Blueberry Orange Scones
By Audrey Plant
Ingredients
4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons grated orange zest (2 oranges)
1 ½ cup (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (½ pint) cold heavy cream
¼ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 ½ cup frozen blueberries
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water, for egg wash
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
In a large bowl, sift flour. Then add sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, and orange zest. Pour dry ingredients into a bowl used for a stand mixer.
On medium speed using a paddle attachment, add diced butter into the flour mixture. Mix for 3-4 minutes until there are small lumps, pea-sized.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, and orange juice.
On medium speed, slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients until dough just comes together.
Remove blueberries from the freezer and quickly mix the blueberries into dough on medium speed. About 3-4 rotations in the mixer. Just until the dough is combined and blueberries are still intact.
Remove dough from the mixing bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll dough into a 9-inch wide disc, about 1 ½-2 inches thick.
Using a large knife, cut the disc into 8 equal triangles. Using 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper, 4 scones per sheet pan. Place in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to chill and rest.
Using a pastry brush, brush each triangle with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining sugar on top.
Place the sheet pan(s) directly into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until scones are cooked through and golden brown on the bottom.
Notes:
It’s essential that the blueberries are frozen and that you work quickly when forming the dough. This will prevent the blueberries from streaking and then creating a purple-colored dough.
This recipe is rich and has lots of butter, when baking you may see that the butter looks to be melting everywhere. Continue to bake, the butter will eventually settle into the dough as it bakes.
Be sure to line your baking sheet with parchment paper!
Allowing 15-30 minutes for the scones to re-chill will help ensure that the scones will hold their shape.
When baking with blueberries, I always recommend allowing whatever you are baking to completely cool as the blueberries will be bitter when hot/warm.
Scones are not meant to be overly sweet, thus, this recipe does not call for much sugar. The blueberries and orange help add more sweetness to the dough.
