Berry scones that are a flaky, honey glazed brunch delight

Work quickly to keep the butter and berries as cold as possible for the best results. (Photo: Fred Langridge/Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

These scones are a flaky, honey-glazed brunch delight, brimming with juicy, sweet berries in a buttery, rich crumb. We achieved a perfectly crumbly texture by incorporating butter in two ways, processing some with flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt for even distribution, then pulsing more into pea-size pieces to achieve rich buttery pockets.

Tossing frozen berries in confectioners’ sugar before folding them into the flour mixture prevented them from bleeding into the dough, and a honey-butter glaze, brushed on partway through baking, gave the scones a sweet sheen. Work the dough as little as possible, just until it comes together. Work quickly to keep the butter and berries as cold as possible for the best results.

Note that the butter is divided in this recipe. An equal amount of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries (halved) can be used in place of the mixed berries.

MIXED BERRY SCONES

Servings: 8

Start to finish: 1 hour

Scones

8 3/4 ounces (1 3/4 cups) frozen mixed berries

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, chilled

1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

Glaze

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon honey

For the scones: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. If your berry mix contains strawberries, cut them in half. Toss berries with confectioners’ sugar in bowl; freeze until needed.

Combine flour, 6 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor and process until butter is fully incorporated, about 15 seconds. Add remaining 6 tablespoons butter and pulse until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces, 10 to 12 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in berries.

Beat milk and egg and yolk together in separate bowl. Make well in centre of flour mixture and pour in milk mixture. Using rubber spatula, gently stir mixture, scraping from edges of bowl and folding inward until very shaggy dough forms and some bits of flour remain. Do not overmix.

Turn out dough onto well-floured counter and, if necessary, knead briefly until dough just comes together, about 3 turns. Using your floured hands and bench scraper, shape dough into 12 by 4 inch rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches tall. Using knife or bench scraper, cut dough crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles (you should have 8 scones total). Transfer scones to prepared sheet. Bake until scones are lightly golden on top, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

For the glaze: While scones bake, combine melted butter and honey in small bowl.

Remove scones from oven and brush tops evenly with glaze mixture. Return scones to oven and continue to bake until golden brown on top, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Transfer scones to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

To make ahead:

Unbaked scones can be frozen for several weeks. After cutting scones into triangles in step 4, freeze them on baking sheet. Transfer frozen scones to zipper-lock freezer bag. When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 F and extend cooking time in step 4 to 23 to 26 minutes. Glaze time in step 6 will remain at 5 to 8 minutes.

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Nutrition information per serving: 446 calories; 200 calories from fat; 23 g fat (14 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 106 mg cholesterol; 571 mg sodium; 54 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 17 g sugar; 7 g protein.