Blackberry Scones

These blackberry scones are soft and fluffy with delicious crisp and buttery edges. They're topped with drizzles of gorgeous blackberry icing along with juicy blackberries throughout the scones. They're perfect to make ahead and bake off in the morning to enjoy fresh scones for breakfast.

Jump to:

• Why you'll love this recipe
• Tools
• Ingredients
• How to make blackberry scones
• Storage
• Freezing
• Tips for success
• Frequently asked questions
• More sweet breakfast recipes to try
• Recipe

These blackberry scones were love at first bite. Homemade scones are so much better than store-bought scones you might have tried before. They aren't dry at all and the blackberries make them extra moist and juicy. Once you make them once, you'll realize how easy they are to make and you'll be hooked like I was.

Why you'll love this recipe

• Soft and fluffy scones. These scones have a great fluffy but crumbly texture and are not dry at all, unlike some scones you may have tried.
• Juicy blackberries. You can use fresh or frozen blackberries which means you can enjoy these scones any time of year.
• Simple blackberry icing. The icing is naturally colored from just blackberries. It looks pretty and adds additional sweetness if you prefer your scones sweeter.
• Easy to make. These scones don't require any special tools or equipment other than your hands and something to bake them on.

Tools

The great thing about scones is that you don't need any special tools to make them. All you need is a baking sheet to bake them on. The rest of these items are things that I used that can make the process easier or faster but are not necessary to make this recipe.

• Dough blender (optional) - A dough blender cuts the butter into the flour and into small pieces when used in a rocking motion. It's convenient because you don't have to get your hands dirty and the warmth of your hands won't warm up the butter. I usually prefer to use my hands to break down the butter pieces because I can feel the texture better and find any large pieces faster but you can use a dough blender if you have one.
• Bench scraper (optional) - A bench scraper is handy for cutting the dough into wedges and for lifting them off the counter if they're sticking but you can also just use a knife.
• Piping bag (optional) - I used a piping bag with the tip cut off to add the drizzles of blackberry icing on top of the scones. It makes the drizzle very neat and works well if your icing is on the thicker side and doesn't flow easily. You can also just drizzle it on with a spoon or omit the icing entirely.
• Baking sheet - You can use any kind of baking sheet or baking tray that you probably already have at home.

Ingredients

As always, the full recipe card with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post! Keep reading for more details on each ingredient or skip ahead to the recipe.

• All-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Unsalted butter - Your butter needs to be cold, straight from the fridge and roughly cut into small cubes. Starting with smaller pieces makes it easier and faster to break them down further into pea-sized pieces. I'd recommend chopping the butter up first and putting it back in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
• Egg - Your egg should also be cold to keep the butter and everything else cold.
• Heavy cream - Also cold.
• Vanilla extract
• Blackberries - You can use fresh or frozen blackberries. Fresh blackberries work best. Frozen blackberries will make the dough wetter and a bit more difficult to work with but it's doable if you work quickly. There's no need to thaw frozen blackberries. Roughly chop them into smaller pieces, pat them dry, and toss them in flour to absorb the excess juices.
• Powdered sugar
• Coarse sugar - Sprinkling the tops of the scones with coarse sugar like turbinado sugar, demerara sugar, or large sugar crystals gives the scones extra crunch. If you don't have any coarse sugar, you can also use granulated sugar. The effect will just be much more subtle.

How to make blackberry scones

For the scones

Mix dry ingredients - In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cut butter into flour - Toss the cubed butter into the flour mixture to coat. Use a dough blender or press the butter pieces in between your fingers to break them down until they become small pea-sized pieces, distributed evenly throughout the flour mixture.

Mix wet ingredients - In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.

Add wet to dry mixture - Make a well in the middle of the flour and butter mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the well and use your hands to mix the wet and dry ingredients together until it forms a soft, shaggy dough.

Add blackberries - Toss the chopped blackberries in flour until coated. Add them to the dough and very gently fold them into the dough just until they're evenly distributed. Don't overmix otherwise the blackberries will bleed into the dough.

Press dough - Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to press the dough together. If it's too floury and won't hold together, you can fold it onto itself 1-2 times but don't knead or overwork the dough. Press the dough into a flattened disc shape about 1" thick.

Cut wedges - Use a bench scraper or knife to cut the dough into 8 wedges. Transfer the wedges to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving about 2" in between each scone.

Chill and preheat - Let the entire baking sheet chill in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 400°F.

Brush scones - Right before baking, brush the tops of the scones with a thin layer of heavy cream. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top of the cream.

Bake - Bake scones for 18-20 minutes or until the edges and tops are lightly golden brown. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack or enjoy them warm.

For the icing

Mash blackberries - Place the blackberries in a fine mesh sieve over a small bowl. Use the back of a spoon to mash the blackberries until the juices drip down into the bowl. Transfer 2 teaspoons of the blackberry juice to another small bowl.

Mix icing - To the blackberry juice, add powdered sugar and mix until it becomes a thick but pourable consistency. If it's too thick, add a bit more blackberry juice. If it's too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Drizzle - Transfer the icing to a piping bag and cut the tip off. Drizzle the icing on top of the scones.

Storage

These blackberry scones are best on the same day they are baked for the best texture. If you can, only bake off what you can finish and keep the rest of the dough in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Freezing

You can freeze both unbaked scone dough and baked scones.

Unbaked dough can be stored in an airtight container, freezer bag, or wrapped well in plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil and frozen for up to 1 month.

Bake them directly from frozen at 400°F for 25-30 minutes (an extra 5-10 minutes longer than the recipe time).

Leftover baked scones can be frozen by placing them in an airtight container or wrapping them well with plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil and freezing for up to 1 month.

Thaw at room temperature for several hours or reheat in an oven.

Tips for success

• Keep your ingredients cold. Pockets of cold butter that melt during baking are what make scones so fluffy and flaky. Keep all your cold ingredients cold (butter, eggs, heavy cream) which should be easy enough - just use them straight from the fridge. If your butter feels too soft at any time, pop the dough back in the fridge for 15 minutes until it firms up.
• Don't overwork the dough. Scone dough does not need to be kneaded or worked very much. You should only be pressing it together and working with it just enough for it to stick together. Overworked dough encourages gluten formation and mashes all the pockets of butter down which leads to tough and dry scones. In this case, you also want to be gentle with the dough to not mash the blackberries.
• Chill the scones before baking. Chilling the dough before baking allows it to firm up which will help the scones rise higher and keep their shape when baked.

Frequently asked questions

More sweet breakfast recipes to try

• Matcha Scones
• Banana Blackberry Oatmeal Muffins
• Matcha Muffins
• Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Recipe