An ode to summer, an ode to humongous organic blueberries, an ode to a farmer named Jacob.
We arrived in the heat, the kind of heat that makes everything quiet. Here was this very tall, jolly looking man ready to show us around his farm… specifically his blueberries fields. Up onto the tractor and away we went. The fields were not endless like you might imagine, but it felt like a different world. All neatly planted in rows, but wild with native plants and grasses underneath and each bush heavily weighed down from fruit. It was all I could do to not reach out and snatch the fat blue orbs off the branches and into my mouth… which we did do later and which tasted heavenly.
Years later and I still relish the time that the blueberries are ready. Maybe it’s because they just taste so damn good, maybe it’s because I’ve met the hands that grow them, but just maybe it’s because when I pop a frozen one into my mouth in the depths of winter I am transported back to the tractor in the silent heat in the middle of the fields and me gently coaxing the fattest, bluest berries I can find off the branch.
I really do think blueberries and lemon go together like peanut butter and jelly… happy friends, carefully bouncing each other’s flavours back and forth over my tongue. Fair warning: these scones will not stick around long. Don’t even bother freezing some. Eat them all yourself (I won’t tell anyone, promise!) or invite a few friends over for tea.
Happy baking!
If you liked this recipe you are going to love these ones!
Rhubarb Spelt Scones
Blueberry Bran Spelt Muffins
Ancient Grain Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal
Blueberry Lemon Spelt Scones
Ingredients
- 3 cups organic, all purpose spelt flour (also called white spelt flour) 350g (or 360g organic, all purpose wheat flour)
- 1 tbsp baking powder 12g
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 75g
- 1 tsp sea salt 4g
- 3/4 cup cold, unsalted butter 170g
- 1 1/4 cups cold full fat buttermilk or cold full fat plain yogurt 312mL
- 1 tbsp lemon zest from approximately 1 lemon
- 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
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Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
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Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture and then mix using a pastry blender or a large fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
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Measure out the buttermilk in a glass measuring cup, add the lemon zest and stir to combine. Add the blueberries to the flour mixture and toss to coat the berries in flour. Add the buttermilk mixture, then gently fold until the dough starts to come together. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and gently bring the dough together with lightly floured hands. Cut the dough in half and then shape and flatten each piece into a disc about 1-1.5 inches high. Cut each circle into 6 scones using a sharp knife or bench scraper. Arrange the scones on the baking sheet and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
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While the scones are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the top.
Recipe Notes
- This recipe makes 12 small scones, but you can also cut the dough in half when you transfer it to your floured surface, shape each half into a disk and cut each disk into 4-6 scones each for a total of 8-12 scones.
- To make a vegan version of these scones, use coconut oil cold from the fridge in place of the butter and 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk in place of the buttermilk. The texture and taste is just as delicious!
Thanks Sophie. I enjoyed these so much when u came to visit. This recipe is a treasure. My family is happy with me using spelt. Everyone agrees there is something very wholesome and easier to digest in these products. And the yum factor is very high. ????????????????????????
Thanks Lynn! Glad you enjoyed them so much!
I made these this morning to celebrate BC Day. They turned out beautifully. Thanks again.
Where do you buy the coarse sugar?
Fantastic! Have you checked IGA or Claytons? I don’t usually sprinkle sugar on top of them so I haven’t gone looking for it around here yet.
This was quite good but my dough was pretty wet and the scones flattened out on the baking sheet. I will use less buttermilk next time.
Hi John, thanks for letting me know! Definitely try less buttermilk next time, the consistency should end up on the drier side similar to pie pastry. Happy baking!
Tried this recipe. Hopefully I just did something wrong since a couple ppl seemed to really enjoy it. Very wet dough, diffuclt to work with – even when adding more flour! Overall, I’ll stick to making gluten free scones!
Hi Nialyn, sorry to hear that it didn’t work out for you. Did you use the correct spelt flour? I’ve had a lot of people get confused between whole spelt flour and the all purpose spelt flour that I use in most of my recipes.
Thanks for including vegan options.
You’re most welcome Dawn!
Hi Sofie, I would really like to try this (blueberry lemon spelt scones) recipe for the holidays but I do not see it here. I am seeing the blackberry recipe on this page, should I simply substitute ingredients? Thank you!
Hi Dale, thanks so much for pointing that out! I have no idea how that happened, but I’ve fixed it now. Funny enough I’ve been thinking of making these blueberry scones again, glad you noticed before I did. Happy baking!
Thank you Sophie!
I didnt see how to put lemon zest in recipe..if ive missed it somehow forgive me
Hi Rosilyn, my apologies! For some reason this one particular post likes to play tricks on me. I have updated the instructions to include the lemon zest, it gets added with the sugar. Happy baking!
Just tried these using home milled spelt. Your recipe calls for white spelt flour, so I bolted the wholemeal to remove some of the bran. Using just 3/4 cup buttermilk it was still a bit wet, so I added back a little bran and excess flour. No matter. Took them to a late breakfast at a friend’s house, where they were declared “Best scones ever!”
Hi Bruce, that’s fantastic to hear!!! They are my favorite scones too. 🙂 Happy baking!
I didn’t have spelt flour so I just used all-purpose flour. Dough was quite wet but I just used a heavily dusted countertop to Pat the scones out. Loved the results. Very good!
Hi Heather,
Happy it worked out for you! Spelt typically needs about 20% more liquid than all purpose wheat flour, which is likely why the dough was quite wet, but if it turned out the way you like it then great!
Happy baking,
Sophie
Is this supposed to have 2 teaspoons of baking soda instead of 2 tablespoons? Mine came out tasting like they had way too much baking soda. The recipe was a little confusing because it said tbsp. A small t means teaspoon, but with the letter b in there, it means tablespoon. I went with 2 tablespoons and it tastes terrible.
Hi Emily, did you use baking soda or baking powder? The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of baking powder, not soda. I just made these again actually and reduced it to 1.5 tablespoons of baking powder and that seemed to work well too.