Try these sourdough blueberry scones to use up your excess sourdough discard, with fresh juicy blueberries in a buttery, lightly sweet scone. Use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe.
There are a couple of ways to make flaky sourdough scones, and you have both options outlined here: use room temperature butter and freeze after mixing, or grate frozen butter into the dough. Either method works well!
Why You'll Love Sourdough Blueberry Scones
- They're light, tender, and very buttery
- It's a great way to use your sourdough discard rather than tossing it, and the starter adds a little extra complex flavour to the scones
- They can be refrigerated before baking to add a longer fermented element
- You can use frozen blueberries - they might even make your scones turn out better thanks to the extra cooling effect on the butter
Ingredients
- Blueberries: use fresh or frozen. We prefer frozen because they help to keep the scone dough cold, resulting in a flakier, taller scone.
- Flour: plain all-purpose. If you want a more wholesome scone, substitute half for whole wheat flour with no other changes needed to the recipe.
- Butter: as with most scone and biscuit recipes, the butter should be very cold. Warm butter makes for less flaky scones.
- Sourdough discard: or active sourdough starter (in that case, weigh it). Try to use fairly fresh discard rather than the jar that's been in the back of the fridge for a month.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Step by Step Photos
Step 1: mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and cut in the butter.
Step 2: pour in the milk and sourdough discard.
Step 3: mix halfway, then add the blueberries.
Step 4: gently mix to incorporate the berries.
Step 5: roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
Step 6: cut the dough into scones.
Step 7: brush the tops of the scones with extra milk.
Step 8: bake until lightly golden and cool before serving.
Top Tips
- Try not to re-roll: the more often you roll out scone dough, the tougher the resulting scones will be. For tender scones and biscuits, roll out and handle the dough as little as possible (just like pie dough, you want quick cold hands).
- Avoid off-cuts: if you don't want to have any food waste, cut the dough into squares the second time it's rolled out rather than rounds, or cut all of the scones into squares from the beginning. Rounds tend to rise a little more effectively but you will end up with some leftover dough.
- Keep everything cold: not just the butter, but all ingredients should be as cold as possible. If you're making the scones on a hot day, place your mixing bowl in the freezer for half an hour before starting to prevent the dough from warming up as it's mixed. You can chill the scones before baking too if you feel they've warmed up.
How to Store
Storage: store cooled scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled scones to an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. Freeze the day of baking for best results. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in a warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
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Sourdough Blueberry Scones
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- Large mixing bowl
- Pastry cutter or box grater
- Rolling Pin
- 3 inch (7.5 cm) biscuit cutter
- Two baking sheets
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup salted butter, room temperature or frozen and grated
- 1 ½ cups whole milk, plus more for brushing
- 1 cup sourdough discard
- 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Coarse sugar, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF (230ºC) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange one rack in the middle of the oven and one on the bottom.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.4 cups all-purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- If using room temperature butter, cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until coarse crumbs form, then place the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes. If using frozen grated butter, stir it into the flour mixture and proceed immediately.¾ cup salted butter
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the milk and sourdough discard. Gently stir until the dough is about halfway mixed.1 ½ cups whole milk, 1 cup sourdough discard
- Add the blueberries and continue stirring gently to incorporate the remaining dry bits. Use your hands to gently fold the dough a few times until most of the flour is absorbed. Some blueberries will squish—this is normal.2 cups blueberries
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and gently roll it to about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
- Use a 3 inch (7.5 cm) biscuit cutter to cut as many scones as possible. Gather and lightly re-roll the scraps once to cut out more. Place the scones on the prepared baking sheets, leaving space between each.
- Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar if using. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the tops and bottoms are golden brown. Cool directly on the baking sheets set on wire racks.Coarse sugar
Notes
- Using a 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuit cutter, this recipe yields approximately a baker’s dozen (13) scones.
- If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them first.
- Re-rolling the dough more than once may yield tough scones.
- The butter should stay as cold as possible for flaky layers.
How to Store
Storage: store cooled scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Freezing: transfer fully cooled scones to an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. Freeze the day of baking for best results. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in a warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes.Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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