fold into thirds width-wise to form a 4x4-inch square. Place on a floured plate and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Generously flour the counter top and roll out the dough into a 12x12-inch square. Evenly sprinkle on the chilled blackberries and gently press them down into the dough. Roll the dough into a tight log and place seam-side down. Use a rolling pin to roll and flatten the dough into a 12x4-inch rectangle. Cut out 8 triangles using a knife or bench scraper.
- Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing 1-inch apart. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle on sugar. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan half way. The scones are done when the outer edges are golden brown. Carefully transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes to serve warm. Or, let cool completely to serve at room temperature.
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
Note: This page contains affiliate links that help make The PKP Way possible. Should you choose to purchase anything via those links, I will receive a small commission paid by Amazon, not you.
I just love scones!
Me too! :D
This is now my go-to recipe for scones. My family devours them. Super flaky!
So glad you love them as much as we do!
These scone are delish! The frozen berries help keep everything cool until they bake…. thanks so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! :)
Can I use almond milk instead of whole milk?
I didn’t test it with almond milk, but I don’t see why not :)
425 is way too hot of baking temperature.
First time I tried this at 425 for 18 minutes gave me raw dough centres with a slightly burnt outer crust and very burnt corners; I had to trash they. I asked a baker friend of mine and was told to do 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Second time I did 350 around 30 minutes and they we nice and evenly cooked throughout. They were one of the best scones I’ve ever had… and I’m British so I’ve eaten a few scones in my day.
Would other fruit work as well…like blueberries?
Blueberries would be delicious! I’ve even used apples –> https://www.thepkpway.com/glazed-apple-spice-scones/
My best friend made this incredible black berry preserves and I was thinking how amazing that
would taste in a scone, Is it possible to sub the whole for the preserves? :-)
I haven’t made the scones with preserves instead of whole berries, but I would recommend making the scones without the whole berries and just enjoying your friend’s delicious preserves as-is on the warm scones :)
My mom and I tried this recipe last weekend, and we were pleasantly surprised. Most scones I’ve had have been rather dry, but these were very moist and flavorful. I could especially taste the lemon zest, which was a nice touch! Thank you for posting this recipe!
This makes me so happy :D I’m so glad you and your mom enjoyed them!
I seriously must have done something wrong. Used frozen everything. The scones just fried in the butter as it melted in the oven, bottoms rock hard with inside still doughy.
I followed the directions to the tee. They just melted in the oven, no shape just a puddle. I make scones similar to this recipe. But did not put that much butter and did not freeze blackberries. I will definitely go back to my old recipe. Very disappointed!
I’ve made this a few times in a row now with all the fresh blackberries I had on hand. This recipe is so yummy. I followed the instructions given and they turned out delicious. I did a double batch and they disappeared. My family loved them. I will be using this recipe again and will also share it.
I’m so glad you and your family love them, Melanie :)
I made these scones for Mother’s Day and everybody loved them!
Fantastic Recipe – Second time this month making this recipe with wild blackberries. Regarding the temp – think it depends on your oven and where you live. I always have to lower my temp and add more time.
Thank you for your sweet comment :) So glad you are enjoying the recipe! Yes, temp and time will depend on your location and your oven (they’re not all created equal). It sounds like you understand your oven well!
We just finished making a batch of these. They are absolutely amazing, but like many of the other comments, lower the baking temp and increase the baking time. We just tried 350 for 25 minutes and they were almost perfect. Just needed to brown a little more. We are making our next batch now and will try 400 for 20-25 minutes.
Thank you for your sweet comment and feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and are experimenting to make it your own :)
Followed instructions to the t. The butter I’m the scones melted and leaked out, spreading all over my oven. They still tasted good.
I made these.. they came out amazing! I had some left over blackberries and made a little fast jam with them.. did a fat swipe across a white plate.. placed the scone about half way up it.. then drizzled with a glaze of lemon juice and powdered sugar and twirled a thin sliced lemon atop.. BEUYTIFUL plate worthy of this beautiful scone!