Mouthwatering homemade buttermilk raspberry scones burst with fresh raspberries for a wonderful sweet-tart tasty treat for breakfast or brunch. Add in the optional cream cheese to make them extra special.
Introduction
Many scones are little rocks, and you could break a tooth on them. Think of Haggard's rock cakes in Harry Potter. Not these scones, firm on the outside but flaky and tender on the inside.
But a scone is just a sweet biscuit with things added. Add some fruit, sugar, cinnamon, or cream cheese. So I make mine with a little baking soda boost to puff it up.
👨🍳How to make this recipe
- Wash and dry 1 to 1 ½ cups of raspberries. Optionally, cut 4 oz of cream cheese into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Spread both on a piece of parchment paper and place in a freezer for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375° convection.
- Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking powder, then cut in butter with a fork.
- Mix the frozen raspberries and optional cream cheese into the dry ingredients.
- Whisk together egg, vanilla, and buttermilk.
- Drizzle the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients while stirring gently until all the dry is combined. The dough should be a bit sticky but hold its shape well. Add a touch more flour if needed.
- Form into an 8-inch diameter disk about 1 inch thick. With a large knife, cut into eight wedge-shaped pieces.
- Move to a parchment-covered baking sheet. Whisk an egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the scones with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle the top with a bit of sugar.
- Bake until golden brown. About 25 minutes.
The Raspberry
Never use frozen berries that are in syrup for this recipe. Pick as fresh as possible, or you may also use flash frozen that are individual and not mashed together.
Fresh raspberries would break apart in the mixing, so I froze them along with the cream cheese that I cut into small cubes, which would suffer the same fate if not frozen.
✔️Pro Tips
- The cream cheese is optional. Do not use low-fat or fat-free cream cheese.
- The butter needs to be cold when you are cutting it in. I like to cut mine up or use a grater to get a head start.
- Try to work quickly and do not handle the dough more than needed. Cold dough is better, so use cold milk, egg, and butter.
- Do not use baking powder that has aluminum.
❓FAQs
A good substitute is 2 teaspoons of lemon juice plus enough milk to measure ¾ cup. Then let sit for 5 minutes.
While the ingredients are similar, scones have some sweetness and may have fruit, and the texture can be denser and drier.
A biscuit is fluffier and moister. For these raspberry scones, I'm violating these last few things. The raspberries would be mush.
Scones are generally good at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerated for 4-5 days.
📖Scone Recipes
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Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Start about 2 hours before you want to cook. Wash and dry 1 to 1 ½ cups of raspberries. Optionally, cut 4 oz of cream cheese into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Spread both on a piece of parchment paper and place in a freezer. You may use frozen raspberries that were flash-frozen individually and not in syrup.
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Preheat oven to 375° convection. Mix dry ingredients: 2 cups AP flour, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking powder. Mix well with a fork.
Chop six tablespoons of cold butter into small cubes. Cut the butter into the dry mix with a large fork until crumbly.
Mix the frozen raspberries and optional cream cheese.
Whisk together the wet components: 1 egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and ¾ cup buttermilk. See the tips above if you need to substitute for the buttermilk.
Drizzle in the wet to the dry while stirring gently until all the dry is combined. The dough should be a bit sticky but hold its shape well. Add a touch more flour if needed.
Roll onto a large cutting board. With wet hands, form into an 8-inch diameter disk about 1 inch thick. With a large knife, cut into wedge-shaped pieces.
Move to a parchment-covered baking sheet. Whisk an egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the scones with the egg wash.
Sprinkle the top with a bit of sugar.
Bake until golden brown—about 25 minutes.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Raspberry Scones
Ingredients
Fillings
- 1 cup raspberries
- 4 oz cream cheese - optional
Dry
- 2 cups AP flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons butter
Wet
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Topping
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- sugar
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Start about 2 hours before you want to cook. Wash and dry 1 to 1 ½ cups of raspberries. Optionally, cut 4 oz of cream cheese into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. Spread both on a piece of parchment paper and place in a freezer. You may use frozen raspberries that were flash-frozen individually and not in syrup.
- Preheat oven to 375° convection. Mix dry ingredients: 2 cups AP flour, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking powder. Mix well with a fork.
- Chop six tablespoons of cold butter into small cubes. With a large fork, cut the butter into the dry mix until crumbly.
- Mix the frozen raspberries and optional cream cheese.
- Whisk together the wet components: 1 egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and ¾ cup buttermilk. See tips below if you need to substitute for the buttermilk.
- Drizzle in the wet to the dry while stirring gently until all the dry is combined. The dough should be a bit sticky but hold shape well. Add a touch more flour if needed.
- Roll onto a large cutting board. With wet hands, form into an 8-inch diameter disk about 1 inch thick. With a large knife, cut into wedge-shaped pieces.
- Move to a parchment-covered baking sheet. Whisk an egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the scones with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle the top with a little sugar.
- Bake until golden brown. About 25 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Use fresh berries if possible. Flash-frozen berries are fine but not the berries in syrup.
- The cream cheese is optional. Do not use low-fat or fat-free cream cheese. If you want low-fat scones, see the low-fat blueberry scones and use raspberries.
- The butter needs to be cold when you are cutting it in. I like to cut mine up or use a grater to get a head start.
- Try to work quickly and do not handle the dough more than needed. Cold dough is better, so cold milk, egg, and butter.
- Do not use baking powder that has aluminum.
- No buttermilk, no problem. A good substitute is 2 teaspoons of lemon juice plus enough milk to measure ¾ cup. Then let sit for 5 minutes.
- Good at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated for 4-5 days.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Originally published May 22, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Sue says
What temperature in a conventional oven ?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sue,
Welcome to the blog.
Generally, 25° more so 400°
Dan
Janet says
These scones were very wet. I had to add nearly a cup of flower and even then they were terrible to work with. The end result is bland, with a pleasing texture.
Louisa Ellingham says
Love everything about these scones!