Mixed Berry Scones with Lemon Glaze

It’s berry season! Oh how I love sweet berries. I love all of them and I love them just about every way imaginable. Mostly I just like them fresh… or covered in chocolate… or on vanilla ice cream… or on toasted angel food cake… or on chocolate cake… or in a parfait or a trifle… or…

OK… you get the idea

This past weekend I did a little experimenting with my cinnamon scone recipe. That recipe is soooo delicious so I decided to try the basic recipe but with berries. (You can find the cinnamon scone recipe over at my friends SeaShineMag.com awesome website.)

The berry scones were good but not mouth-watering great. They needed a little something extra. The cinnamon scones are coated with a buttery cinnamon sugar topping so I decided that the berry scones needed a topping too! Lemon goes so well with berries so I made a lemon glaze. Perfect! I have made two batches since my first try, each for someone different.

Why not love on someone with a batch of Mixed Berry Scones? Arrange them in a basket lined with a pretty, colorful towel, and give the entire filled basket as a gift. It will be like a basket full of love! (You can even sneak a little note in there letting them know that Jesus prompted you to do something special for them )

Mixed Berry Scones with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, frozen
• 2 cups mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• sugar in the raw
• lemon glaze (see recipe below)

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and lemon zest. Whisk together until combined.

Grate the frozen butter on a box grater and stir into flour mixture with a whisk. (Or you can cut butter into cubes and then use a pastry blender or two butter knives to cut into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.)

Stir in the berries.

Add the buttermilk and gently stir just until combined. When barely combined, gently knead together with your hands in the bowl (some of the berries will breakdown but some will remain whole). The dough will be very sticky. Do not overwork the dough or your scones will be tough.

When completely combined, drop tangerine-size blobs on ungreased, rimmed cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Set pans in refrigerator for 1 hour (or cover and leave overnight).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sprinkle scones with sugar in the raw.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let rest on cookie sheets 5-10 minutes. Glaze and serve warm.

Makes approximately 18 scones (bake in two batches of 9)

Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

• Zest and the juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth. (This is best made the day before. Store covered in the refrigerator and then bring to room temperature while scones are baking. Don’t worry if it’s thick. The glaze will melt over the warm scones when you spoon it on.)

NOTE: These are not as good once they have sat around for a few hours (if you should have any leftovers). But… they freshen right up if you put them in your toaster oven for a few minutes. They will be good as new

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn