Summer Berry Scones (Sourdough & regular version)

You can increase recipe based on how much sourdough discard you have. For the non-sourdough version, scroll below!

Fresh milled whole wheat creates a whole new level of flavor, texture, as well as unique nutrients and minerals. For sources see Grain to Bread

Summer Berry Scones

Makes: 8 large scones

Tools Needed: food scale, large bowl, forks or pastry cutter, spoon, plastic dough scraper, parchment paper, baking sheet, rolling pin

Sourdough version

350 grams (2 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour (or 335g Sonora or soft whole wheat flour)
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder (or 1/3 teaspoon baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar)
113 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold
200 grams (about 1 1/2 cups) sourdough discard

For the glaze (optional)

65 grams (about ½ cup) powdered sugar
1 to 3 teaspoons lemon juice

Method:

1. Prepare dish and frozen berries: Get out a pie dish and cut a piece of parchment to fit into the bottom of the pie dish. Place a few berries on that parchment, place dish into freezer.
2. Scale: Place a large mixing bowl on the scale. Tare the bowl then add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. (Remember to use the scale’s tare function to remove the weight of the bowl and previous ingredients to only weigh the current item added)
3. Stir dry: Stir dry ingredients together.
4. Add butter: Butter should be very cold. Cut butter in half then cut each half into eight pieces. Add cubes of butter to the dry mixture. Use two forks or a pastry cutter to cut butter into smaller pieces and distribute through the dough. Mixture should become crumbly and sandy with butter distributed throughout mixture. Some big pieces are okay, no bigger than a pea. If your butter is getting too warm, put mixture into freezer for 1 to 3 minutes to firm up butter.
5. Add wet ingredients: Add chilled milk. Stir to combine so that there are no longer any sections of dry flour, don’t overmix. Gently fold in berries until just incorporated.
6. Shape dough: Take out pie dish with frozen berries. Press dough onto frozen berries. Gently pat into a large circle that is about 1-inch thick. Cover dough and put back in freezer.
7. Chill: Allow dough to firm up in freezer for at least 20 minutes.
8. Preheat: When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400º F.
9. Transfer dough to baking sheet: Set aside a baking sheet. Take scone dough out of freezer. Cut a large piece of parchment, place over pie dish. Then, carefully flip dough over onto the large sheet of parchment. Place on the baking sheet.
10. Divide: Use a large sharp knife, cut dough into 8 pieces (if dough is frozen solid, allow to thaw until soft enough to cut apart). Carefully spread scones 2 inches apart.
11. Bake: Place pans into oven and bake 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
12. Cool: Allow loaves to cool for about 20 minutes.
13. Glaze: These are delicious unglazed, but the lemon glaze adds brighter flavor and a beautiful look. Whisk glaze ingredients until drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled scones.
14. Serve: Enjoy a platter of scones with friends or family.

Tips:

• The step of freezing the berries adds a beautiful look to the finished scones and it can be done the night before brunch for easier prep in the morning.
• You can use different types of berries in this recipe. Blueberries, blackberries, ollalaberries, and boysenberries work especially well. Strawberries can work, but some varieties have more moisture so they may spread more. Frozen berries work very well in this recipe.
• Vanilla juice in icing can be substituted with ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 to 3 teaspoons milk.