Best Sourdough Discard Raspberry Vanilla Scones
This recipe for sourdough discard raspberry vanilla scones is tender, flaky, and full of flavor!
Learn the process to make incredible homemade sourdough scones with the perfect texture.
Enjoy the scones with coffee, tea, a special brunch, or as afternoon snacks.
What is Sourdough Starter Discard?
Sourdough starter discard is the stage in the life of the sourdough starter after the active stage.
As the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria continue to ferment the starter and break down the flour, it breaks down until it becomes a liquid-like consistency like ranch dressing.
Using it in sourdough discard recipes is a great use for leftover starter discard.
Check out these other posts to learn more about sourdough discard:
- What is sourdough discard?
- Why use Sourdough Discard?
- How to Store Sourdough Discard for Starter Discard Recipes
- How to use Sourdough Discard
Benefits of Sourdough Starter Discard in Recipes
- Enhances the flavor of baked goods
- Creates an even more tender texture in these delicious scones
- Make baked goods more digestible
- Can be a great substitute for milk in certain recipes
- Reduces food waste
How to make Sourdough Discard Raspberry Vanilla Scones
Here are the basic ingredients to make 8 sourdough discard raspberry vanilla scones:
- Scone dough
- 210g (1 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour Or 200g (about 1 cup 2 T.) Sonora or soft whole wheat flour (whole wheat adds more flavor and texture)
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 113 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold
- 200 grams (about 1 1/2 cups) sourdough discard, chilled
- 25-30g (1 2/3 T. to 2 T.) whole milk, chilled**
- 70-90 grams raspberries* (about 3/4 cup)
- Vanilla glaze (optional)
- 65 grams (about ½ cup) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3 teaspoons whole milk or heavy cream
- optional: pinch of vanilla bean powder
*Frozen berries work very well in this recipe
**Add the milk slowly. Don’t over-add. See mixing notes. Substituting water is okay. If using whole wheat flour, only add 10g at a time to check dough consistency.
Berry Preparation for Sourdough Discard Berry Scones
Fresh berries or frozen berries work well in this scone recipe.
A technique I use to make sure that I bake delicious scones that are also beautiful, is to prepare the berries to show on top of the baked scones in a nice arrangement.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a pie plate.
- Take a portion of the berries, about 1/8 to 1/4 cup, depending on the size of berries. (smaller berries can be spread out more easily so you don’t have to use as many)
- Spread out the berries evenly on the parchment paper.
- Carefully transfer the pie plate with your placed berries into the freezer for at least 20 to 30 minutes. This stays in the freezer until the dough is made.
Making the dough for Sourdough Discard Berry Scones
First, combine your dry ingredients and sugar in a large mixing bowl. I do not recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe, since it increases the likelihood of overmixing.
Make sure your unsalted butter is cold. Cut your butter into slices or 1/4-inch pieces. Place the pieces of cold butter into the flour mixture. Use two forks or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry mixture until it looks like crumbly sand, with butter pieces that are no bigger than a pea. Work quickly to avoid warming the butter too much.
If you plan to make biscuits or scones often, I highly recommend a pastry cutter also known as a pastry blender like the one linked below to make this process faster!
Add the sourdough discard. Mix into the flour and butter mixture.
Slowly add the milk about 25 grams at a time. Stir with a spoon or spatula after each addition.
Your dough will look very crumbly. Use your hands to quickly mix the dough so that it begins holding together. If the butter is becoming too soft, place the mixture into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Gently fold in berries until just incorporated. I sometimes place groups of berries between two sections of dough and gently press.
Hand mixing like this helps the dough form together, but it must be done carefully without kneading to avoid developing gluten.
Preshape and Fermentation of Sourdough Discard Berry Scones
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 pie plate full of berry scone dough back in freezer for 20 minutes to firm up.
These can be cut and baked right away, but I recommend doing a period of cold fermentation to increase digestibility and enhance flavor. Take the scones out of your freezer and cover the tops of the scones with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 to 12 hours before final shaping and baking.
Note: If you want the best fermentation for the scones, but don’t want to wait for them to sit in the fridge for 12 hours, here’s a tip to expedite the process. Before pressing the dough onto the berries you put in the freezer, you can leave the dough (covered well) at room temperature for 1-2 hours. After that time, press the dough onto the frozen berries in the pie dish, place in the fridge to chill the dough back down for 30-60 minutes until firm, and continue the recipe as directed.
Shaping and Baking Sourdough Discard Berry Scones
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
After the period of fermentation, take scone dough out of fridge.
Cut a large piece of parchment, place over pie dish. Then, carefully flip dough over onto the large sheet of parchment.
Place the parchment paper with your chilled berry scone dough on the baking sheet. You should see the beautifully placed raspberries on top!
Use a large sharp knife, cut dough into 8 pieces (if dough is frozen solid from skipping fermentation, allow to thaw until soft enough to cut apart). Carefully spread unbaked scones 2 inches apart.
Bake the tender scones for 18 to 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a scone comes out clean.
Move the baked scones to a wire rack to cool for 5 to 15 minutes before serving. Cool for 20 minutes before adding the optional vanilla glaze.
Vanilla Glaze for Sourdough Discard Raspberry Scones
In a small bowl, whisk the powder sugar, vanilla, and 1 t. milk together. Add vanilla bean powder, if desired.
The consistency should be a drizzling consistency, when the whisk is held over the bowl it should have a small stream of icing that runs down and makes designs in the bowl before slowing melting back into the glaze.
If the mixture is too thick after whisking and doesn’t have the drizzling consistency, add 1 teaspoon of milk then whisk again. Repeat if needed.
Take a fork or your whisk in a back and forth motion over the scones to top with a zig zag vanilla glaze design.
5 Tips for Sourdough Raspberry Vanilla Scones
- Keeping the butter cold is key in traditional scone recipes as well as this sourdough scone recipe. A few techniques to keep the butter cold and avoid overmixing the scone dough are to use grated frozen butter or use a food processor to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is in small pieces then turn off to add the wet ingredients. Pulse the mixture until it is just combined with no dry spots.
- The rest in the refrigerator will help make these tender scones more digestible and make the flavors deepen and become more complex. One hour is the minimum. Overnight or 6 to 12 hours will give you the best results with flavor and digestibility.
- You may notice that this scone recipe does not include eggs. Eggs will make your scones more chewy and puffy, which is great in some recipes. But eggs take away the flaky texture we’re aiming for with this recipe.
- For an extra wow factor, add white chocolate chips to the dough. So yummy!
- If you have enough extra sourdough discard, this is a great recipe for making a double batch! You’ll be glad you did because they are the best scones!
Freezing Scones
Shaped, but unbaked scones are perfect for freezing if you make an extra large batch and one to save some for later or make them ahead of time.
You can also freeze leftover scones (that were baked) to warm and enjoy later, but freezing unbaked scones is my preference since you can bake them from frozen to enjoy hot and fresh!
Get tips for freezing sourdough scones and other baked goods in this post: linkhere
More Sourdough Scone Recipes
- The Best Tender Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones (Shortcake)
- Sourdough Discard Berry Scones with Lemon Glaze
- Pumpkin Spice Scones (Sourdough Discard)
- Gingerbread Scones with Eggnog Icing (Sourdough Discard)
- Irish-inspired Soda Bread Raisin Scones with sourdough discard (dairy-free)
Savor and Share
My kids love when I make these for a tea party! They have such an incredible explosion of flavor.
I hope you enjoy making this recipe or save it to make it later. Make sure to share it with a friend!
If you make it, I’d love to hear about it–you can comment on this post or tag me on instagram @livingbreadbaker!
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Living Bread Baker posts mentioned
How to Store Sourdough Discard for Starter Discard Recipes
The Best Tender Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones (Shortcake)
Pumpkin Spice Scones (Sourdough Discard)
Gingerbread Scones with Eggnog Icing (Sourdough Discard)
Irish-inspired Soda Bread Raisin Scones with sourdough discard (dairy-free)
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Best Sourdough Discard Raspberry Vanilla Scones
Ingredients
Scone dough
- 210 g all-purpose flour Or 200g (about 1 cup 2 T.) Sonora or soft whole wheat flour (whole wheat adds more flavor and texture) (1 1/4 cup)
- 100 grams sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 113 grams unsalted butter, cold (1/2 cup)
- 200 grams sourdough discard, chilled (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 25-30 g whole milk, chilled** (1 2/3 T. to 2 T.)
- 70-90 grams raspberries* about 3/4 cup
Vanilla glaze (optional)
- 65 grams powdered sugar (about ½ cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3 teaspoons whole milk or heavy cream
- optional: pinch of vanilla bean powder
Instructions
Optional Berry Prep
- A technique I use to make sure that I bake delicious scones that are also beautiful, is to prepare the berries to show on top of the baked scones in a nice arrangement. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a pie plate.
- Take a portion of the berries, about 1/8 to 1/4 cup, depending on the size of berries. (smaller berries can be spread out more easily so you don't have to use as many)
- Spread out the berries evenly on the parchment paper.
- Carefully transfer the pie plate with your placed berries into the freezer for at least 20 to 30 minutes. This stays in the freezer until the dough is made.
Mix dry ingredients
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients.
Cut in cold butter
- Slice cold butter into small pieces and cut into the flour using two forks or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (pea-sized pieces).
Add sourdough discard
- Stir discard into the flour and butter mixture.
Add milk gradually
- Pour in milk a little at a time, stirring gently between each addition until a crumbly dough forms.
Bring dough together
- Use hands to gently press the dough until it holds together. If butter softens too much, chill dough in freezer for 10–15 minutes.
Fold in berries
- Carefully add frozen berries and gently fold into the dough without overmixing.
Press dough onto berries
- Press dough onto a layer of frozen berries in a pie dish. Gently pat into a 1-inch thick circle.
Freeze and ferment
- Cover and freeze for 20 minutes. Then, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1–12 hours for fermentation.
- Optional faster method: Let dough rest at room temp for 1–2 hours before pressing onto berries, then chill for 30–60 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cut and arrange scones
- Flip dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut into 8 wedges and space 2 inches apart.
Bake
- Bake for 18–20 minutes until golden and toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 5–15 minutes.
Make vanilla glaze (optional)
- Whisk powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tsp milk until drizzling consistency forms. Drizzle over cooled scones.
