Recipe: Blueberry Scones With Lemony Glaze
A note about grains, and an easy recipe for whole-wheat scones.
Most of us are very good at checking sell-by or use-by dates on meats, poultry and dairy products but I wager many don’t check those dates on flours. I think we’ve grown accustomed to thinking that certain shelf-stable products like flour just kind of last forever with the occasional mousie taking its little share if we neglect our bag of ground grain for too long.
The more I learn about grains (and whole grains in particular) the closer I look at the best-by date. Whole grain flours tend to go stale faster since they actually have nutrition that other smaller critters can use as well. And the oils in the husks add lots of flavor but are prone to getting a little oxidized over time. So think of your grains the way you think of your coffee beans—they don’t get any better sitting on a shelf.
Fortunately, there are a few very local grain growers, millers and purveyors on the scene. Some good local brands are Ground Up stone-milled flours in Massachusetts and Farmer Ground from upstate New York. And the work these growers and millers do make all of my baked goods taste delicious, including these super easy scones. And don’t get me started on talking about good local butter!
Blueberry Scones with Lemony Glaze
Makes 8 scones
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or 1 cup AP flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
6 Tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small dice
1 cup blueberries or ½ cup frozen wild Maine blueberries
1 cup heavy cream or buttermilk plus ¼ cup or so for brushing
For glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cardamom and baking powder and stir well with a fork. Cut the butter into the dry mixture with a pastry cutter or pulse in using a food processor. Once the pieces of butter are no larger than very small peas fold in the blueberries and then the 1 cup of heavy cream or buttermilk.
Gather into a loose ball—it is okay if it is a little dry and crumbly. Don’t try to work into a smooth mass as that will make the scones tough instead of flakey.
Pour the dough out onto your work surface and pat into a round disk shape at least 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a baking sheet and brush lightly with a little cream or buttermilk. Bake 20- 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack while making the lemon glaze.
For the lemon glaze:
Simply stir the powdered sugar and the lemon juice together until smooth.. While it is still a little runny, drizzle over the scones.
