Blueberry Almond Scones topped with Blueberry Mascarpone

It occurs to me that maybe I should have named this blog Lemon & Oats or Oatmeal & Zest, considering how many of my recipes here include both oats and lemon. So, here’s one more for you… Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Scones, and yes they even have lemon zest!  I really do love scones, probably even more than muffins or cookies, they make a tasty little breakfast treat or afternoon snack.  They are delicious on their own or even better topped with a little cream cheese and jam, like the mascarpone cream cheese jam I used here.  For a more substantial breakfast, serve with a side of yogurt and berries OR as a “breakfast dessert” with your eggs.  Some people in my home have even been known to top theirs with a smear of peanut or almond butter, also quite tasty.  If you’re a traditionalist or hail from the British Isles, you may question my use of the term scone here, but to me these are my perfect Americanized interpretation with a nice crumby texture, not too moist and not too dry.  I use a lot less butter than many versions, but the yogurt adds extra moisture and a little tang, plus some protein to boot.  I love scones with all kinds of mix ins and though the rest of my family will almost always opt for chocolate, I prefer a mix of fruit and nuts, which often leads to multiple versions being made all on the same morning! Blueberries and almonds are one of my favorite combinations, they just work well together and lemon zest adds a little bit of extra flair to the flavor.  I use a combo of vanilla and almond extracts here, but you could easily go with all of one or the other if you prefer.  A quick and easy recipe perfect for any lazy weekend morning.  

Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Scones

Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones

Makes 16 scones

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 Tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup natural cane sugar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

Zest of ½ lemon

3 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter – cut into small cubes

1 extra large egg

½ cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular is fine, vanilla would be ok too, just a little sweeter)

¼ cup milk of your choice (I use plain soy milk, but cow, almond, etc should work just fine)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

¼ cup slivered almonds

1 cup blueberries – fresh or frozen

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Whisk together the dry ingredients from flour through lemon zest in a medium-large bowl.

brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and lemon zest, yum

Next work in the butter, either with the back of a fork, pastry cutter or potato masher until you have small pea size pieces throughout the flour mixture.

In a small bowl or right in your liquid measuring cup, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and extracts.  Pour into the dry ingredients and mix through.  Don’t worry about getting a completely cohesive mixture at this point it will come together in the next step.  Expect a pretty wet dough.
Gently mix in the almonds and blueberries.

Turn out the dough onto a parchment lined baking pan and knead it together a bit more until it all comes together.  Form the whole mess into a squarish shape about 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inches across.

Lightly cut through the dough to make 16 evenish pieces, but do not separate.

Bake at 400 F for about 13-16 minutes.  Note if you use frozen blueberries the dough will be a little wetter and take slightly longer to cook.  Enjoy!

For a printable version click here

Recipe notes:

Everyone in my house is always fighting over the center piece which remains a little soft and gooey, so I tend to pull mine out of the oven at about 15 minutes, but if you prefer your scones a bit drier you may want to leave them in a minute or two longer, you be the judge.

These scones are perfect simply as is….but, if you want to dress them up a bit, try this Blueberry Mascarpone Spread.  It’s smooth and creamy with just the right amount of summer time sweetness from the berry jam and of course a little lemon, because to me everything’s better with lemon.  Enjoy.

Blueberry Mascarpone Spread

This is a pretty loose recipe I threw together last minute as a nice little topping for my scones.  As usual I picked the smallest possible container to mix this up in as I’m always trying for less dishes to wash. If I can mix and serve and store the leftovers in one container all the better, but maybe you’ll opt for a slightly bigger bowl to mix yours up in…

Ingredients & Directions:

Mix together about 2-3 tablespoons cream cheese (I use low fat) plus 1-2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese and about 2 tablespoons of good blueberry preserves/jam (really any flavor would be yummy; raspberry, strawberry, apricot, etc).  Stir in a little squeeze of lemon juice and spread on top of scones…yum.

Blueberry Mascarpone Spread

Tagged: Almonds, blueberries, Mascarpone, Oats, Scones