Orange Blueberry Scones and How to Make Scones

Learn here how to make scones.

How to Make Scones

• Scone dough, just like pie crust dough, doesn’t like to be played with after the wet ingredients are added. Just mix the wet & dry ingredients until they can be formed into scones. If you over-mix, you’ll get rubbery scones.
• Always use cold butter and cut it into small pieces before adding to the flour.
• Whisk wet ingredients together in one bowl. Whisk dry ingredients together in another bowl. The two shall not meet until the butter has been cut into the dry ingredients.
• Always, always, always preheat your oven. If you don’t preheat your oven, the butter will melt too slowly as the oven makes its way to 400°F.  Preheat and you’ll enjoy tender flakey scones with a firm outer crust which will help them keep their shape while they bake.
• Don’t overbake. It’s easy to end up with dry pastries and the culprit is overbaking.
• If your scones are ready to bake but the oven isn’t finished preheating or is busy with another bake, place your scones in the refrigerator until the oven is free so the butter in them stays cold.

Orange Blueberry Scones

Cut into 6 disks to make 24 mini scones, 4 disks to make 16 small scones, or 2 disks to make 8 scones.

Preheat oven to 400F.

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup juice from fresh orange
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Zest from 1 or 2 oranges
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (I place them in the freezer overnight before using)
• Extra flour to dust the blueberries & form scones (about 1/8 cup)

In a medium bowl, whisk together heavy cream, eggs, and orange juice.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and orange zest.

Cut cold butter into very small pieces and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter. Butter should be about the size of peas when you are done cutting into the flour.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently stir just until combined.

Coat blueberries with flour and gently blueberries gently fold into the dough.

Form 2 round disks with the dough. Each disk should be about 5-6 inches around.

Cut each disk of dough into 4 sections for a total of 8 scones. Place scones on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick baking spray or sheet lined with parchment paper so that the blueberries don’t stick to the baking sheet.

Repeat with the second half of the dough.

Bake at 400°F for about 25 minutes or until scones are light golden brown and done in the middle. Let them cool for about 10 minutes.

Frosting

• 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup juice from fresh orange
• Zest of one orange

Stir ingredients together to make the sunshine-y frosting.

You will want your icing thin enough to run down the sides of the scone; but, not too runny so you can add orange juice or powdered sugar until you get the consistency that you would like your icing to have.

Finally, frost while still slightly warm with orange icing. Amen.