These scones are simple to make but look and taste far better than anything you could find at the market. The scones are only slightly sweet, and they are much better for you than commercial versions. Blueberries, not excess sugar, flavor the scones. The scones have a crispy, sugary topping that adds plenty of sweetness, tricking your taste buds into thinking sweet without the need to use as much sugar as many scone recipes do. Nonetheless, you can skip the sugar topping if you'd like to keep the sugar even lower (if you're diabetic, I recommend skipping the topping!) The blueberry scones have a nice tang from the sourdough starter/discard as well as from yogurt and a bit of orange zest. Moist on the day you bake them, the scones will last at least several more days. The sourdough starter helps preserve the scones as well as giving them flavor. In this recipe, you're better off using frozen blueberries, which besides being less expensive than fresh ones, help keep the dough cold and easy to handle. If you let the scones sit on the counter for an hour or so before baking them, the scones will rise a little, making them even lighter (how much they rise depends on the temperature of your kitchen). The scones are great for breakfast, snacks, and as a simple dessert with tea or coffee. Enjoy!
Whole-Wheat Blueberry Sourdough Scones -- Makes 8 Large Scones
1 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of orange zest (or the zest from 2 clementines)
1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) of butter
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1 cup of sourdough starter/discard
1/2 cup of plain, fat-free yogurt
3/4 cup of frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
Topping
2-3 tablespoons of plain, fat-free yogurt
2-3 tablespoons of sugar
Cinnamon
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the white whole-wheat flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, sugar, and orange zest. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until crumbs form. Add the canola oil and mix it in to make more crumbly pieces. In another bowl, combine the starter and yogurt. Add them to the flour mixture and mix everything well. Stir in the frozen blueberries until they are well distributed. Dump the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet. Pat it into a circle about 1 - 1 1/2 -inches thick. Cut 8 wedges and separate them, moving them on the baking sheet so that at least an inch or so separates the wedges. Brush the top of each scone with some of the yogurt. Sprinkle some of the sugar on top of each yogurt-topped scone. Dust each scone lightly with cinnamon. Let the scones sit on the counter for an hour or a little longer if your kitchen is cool. The scones should puff up/rise another 1/3 - 1/2 their original volume. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the scones for about 20 minutes or until just golden brown.
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