Summer marks the beginning of the berry season here in the Northwest. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackcaps, and, of course, huckleberries begin their glorious arrival.
This recipe for Sourdough Scones with Lemony Glaze came about after I ended up with extra blackberries after a catering event, and wanted to use up some extra sourdough discard,(sourdough starter) I had in my fridge.
Let me just say right away, the sourdough starter gives the scones an earthy robust flavor that pairs beautifully with sweet and tangy berries.
what is sourdough starter/discard?
Sourdough Starter is often referred to as “wild yeast”, made from flour and water and the wild yeast in the air around us,and it is typically used as the “yeast” when baking Sourdough Bread. The sourdough “discard” – the part of the starter that often goes to waste- can be used to make flavorful scones, biscuits, wafflesand pancakes.
Sourdough Scones Ingredients
- Fresh or frozen berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, or other berries)
- All-purpose flour (see notes)
- Lemon zest
- Salt
- baking powder and baking soda
- Sugar
- Cold butter (or vegan butter)
- sourdough starter (or discard)
- milk or cream (or plant-based milk)
How to make Sourdough Scones- Expert Tips
The basic recipe is easy, just read it over once before starting. Use cold butter, and don’t leave out the lemon zest. Don’t overwork the dough, which will release the gluten in the flour and cause the scones to be chewy.
Whenever you follow a recipe calling for flour, make sure to stir the container of flour before measuring, fluffing it up. If flour sits for too long in the bag or canister, it will settle and get heavy and dense. Giving a quick mix with a fork or wooden spoon will add air to it and will ensure that you don’t end up with too much flour in the recipe.
Always spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup.
Then gently press in your scone dough over the berries. Freeze for a couple of hours.
Invert, then cut into wedges.
This way, the berries are on the top of the scone.
Cutting them into wedges when frozen makes it easy to get uniform pieces. If the dough is too hard to get the knife through, just let thaw for 15-20 minutes on the counter.
Place wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced 2 inches apart, let thaw and bake for 18-24 minutes.
More Sourdough recipes you may enjoy:
Sourdough Scones Video
Sourdough Scones
- Prep Time: 170
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: breads, scones,
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: pacific northwest
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
An easy recipe for Sourdough Scones with Berries and Lemon Glaze using Sourdough Starter! Plus an easy tip to help keep your berries intact! Vegan Adaptable!
Ingredients
Scones:
- 2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries (or raspberries or other berries)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see notes)
- zest from one lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cold butter- sliced into 8 pieces ( or vegan butter)
——-
- 1 cup sourdough starter (275 grams)
- 1/3 cup milk or cream (or nut milk, plus more if necessary)
——-
1 beaten egg, for brushing, optional
Lemony Glaze:
- 1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 cup powdered Sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch cake pan with parchment and fill with 2 cups fresh berries. If your berries are very tender, freeze for 30-60 minutes beforehand, this way they will hold their shape ( and not smash) a little better.
- In a food processor, pulse flour, lemon zest, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Pulse in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse sand.
- In a small bowl mix milk and sourdough starter together. Add the starter mixture to the food processor and pulse until it just forms a ball (just a few times) adding a little more milk only if necessary. Dough should be heavy and thick. Don’t overwork it.
- Spread the dough over the berries and press down gently, into all the corners with your fingers. Place in the freezer for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Remove dough from the freezer and invert on cutting board. Let sit a few minutes or longer until thawed enough to cut. Cut into 8 equal size pie shape wedges. Brush with beaten egg (optional). Space them 2 inches apart (they will puff and spread a bit) on parchment-lined baking sheet, let thaw 20-30 minutes and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- While baking, make the glaze. Stir sugar into lemon juice in a small pot on the stove until dissolved. Whisk in butter (optional). Set aside. Drizzle over warm scones.
Notes
If you prefer to mix berries into the dough itself- using frozen berries makes this much easier. Simply fold them into the dough, and no need to freeze the dough. This will save time here!
If subbing other flours- just start with 1/2 cup. (For example, 1/2 cup whole wheat mixed with 2 cups white.) You can tweak it from there, the next time. 🙂
Nutrition
- Calories: 325
I don’t have a large food processor, what would you recommend instead? Can I crumble the butter and flour in my hands like with a biscuit? Or would a pastry cutter be better? A blender? Thank you! 🙏🏾
Either way would work Angeli- crumble with your fingers or a pastry cutter, not a blender!
Thank you so much!!! This is very helpful 🙂
I would not recommend a blender. I tried and it was a huge failure. When I used the food processor it was a huge success. Hope this is helpful.
Thank you!!
Do you know if this recipe will work with the refrigerator type of sourdough? I’m told the recipes for ‘counter top’ starter don’t always work for refrigerator sourdough. Thanks!
Yes, it will work for both!
Can I use day old discard from fridge? I was going to make scones but ran out of time.
Yes discard is perfect for this recipe!
Enjoyed these!
My first time using sourdough starter and it was excellent! The recipe is very forgiving and the scones came out perfect, with a tender crumb. We skipped the glaze and did clotted cream and jam instead — a delight!
Sounds lovely Suki!
I’m new to vegan baking, but these were phenomenal! I used vegan butter and oat milk, and I’m thrilled with the results. Going to use this as a base recipe for other flavors soon.
Oh that is great! Thanks Julie!
Me again 🙂 Today I made them with orange zest and 5 oz of dried currents (mixed in). I used OJ for the glaze instead of lemon juice and family loves them! Used 9-in square pan, and cut into 18 small triangles. Thank you again!
Yum! Love that you are playing around.