Blackberry Scones

One of my favorite parts about living in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the summer is all the wild blackberries that grow around here.  I LOVE fresh blackberries, and unfortunately so does most of my family so we didn't have any left from the summer to freeze and use throughout the year this year.  So when I saw that the blackberries at Safeway were buy one get one free, two things came to mind.  One, BLACKBERRIES, yummy!  and Two, hmmm, there is probably a reason these are buy one get one free so I guess I better freeze them or use them fast if I buy any.

Yeah, if I buy any indeed!  Of course I grabbed a couple...thought about grabbing more but decided as freezer space was short (notice the WAS short, we have since hooked up the big deep freeze :D!!!!!) I better limit myself to two pints.  Now all that was left was to decide what to do with them. After staring at the blackberries and waiting for them to reveal their true purpose to me, yeah right, I felt that scones were the way to go.  I love scones, but have never had any with fresh, or even frozen blackberries before.  Seemed like now was the time...

Here are all of our ingredients...

Grate your butter using the largest size holes on your box grater.

Your bowl of grated butter...isn't it pretty?!

Our dry ingredients...

Now add the butter...

Stir to coat the butter evenly with the flour mixture.

Whisk together the milk and sour cream.

Add the milk/sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients.

After knead and rolling it out, then folding it up you get this little package!

After 5 minutes in the freezer, roll the dough back out to a 12" square.

Sprinkle on those big beautiful blackberries!

Starting at the end closest to you, roll the dough and berries into a tight log, pinching the edges to seal up the seams.

Now, flatten the roll out to a 12"x4" rectangle with your rolling pin.

Using your bench knife, if you have one, cut into 4 evenly sized pieces.

Then cut each of those into 2 ...

or 4 pieces, depending on how big you want your scones.

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or a well seasoned baking stone.

Coat with melted butter and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the tops are golden brown (20 minutes if you went for the bigger scones).

Now bleach your counter top cause it probably looks like you killed a blackberry bush on it like mine did!  lol

Ta da!!

Enjoy! YUM!

Blackberry Scones
makes 16 medium scones or 8 ridiculously huge ones
original recipe can be found here

1 1/4 sticks FROZEN butter, plus 2 more Tbsp. for melting later
1 1/2 cups blackberries, give or take
2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
Raw sugar, for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Using your cheese grater, grate the butter on the largest side into a bowl.  Return it to the freezer until ready to use.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  Whisk together to ensure it is all evenly distributed.  Add in the grated butter and toss until the butter is well coated with the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream.  If you only have reduced or nonfat milk or sour cream on hand, it will work out fine.  That's what I used! :D Add this to the flour mixture and fold in just until the flour is all mixed in.  


Generously flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto the counter or cutting board and knead until the dough pulls together.  If it is too sticky to work with, add a bit more flour but don't over do it or you will end up with thick rock-like scones!

Pat the dough into a 12 inch square then fold the top third down and the bottom third up over top of that, think like an envelope...then fold up the sides the same way, so that you end up with a square again.  Place this on to a floured plate and freeze for about 5 minutes.

Take the dough back out and place onto your work surface again, being sure to re-flour it if first.  Now, roll out to a 12 inch square once again, flouring the top of the dough lightly so that it doesn't stick to the rolling pin.  Sprinkle the berries on top of the dough, then roll into a tight log, pinching the ends to close up the seams.
Flatten the log into a 12"x4" rectangle.  Cut into 4 evenly sized rectangles, with a bench knife if you have one, then cut those into 4 evenly sized triangles.  ( You can cut the four rectangles into 2 triangles if you like really big scones...)

Place the scones onto a baking stone or parchment lined baking sheet.  Coat them with a fine layer of butter and sprinkle with raw sugar.  Bake for 14-16 minutes (20 minutes for larger scones) or until golden brown on top.  Cool on a wire rack as soon as you can move them after they come out of the oven.

These scones are great because they are not too sweet and not too buttery.  They are flaky and well balanced, super yummy for a relaxing day in the sun or a rainy day in the Pacific Northwest!