Copycat Starbucks Blueberry Scones
Bakery-style blueberry scones with frozen grated butter, a full cup of fruit, lemon zest through the dough and a pale vanilla glaze.Eight generous wedges from one bowl. Freeze the raw wedges and bake them straight from frozen whenever you want them.
Ingredients
Scone Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder check it is fresh
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 lemon zested
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter grated and returned to the freezer
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup heavy cream plus more for brushing
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen, kept frozen
Vanilla Glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon milk plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Equipment
- Box grater
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- Baking sheet
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Mat
- Whisk
- Pastry brush
Instructions
Freeze the Butter and Heat the Oven
- Grate the cold butter on a box grater, pile the shreds on a plate and put them in the freezer while you prepare everything else.
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter a 10-inch cast iron skillet, or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the Dough
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.
- Tip the frozen grated butter into the bowl and toss it through the flour. Work it in with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse, pebbly sand with some pieces still visible.
- Whisk the egg, heavy cream and vanilla together in a small bowl. Pour it into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula only until a shaggy dough forms, then fold in the blueberries with as few strokes as possible.
Shape and Chill
- Pat the dough into a 9-inch round about an inch thick, either straight into the buttered skillet or on the lined sheet, and cut it into 8 wedges.
- Brush the tops with a little cream and freeze the pan for 15 to 20 minutes while the oven finishes heating. This is what makes them rise tall instead of spreading.
Bake and Glaze
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops are golden and the cut edges look dry and lightly crisp. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then move the wedges to a wire rack.
- Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth and pourable, adding a few more drops of milk if it is too thick.
- Drizzle the glaze over the slightly cooled scones and leave it a few minutes to set before serving.
Notes
Keep the butter frozen. Grate it, return it to the freezer, and work quickly once it comes out. Soft butter is the reason scones spread flat instead of rising.
Chill the cut wedges. Fifteen to twenty minutes in the freezer before baking is the single step that most improves the height and the edges.
Frozen fruit. Fold it in frozen and do not thaw it, or the juice marbles the dough. Tossing it with a spoonful of the measured flour helps.
Make-ahead. Freeze the raw cut wedges on a tray, then bag them for up to 2 months and bake straight from frozen with 3 to 4 extra minutes. The dough can also be shaped, covered and refrigerated overnight.
Storage. Baked scones keep 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Do not refrigerate them, which stales them faster than the counter does.
Variations. Swap the milk in the glaze for lemon juice, use orange zest and a little cardamom instead of lemon, or skip the glaze and finish with coarse sugar over the cream wash.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 410IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1.4mg