The Best Glazed Mixed Berry Scones Recipe for Tender, Flaky Results

The BEST American Style Scone Recipe

If your idea of a scone is a dry, crumbly wedge that needs a gallon of coffee just to get it down, this recipe is about to change your mind.

The original comes from Averie Sunshine at Averie Cooks, who has been refreshingly honest about her dislike of most scones. She has described them as dry and boring, and even compared them to cardboard. Then she baked this batch, and her opinion flipped completely. That kind of turnaround is worth paying attention to.

These are American style scones, which means they are a bit heartier and sweeter than the dainty British version, and they are often loaded with mix ins like fruit or chocolate. They are also genuinely easy. No food processor. No stand mixer. You need one large bowl, one small bowl, a fork, and your own two hands.

Here is the part that makes this recipe a keeper: you do not need fresh berries. Frozen fruit works beautifully, and the recipe was developed around a frozen mixed berry blend of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

Frozen berries keep the dough cold, and cold dough is exactly what gives you a tender, flaky scone. As they bake, the berries release their juices, and the dough surrounding them turns soft, almost melt in your mouth good.

Timing is friendly too. Plan on about 15 minutes of prep and roughly 18 minutes in a 400F oven, and you have eight scones ready for the table.

That makes this a realistic weekend breakfast, a brunch centerpiece, or a last minute dessert when someone announces they are on their way over.

In the original post, the entire batch was eaten the same day it was made, which tells you a lot about how fast these disappear.

One thing to know before you start: this dough is wet, shaggy, and a little sticky. That is completely normal, and it is the reason the scones stay soft in the middle instead of baking up tough.

Keep everything cold, work gently, and trust the process. If you want to see the source in its original form, the glazed mixed berry scones recipe is worth a read before you bake.

Ingredients in Mixed Berry Scones

Nothing here is fancy. It is all pantry and refrigerator material, which is one reason this recipe is so repeatable on a random Saturday morning. The full batch makes 8 scones.

For the scones

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt, optional and to taste
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, 1 stick
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream, lite is fine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 heaping cup mixed berries, keep them frozen if using frozen
• 1 tablespoon lemon or orange zest, optional
• Turbinado, raw, or coarse sugar for sprinkling, optional, granulated sugar may be substituted

For the glaze

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• About 1 tablespoon cream or milk, or substitute orange or lemon juice

For your work surface

• 2 to 4 tablespoons all purpose flour for the counter and your hands

Two ingredients quietly do the heavy lifting. The cold butter creates flaky layers, and the sour cream keeps the crumb soft and moist. The zest is optional, but a little citrus wakes up the berries in a way plain sugar cannot.

Frozen Fruit Tip

Frozen fruit is not a compromise here. It is the smart choice. Frozen berries keep the dough colder, and colder dough rises better, which is the same reason cold butter shows up in pastry and pie crust recipes.

Here is the science in plain terms. When cold butter and cold berries hit the hot air of the oven, they create little pockets of steam, and those pockets lift the dough into flaky layers.

Cold butter plus cold berries equals scones that are flaky and tender at the same time, without turning dry. The sour cream is in there for a related reason.

It adds moisture and richness, and it helps the scones rise a bit higher, much like buttermilk does in biscuits.

A few practical pointers: keep the berries in the freezer until the very last second, fold them in with a light hand, and do not let the dough sit around at room temperature.

If you only have fresh berries on hand, the source notes that fresh fruit can be used, though you may need to reduce the baking time since fresh berries add extra moisture and bring less chill to the dough.

How to Make Scones

Here is the whole process from bowl to glaze. Read it through once before you start, then work through it step by step.

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk 2 cups of all purpose flour with the granulated sugar, baking powder, and the optional salt.
3. Add the cold butter. Cut it in with a pastry cutter or two forks, then finish the job with your hands, kneading it into the flour until the mixture looks like semi wet, cool sand. A few larger, pea sized butter pieces are fine and even helpful.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth.
5. Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and fold with a soft tipped spatula until just combined. Do not overmix, or the scones will turn tough. The dough will look wet and shaggy.
6. Fold in the berries and the optional zest.
7. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of flour over a silicone mat or clean work surface, and lightly coat your hands too.
8. Turn the dough out and knead it into a round about 8 inches across. It will feel moist, sticky, and tacky. If it is too stubborn to come together, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it does.
9. With a large knife, slice the round into 8 equal sized wedges.
10. Move the wedges to the prepared baking sheet with a flat spatula or pie turner, leaving at least 2 inches between them. Do not crowd the pan, because scones puff and spread as they bake. Tuck any exposed berries back into the dough so they do not burn against the hot pan.
11. If you like, sprinkle each wedge with a generous pinch of turbinado sugar, about 1 teaspoon each.
12. Bake for about 18 minutes, until the scones are very lightly golden and cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but never with raw batter. Start watching closely around the 15 minute mark so the bottoms do not get too browned.
13. Let the scones cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to finish cooling.
14. While they cool, make the glaze. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar with the cream, or with citrus juice, until smooth. Adjust the sugar and liquid ratios slightly until you get the consistency you want.
15. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the scones and serve.

How do you know when they are done? Look for a very light golden color and a toothpick that comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. If you see raw batter on the toothpick, give them another couple of minutes.

The centers should feel set rather than wet, and the tops should spring back lightly when you press them.

If you are tracking numbers, the source nutrition works out to 393 calories per glazed scone, with 56 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of protein, and 17 grams of fat, including 10 grams of saturated fat. Each scone also carries 2 grams of fiber, 29 grams of sugar, 232 milligrams of sodium, and 67 milligrams of cholesterol.

Crunchy Sugar Topping

A generous pinch of turbinado sugar goes onto each wedge before baking, and it is worth the extra ten seconds. Those big crystals stay crunchy in the oven and give every bite a little texture on top of the soft crumb underneath.

This step is entirely optional. If turbinado is not in your pantry, plain granulated sugar works as a substitute, though the crunch will be subtler. About 1 teaspoon per scone is the sweet spot.

Recipe Variations to Try

Once you have the base dough down, you have a template for just about any fruit scone you can dream up. Most any fresh fruit, dried fruit, or zest can be folded in, so feel free to raid the fridge and the fruit bowl.

The simplest swaps keep everything else the same and change only the berries. Use 1 cup of fruit in each case.

• Blackberry scones: replace the mixed berries with 1 cup of fresh or frozen blackberries.
• Strawberry scones: replace the mixed berries with 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries.
• Blueberry scones: replace the mixed berries with 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
• Raspberry scones: replace the mixed berries with 1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries.

Then there are the citrus versions, which change both the batter and the glaze.

• Lemon blueberry scones: 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in the batter, and lemon juice instead of heavy cream in the glaze.
• Orange scones: 1 tablespoon of orange zest in the batter and orange juice instead of heavy cream in the glaze.
• Lemon scones: 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in the batter and lemon juice instead of heavy cream in the glaze.
• Coconut lime scones: 1 tablespoon of lime zest in the batter, lime juice instead of heavy cream in the glaze, and toasted coconut sprinkled over the top immediately after glazing, while the glaze is still tacky.

A few practical notes for this kind of dough. Frozen raspberries and blackberries are delicate, so fold them in with a spatula rather than your hands, and do not worry if a few streaks of color swirl through the dough.

That looks intentional, and it tastes wonderful. Keep the fruit to about 1 cup. More than that and the dough struggles to hold everything together.

If you want to go the fruit and chocolate route, these raspberry and white chocolate scones take the same tender dough idea in a sweeter direction. When cherry season rolls around, fresh cherry scones are another lovely way to use the base method.

For a different reference point on this style of bake, King Arthur Baking’s homemade berry scones with glaze is worth a look.

Whatever variation you choose, the rules stay the same: cold butter, cold fruit, a light hand with the dough, and a glaze that goes on after the scones have cooled for the most part. Change one thing at a time and you will quickly land on your favorite combination.

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The Best Glazed Mixed Berry Scones

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The BEST American Style Scone Recipe If your idea of a scone is a dry, crumbly wedge that needs a gallon of coffee just to get it down, this recipe is about to change your mind. The original comes from Averie Sunshine at Averie Cooks, who has been refreshingly honest about her dislike of most scones.

• Total Time: 33 min
• Yield: 8 scones 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
0.5 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
0.5 cup unsalted butter, cold (1 stick)
1 large egg
0.5 cup sour cream, lite is okay
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup mixed berries, if using frozen, keep frozen; TJ’s frozen mixed berry blend (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
1 tablespoon lemon or orange zest
turbinado, raw, or coarse sugar, for sprinkling; granulated sugar may be substituted

For the Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon cream or milk, or substitute with orange or lemon juice

Additional for Work Surface
2 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, for work surface and hands

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Instructions

1-Preheat oven to 400F: Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment; set aside.
2-In a large bowl, add 2 cups: In a large bowl, add 2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, optional salt, and whisk to combine.
3-Add the butter, and with a pastry: Add the butter, and with a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter in. You can use a food processor, but I find not having to wash it is a big time-saver. I smoosh the butter with forks and when it’s the size of large marbles, I use my hands and knead it in. It will feel like semi-wet, cool sand. Some larger pea-sized butter clumps are okay; set bowl aside.
4-In a small bowl, add the egg,: In a small bowl, add the egg, sour cream, vanilla, and whisk to combine until smooth.
5-Pour wet mixture over dry, and fold: Pour wet mixture over dry, and fold until just combined with a soft-tipped spatula; don’t overmix or scones will be tough. Dough will be wet and shaggy.
6-Fold in the berries and optional zest: Fold in the berries and optional zest.
7-Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons flour over a: Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons flour over a Silpat or clean work surface and lightly coat hands.
8-Turn dough out onto surface and knead: Turn dough out onto surface and knead it into a 8-inch round, approximately. Dough is very moist, wet, sticky, and tacky, but if it’s being too stubborn or too wet to come together, sprinkle with flour 1 tablespoon at a time until you get it to come together and into a round.
9-With a large knife, slice round into: With a large knife, slice round into 8 equal-sized wedges.
10-Using a flat spatula or pie turner,: Using a flat spatula or pie turner, transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet spaced at least 2-inches apart. Do not crowd because scones puff and spread while baking. Tip – try to make sure there are no exposed berries touching the baking sheet because they’ll be prone to burning.
11-Optionally, sprinkle each wedge with a generous: Optionally, sprinkle each wedge with a generous pinch of turbinado sugar, about 1 teaspoon each.
12-Bake for about 18 minutes, or until: Bake for about 18 minutes, or until scones are very lightly golden and cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Watch them closely starting after about 15 minutes to ensure the bottoms aren’t getting too browned.
13-Allow scones to cool on baking tray: Allow scones to cool on baking tray for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
14-While the scones cool, make the glaze: While the scones cool, make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and cream (or citrus juice). Whisk together until smooth. Depending on desired consistency, you may need to play with the cream and sugar ratios slightly.
15-Evenly drizzle the glaze over the scones: Evenly drizzle the glaze over the scones before serving.

Last Step:

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• Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 18 min
• Method: bake

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 scone
• Calories: 393cal
• Sugar: 29g
• Sodium: 232mg
• Fat: 17g
• Saturated Fat: 10g
• Carbohydrates: 56g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 6g
• Cholesterol: 67mg