Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour + about 2 to 4 tablespoons for work surface and hands
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold (1 stick)
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream (lite is okay)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup mixed berries (if using frozen, keep frozen so berries bleed/run less)
1 tablespoon lemon or orange zest, optional
turbinado, raw, or coarse sugar, optional for sprinkling
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
about 1 tablespoon cream or milk (or substitute with orange or lemon juice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment; set aside.
- In a large bowl, add 2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, optional salt, and whisk to combine.
- Add the butter, and with a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter in. Some larger pea-sized butter clumps are okay; set bowl aside.
- In a small bowl, add the egg, sour cream, vanilla, and whisk to combine until smooth.
- Pour wet mixture over dry, and fold until just combined with a soft-tipped spatula; don’t overmix or scones will be tough. Dough will be wet and shaggy.
- Fold in the berries and optional zest.
- Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons flour over a Silpat or clean work surface and lightly coat hands.
- Turn dough out onto surface and knead it into a 8-inch round, approximately. Dough is very moist, wet, sticky, and tacky, but if it’s being too stubborn or too wet to come together, sprinkle with flour 1 tablespoon at a time until you get it to come together and into a round.
- With a large knife, slice round into 8 equal-sized wedges.
- Using a flat spatula or pie turner, transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet spaced at least 2-inches apart. Do not crowd because scones puff and spread while baking. Tip – try to make sure there are no exposed berries touching the baking sheet because they’ll be prone to burning.
- Optionally, sprinkle each wedge with a generous pinch of turbinado sugar, about 1 teaspoon each.
- Bake for about 18 minutes, or until scones are very lightly golden and cooked through. (Less time if fruit is fresh.) A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Because they’re baking in quite a hot oven, watch them closely starting after about 15 minutes to ensure the bottoms aren’t getting too browned.
- Allow scones to cool on baking tray for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling. While the scones cool, make the glaze.
- In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and cream (or citrus juice).
- Whisk together until smooth. Depending on desired consistency, you may need to play with the cream and sugar ratios slightly.
- Evenly drizzle the glaze over the scones before serving.
Notes: These were absolutely amazing! After breakfast I was craving them all day long. The leftovers disappeared shortly after I got home from work. I am new to making scones and didn't know what "shaggy" dough was in step 5, so I don't think I mixed mine well enough before adding the frozen fruit. So I had to do a bit of kneading afterwards and the berries bled quite a bit. Made these colorful and delicious though!