These sourdough blueberry scones are soft and tender, filled with juicy plump blueberries, lemon zest and topped with lemon glaze.
This is a sourdough starter discard recipe and the sourdough starter helps give them an extra tender crumb.
These blueberry scones scream summer. The fact that blueberries are in season then is one reason why, but it’s the colours too. Bright pops of purple against a soft yellow background. It’s just so cheerful!
Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
Blueberry picking season really amps up from mid-summer onwards but these sourdough starter scones work well (if not better!) with frozen blueberries.
The trick to flaky scones is keeping the butter nice and cold, and frozen blueberries are brilliant little helpers in achieving that.
Using Sourdough Starter in Scones
I add discard sourdough starter to these scones. This is a starter that is unfed, quite runny and acidic. The scones use baking powder to rise so we don't need the yeast from the starter, it's the acid component in the starter discard that we want.
Often scone recipes use buttermilk, which is also acidic, to give the scones flavour and this tenderness. In this recipe sourdough starter is the buttermilk substitute.
I have a guide you can follow if you need to know how to make a sourdough starter.
How To Make Sourdough Scones - The Method
- The dry ingredients in the sourdough scones are: all purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. To that mixture, cold butter is cut into it, until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. You can use a pastry cutter, a food processor or a even a cheese grater to grate the butter for this step.
- To this, the blueberries and lemon zest are added.
- In a separate bowl, discard starter, egg and milk are mixed together until well combined.
- Stir the blueberries and zest through out the flour to coat them, then make a well in the middle and pour in the sourdough starter mixture.
Mixing the Dough
- Use a fork to gently combine the mixture together until it clumps together, but it is still quite shaggy.
- Tip it into a clean bench and gently fold it together with your fingers until it is combined into a mound. Don't over mix the dough or it will become tough. It should be fairy crumbly, but still stick together with pressed. Form the dough into a circle.
Cutting and Baking
- Use a knife or a dough scraper to cut the circle into 8 wedge pieces. Place the pieces on some baking paper and pop them into the fridge while the oven preheats. If using frozen blueberries, this extra chilling step can be skipped, as the berries keep the butter cold. If skipping this step, preheat the oven while you mix the scone dough.
- Bake the scones in the preheated oven for around 18-20 minutes until golden brown on the top.
- Let the scones cool before drizzling them with lemon glaze or simply dusting with icing sugar.
Want more Sourdough recipes? Try some of these!
- Easy Sourdough Baguette Recipe
- Simple Sourdough Bagels
- The Best Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Sourdough Chocolate Cake
- Sourdough Waffles (using Discard Starter)
Sourdough Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
These scones are soft and tender, filled with juicy plump blueberries, lemon zest and topped with lemon glaze. They use sourdough discard starter which helps give them an extra tender crumb.
Ingredients
- 250g all-purpose flour
- 100g granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 100g cold butter
- 1 heaped cup fresh blueberries, frozen or fresh
- 1 ½ Tbsp lemon zest
- 100g discard sourdough starter, approx ½ cup
- 1 large egg
- 4-5 Tbsp milk or pouring cream
Lemon Glaze
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 120g icing sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and mix it well together. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the flour. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into small pea-sized pieces.
- Alternatively, use a food processor to cut the butter into the flour, or a cheese grater to grate the butter before adding it into the flour (then use your finger tips to rub it in, until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.)
- Add in the blueberries and lemon zest and toss to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter, egg and 3 tablespoons of the milk or cream. Reserve the remaining tablespoons of milk or cream.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, then pour in the sourdough mixture. Use a fork to combine it into a shaggy dough. If the mixture isn't coming together well, add in the remaining 1-2 tablespoon of milk or cream if necessary.
- Tip the shaggy dough into a clean bench and gently push it together with your fingers until it is combined into a crumbly but slightly sticky mound. Don’t overknead the dough or it will become tough. Push the dough into a circle.
- Use a knife or a dough scraper to cut the circle into 8 wedge pieces. Place the pieces on some baking paper and pop them into the fridge while the oven preheats. If using frozen blueberries, this extra chilling step can be skipped, as the berries keep the butter cold. If skipping this step, preheat the oven while you mix the scone dough.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) fan-bake, or 200°C (392°C) regular bake.
- Bake the scones in the preheated oven for around 18-20 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Once baked, leave the scones to cool before glazing.
Lemon glaze
- In a bowl, add the lemon juice and enough icing sugar until it makes a thick but pourable glaze. Drizzle it over the cooled scones.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 338Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 308mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 5g
Have you made these sourdough lemon and blueberry scones? Tag me and let me know! @home_grown_happinessnz
Eva says
I've made this 4 times in the past 3 weeks for special occasions and everyone has loved them! I make them without blueberries inside and without the glaze on top for more of a tea scone type of scone, and also have used as low as 60g of sugar depending on who I'm making them for. I've found that I only need about 2-3 tbsp of milk total or else the dough becomes too sticky/soft to work with! These also freeze really well which is a huge plus.