The chill of the fall air started to settle in this week. The temperature hovered between the fifties and sixties during the week and finally dropped to the forties on Saturday. I started taking out my boots on Tuesday and wore them to work every day this week. I love fall, but this temperature is borderline winter weather. The leaves on the trees are beginning to change colors to different shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown. The coffee shops around town started featuring fall flavors and spices in their drinks. All of these changes have inspired me to start incorporating different flavors into my baked goods. The best part about baking during the fall is the warmth emitted by the oven while my favorite treats are baking in the oven. One of my favorite treats to make during the fall is scones. Today, I decided to pair maple syrup with flavors of lemon and blueberry in scones. I used the zest of a whole lemon, half of a pint of blueberries and some maple syrup to make my scones. The addition of maple syrup is subtle, but it does add a hint of woody, amber-like flavor to the scones. I also used European butter, which has a higher fat content compared to standard butter. The scones turned out soft, almost cookie-like, but still maintained their structure. I didn’t want to waste the lemon after zesting it for the scones, so I squeezed out the juice, added sugar and combined it with some leftover frozen raspberries in my freezer to make a raspberry jam. I served the jam alongside the scones. The maple lemon blueberry scones had well balanced flavors and were just the perfect treat for a fall breakfast.
Maple Lemon Blueberry Scones
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 tablespoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
· 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
· 2 tablespoons maple syrup
· Zest of one lemon
· ¾ cup whole milk
· ½ cup fresh blueberries
· Additional milk for brushing
· Additional sugar for sprinkling
Raspberry Jam
· One pint of raspberries
· Juice of one lemon
· ½ cup fine sugar
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2) In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter. Using a pastry cutter, cut together the ingredients until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. You can also use your fingers to press together the flour mixture and butter. Add the maple syrup, lemon zest, and milk. Gently mix the ingredients until the dough starts to form.
3) Lightly flour a working surface. Roll dough out and gently form a circle, taking care not to work the dough too much. Once the circle is formed, work quickly to press the blueberries until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cut the dough in half vertically and again horizontally. Then, cut diagonally on both sides until eight equal triangle pieces are formed. Brush each scone with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
4) Bake scones for 18-20 minutes until scones are light golden brown in color.
5) To make the raspberry jam, heat a pot on medium heat. Add the raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar into the pot. Cook the raspberries until it begins to break apart and the sugar is fully dissolved, about 10-15 minutes. The jam will be runny, but will thicken up when it cools.
Takeaways: I started pressing blueberries into the dough instead of folding it into the dough because of how delicate the blueberries are. In the past, when I tried folding in the blueberries, there were always some blueberries that end up bursting. Pressing in the blueberries solves this issue. You can make jam with any type of berries you have in your refrigerator. You can also mix up different berries to make a mixed berry jam. If you like, you can serve the scones with honey butter, which you can make by combining a couple tablespoons of softened butter with a few teaspoons of honey. I love to serve my scones with jam and a side of honey butter.