Raspberry Scones

Mouthwatering homemade buttermilk raspberry scones burst with fresh raspberries for a great sweet-tart tasty treat for breakfast or brunch. Add in the optional cream cheese to make them extra special.

Introduction

My wife is a raspberry hound. Yep. If it has raspberries, she is hopeless. Add some cream cheese, and she is putty in my hands.

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 boost of baking soda to puff it up some.

My Rating

Not an unexpected rating.

Scones vs. Biscuits

Let’s talk a little about biscuits vs. scones. While the ingredients are similar, scones frequently have some sweetness and/or fruit.

The texture is frequently denser and less of that biscuit fluff. Also, a little dryer, not really dry, just not as moist. For these raspberry scones, I'm violating these last few things. The raspberries would be mush.

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 in small cubes which will suffer the same fate if not frozen.

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 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.

📖Scone Recipes

Whole Wheat Blueberry Scones

Low-Fat Blueberry Scones

🖼️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 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 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.

📖Full Recipe

Originally published May 22, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.