Moist, tender, buttery scones made with buckwheat flour and studded with jammy berries. These scones come together in under an hour and are delicious served for breakfast or brunch.
If you're gluten-free, make these gluten-free scones and swap buckwheat flour in for the oat flour in the recipe.
"I don't like scones - they're too dry."
This is what a co-worker (who happened to be the boss's son) said to me several years ago when I proffered him a freshly baked scone (which happened to be apricot-sage).
I took offense that he assumed my scones to be as bready and cardboard-like as the mass produced ones we sold to customers. But I kept my thoughts to myself while continuing to restock coffee beans.
My manager (who was not related to the boss or his son) rolled her eyes and devoured one.
Made with butter, heavy cream and loads of fresh berries, I would dare anyone to declare these blueberry buckwheat scones "dry." Minimal mixing leaves pebbles of butter which release steam in the heat of the oven, creating craggy tenderness. A hot oven ensures that the crusts brown while interiors stay damp and the berries turn to jammy, indigo pockets.
I make no secret of my love affair with buckwheat flour, and here it does triple duty: it imparts an earthy flavor of nuts and spice, lends a rich brown hue to the dough, and its lack of gluten keeps the scones extra-tender.
I use maple sugar as the sweetener, which creates a rich backdrop against which the berries and buckwheat shine. The flavors blend beautifully, adding depth and intrigue to a grown-up breakfast pastry that reminisces of cakey childhood muffins and pancakes. These are austerely sweetened, the crunchy sugar top a welcome addition. One leaves you satisfied by your breakfast, but not overly-so.
If you're still concerned with dryness, serve the scones warm, dabbed with easy homemade crème fraîche and more berries.
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this buckwheat flour scone recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Maple Blueberry Buckwheat Scones
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ cups (225 g) blueberries (or huckleberries), fresh or frozen
- 1 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons (about 160 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (90 g) buckwheat flour
- ¼ cup (35 g) maple sugar (see note for substitutions)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) cold, unsalted butter, in ½-inch pieces
- 1 ¼ cups (295 ml) heavy cream (as needed)
- about 1 tablespoon coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the dough
- If using fresh berries, rinse and dry them, then place them in a loaf pan or pie plate in a single layer and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle), combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter, and work in with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or mix on low) until the butter has broken down into tiny bits with some larger, pea-sized chunks remaining.
- Use a flexible silicone spatula to gently stir in the frozen berries. Begin drizzling in the cream, tossing gently with the spatula (or a plastic bench scraper or your hands), adding cream directly to the dry bits, until the dough will hold together and no floury bits remain. You might not need all the cream.
Shape
- Gently press the dough into a ball and place on a surface dusted lightly with buckwheat flour. Pat the dough into a 6" round that is 1 1/4" high. Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Place the scones evenly apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes. (At this point, you can wrap and freeze the scones to bake off later.)
Bake
- Meanwhile, position a rack in the upper-center of the oven and preheat to 425ºF.
- Remove the scones from the freezer, brush with cream and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
- Bake the scones until they are golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove immediately from the pan to prevent blueberry goo-induced sticking. Let cool until warm as the scones are still cooking from residual heat. Serve warm with crème fraîche and extra berries.
Storage
- The scones will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature. For most delectable results, re-heat in an oven or toaster oven before serving.
Sarah Reid says
I tried these but they didn't hold together at all, I wound up with a crumbly pile. Should there be an egg or some xanthan gum in there?
Alanna says
Hi Sarah,
I'm so sorry that these didn't work out for you. I know from previous comments that you are gluten-free - did you use gluten-free flour here? If so, that would be the culprit, as I made these with AP wheat flour. If not, a bit more cream will bring the scone dough together.
Carl Anderson says
Can I make these gluten free for my wife?
Alanna says
Hi Carl, I haven't personally succeeded with GF scones, but I know there are a lot of recipes out there; I'm sure you could adapt one to use the flavors here (maple, berries and buckwheat). This one from Gluten-Free Goddess looks like a good starting point: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2011/07/gluten-free-blueberry-scones-with-whole.html
Also this one from Gluten-Free Girl: http://glutenfreegirl.com/2011/05/gluten-free-scones/
Please let me know how it goes!
Chanel says
I just made these last night and replaced the flour with white rice flour and added two tablespoons corn starch. I would also bet oat flour would work, but they are often processed in facilities with wheat so can be contaminated with gluten. The starch helps thicken so they aren't as flat or runny.
I also swapped the heavy cream for 1 cup coconut milk beverage and 1/4 condensed coconut milk. (I'm sure someone could even used hard margarine instead of butter to make them fully vegan but I didn't have any on hand). You can't taste the coconut in it.
They held together, and though they weren't as pretty, they were nice, moist and tasted lovely. I'm trying a low FODMAP diet so I butchered the recipe out of necessity and it still turned out well! Haha
Alanna says
That's wonderful that those variations worked - thanks so much for sharing! I have a few gluten free scone recipes in my book Alternative Baker. I use Bob's Red Mill gluten free oat flour, which is made in a dedicated GF facility - highly recommended!
Jeanine Mcreary says
Can I use chickpea flour in place of AP?? Gluten is the work of the devil. Reject his works and embrace the Lord's GRACE into your heart!!
Rebecca says
Hi, would I be able to replace Greek yogurt with the cream? Thanks
Alanna says
Not sure that will work since Greek yogurt is quite a bit drier, but if you try it let me know!
Lindsay says
Found this in my buckwheat google search I made some adjustments along the way.
My changes:
Didn't do any of the freezing- I chilled them outside while the oven came up to temp, maybe 10 minutes. It was probably -12c outside yesterday.
Brown sugar for substitute & for top
Fresh blueberries
Added 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract
Used parchment paper & bit of spray oil
It was a thick batter at the end, didn't roll out but made big mounds for scones - in total 8 scones
Turned out amazing!! Warmed one this morning in the oven @ 300 degrees, cut open and buttered up! Delicious!
The Bojon Gourmet says
Wow Lindsay that sounds cold!! It's awesome that it turned out amazing for you <3
Cynthia says
Could I use buttermilk in place of the cream? Would I need to adjust any other ingredients?
Alanna says
I think that should work, the scones will just be less rich. You'll likely need less buttermilk than cream, so just add enough until you get the right dough consistency. And be sure to come back and let us all know how it works! :)
April Benham says
Can you use yogurt instead of heavy cream
Alanna says
You can, the scones will just be less rich and moist. And you may need to add more or less, depending on how thin or thick the yogurt is. Please let me know how it goes!
Gloriana says
I made it with greek yogurt and some milk (to make it less thick) instead of heavy cream, and turned out perfectly! They don't fall apart, and they are moist inside.
* I used the recipe in "Alternative Baker".
M says
Followed the instructions exactly, although used white sugar because that is all I had. I probably could have used less cream because the dough was VERY sticky and moist. But in the end they still turned out tasty and moist. I'll make them again but with less cream.
Alanna says
Thank you for letting me know. I'm so glad they worked out regardless!
Alycia says
Hi! For the maple sugar substitution, do you mean sub 1/4 cup maple syrup + 1 c. heavy cream (in lieu of the 1 1/4 cup of cream called for in the recipe)? Or should I add an additional 1 cup of cream + 1/4 cup of syrup? Thanks in advance!
Alanna says
The first one! Sorry, that wasn't very clear. I tried to clarify in the notes. Let me know if it makes more sense now!
Alycia says
Thanks for clarifying! I made them this way and they tuned out delicious. What a great recipe for using up this season’s bounty of blueberries. The different stages (freezing, mixing, baking) actually made this an approachable endeavor while handling a baby throughout the day! :)
Alanna says
Aw that's fabulous! I'm so glad they're a hit. Thanks a bunch for the question, note, and rating, I really appreciate it!
Karen says
Awesome! I wanted to try a buckwheat recipe.... did not realize there was AP flour in this as well. I may try making them againand use a little more buckwheat and a little less AP. Turned out phenomenal. Super moist snd soft. Thank you!
Gisele says
Hi Alanna,
I am going to attempt to recreate my fave scone normally purchased at a bakery I can no longer access because of Covid border restrictions. I plan on using your recipe as a base and incorporate items from their ingredient list. The modifications would be: egg(s), cornmeal, white choc chips. Can you please suggest what amounts to add in relation to your recipe?
Many thanks!
Debby Degnan says
I’ve been making these scones for a year and I love them. They keep getting better as I tweak the recipe. I grind my own brown rice and use this with 1 T of arrowroot instead of the all purpose flour. I make the round and then wrap it and freeze it. On the morning I want to bake scones, I cut the number I want to bake, no defrost, and pop them in the oven. I have used fresh, frozen blueberries or fresh, frozen cranberries with walnuts. Thank you Alanna.
Alanna says
Brilliant!! I'm so glad to know that the brown rice flour works here. Thanks so much for sharing your variation and for the sweet note!
Ann Christine Hoffmann says
I made this 2 days ago and put them in the freezer to have later this week. I had one tonight. It was INCREDIBLE! I substituted Oat Flour for Buckwheat because it was what I had and Coconut Milk (again what I had). I added "Mixed Spice" since this addition in cookies:-). It made them even more heavenly than I dreamed. 5 stars are not enough for this recipe!
Alanna says
Those variations sound delicious! Thank you so much for the note and rating!
Joyce G says
I replaced regular flour with whole meal flour, coconut milk for the cream and cranberries instead of blueberries. It worked out so well! Thanks for the recipe🥰.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
That sounds delicious! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe :)
Brigitte says
Wow super easy simple recipe , I changed many ingredients any how it’s still a nice balanced recipe using buckwheat which is hard to find ! I used soy milk, coconut oil for the butter , I made some homemade Concord grape jam that I don’t like it has a few sugar crystals in it so I added 1/4 cup of it in my milk , my dough was not thick like your I should have probably added more flour but I didn’t want to work the dough to much so I left it just like that they spreaded a little more but the taste was so yummy ! I did coconut palm sugar , I will make those again with my jam and reduce the milk . Thank you for a great recipe that can be adjusted to your own diet .
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Aw I'm so glad the recipe worked well with those modifications!
Erin says
I have been looking for way to incorporate buckwheat into my diet, both for it's healthful effects and because it's a native food source. This was the first recipe I tried and I am so glad I did! The scones were amazing and a huge hit with my people. I'm hosting a game night tomorrow and I plan to make another batch. I love making things for friends that we can enjoy with tea and this is definitely going to be one of my go-tos moving forward. Thank you for sharing :D
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, I'm so glad you loved these scones and that they were a hit! I'm a big fan of buckwheat too - love that roasty flavor. Thanks so much for the feedback on this recipe!
Pheobe says
I’m an avid baker. Love your recipes and site. What would make it even better is having everything in metric. BTW, buckwheat scones are fantastic! Thanks.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
So glad you're enjoying TBG and this scone recipe! I added in the metric measurements to this recipe for your baking pleasure. Thanks for reaching out about it!
Mary says
I used your recipe to make my scones. Thank you so much. They were delicious 😋
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, I'm so glad you liked them!
Lida A says
I made these a couple of days ago. I needed to improvise by incorporating some of the DF and GF suggestions offered at the comments. So I used white rice flour instead of AP flour, 1 TB arrowroot and 1.5 T cornstarch. I also used Miyako butter and Trader Joe's plant heavy cream (1 cup plus maple syrup).
The scones were soft and had the lovely unmistakeable taste of buckwheat (which was the main reason for baking them).
But the batter was quite soft so shaping them was hard. And in the oven they didn't keep their shape very well, in that they flattened while baking. Not to the point of flat cookies, but certainly not to the height of scones made with AP flour.
I would be most grateful of your thoughts because the above are some of the common issues I face when baking GF and DF.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Lida,
Thanks for trying a gluten-free version of these scones! I'm so glad you loved the flavor, but I'm sorry to hear that they splooshed in the oven.
I think a safe bet would be to try my gluten-free scone recipe but swap in buckwheat flour in place of either the oat flour (as long as you can tolerate almond flour). Use a good vegan butter such as Miyoko's in place of the butter and use chilled full-fat coconut milk in place of the cream.
Let me know of that recipe would work for you or if I can help tweak any other ingredients!