Buttermilk Scones — Tartine Has Done It Again

I love a good scone. More than a muffin these days. Even a really good muffin, like this one, which I made last weekend. Such a good recipe. If you haven’t tried that one yet, add it to your to-make list.

Back to the scones. You might recall my obsession with Tartine? Its quiche, bread pudding and croque monsieur in particular. Oh its croque monsieur! Why is there no recipe for it in either of my Tartine cookbooks? Hmm, perhaps it’s best that I don’t know how to make that one anyway.

OK really, back to the scones. Buttery. Flaky. Crispy on top. Not too sweet. Lemony. Blueberry-y. Delicious. When you live hundreds of miles from Tartine, this recipe’s a good one to know.

And if you like this recipe, you’ll likely like this one and this one, too. I heart Tartine. So very much.

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
Adapted from Tartine
Yield=12

Notes:

  • Tartine’s recipe calls for Zante currants, which should be plumped in warm water for 10 minutes, then drained.
  • I usually make a half recipe — 12 scones is a lot, and the dough gets unwieldy. If you can handle it, however, by all means go for it. I have frozen the raw scone dough, too, and baked the scones after thawing the dough overnight in the fridge. Worked beautifully.

4 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. lemon zest, grated
1 cup + 1 T. unsalted butter, very cold
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 cups blueberries

Topping
3 T. butter
sugar for sprinkling such as demerara or turbinado (regular granulated is fine, too)

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add sugar, salt and lemon zest and stir to combine. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and scatter the cubes over the dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender or the back of a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. When you are finished, the butter should be dispersed throughout the flour in pea-sized lumps (or bigger… mine always are).

3. Add the buttermilk all at once along with the blueberries and mix gently with a wooden spoon until the dough holds together. If the mixture seems dry, add a little bit more buttermilk.

4. Dust your work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. If you’ve made the whole recipe, divide the dough into two even portions. Using your hands, pat each portion into a circular disk about 1 1/2 inches thick. (Or, if you’ve made the whole recipe and want to follow Tartine’s instructions, pat the dough into a rectangle about 18 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 1 1/2 inches thick). Brush the top with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut each disk into 6 wedges (or 12 if you’ve made the rectangle).

5. Transfer the triangles to baking sheet. Bake until the tops of the scones are lightly browned, about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

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17 Comments

  • 1
    April 1, 2011 - 4:27 am | Permalink

    those look so fabulous

    xoxo,
    F

    Le Kiss Kiss- Click Here!

  • 2
    April 3, 2011 - 12:50 pm | Permalink

    Gorgeous! I love the wedge-shaped American scones. It lets you handle the dough so lightly and you get such a great result!

  • 3
    May 9, 2011 - 3:41 pm | Permalink

    Looks amazing.

  • 4
    May 13, 2011 - 3:29 pm | Permalink

    just beautiful.
    last time I was in the city, they were completely sold out of *everything* … damn you, tartine!

  • 5
    July 8, 2011 - 8:38 am | Permalink

    Ali, I made these last night with cherries (the only fresh berries/fruit I had) and they were great. I froze half the batch and can’t wait to have them ready for a breakfast at some point. Thanks!

  • 6
    Hannah
    July 13, 2011 - 6:02 am | Permalink

    This looks wonderful! LOVE THIS! Thanks for the great recipes that include blueberries! We have two bushes and can’t wait to get picking!!

  • 7
    Lmb
    July 15, 2011 - 11:32 pm | Permalink

    Buttermilk rules once again!

  • 8
    Jim Keener
    August 16, 2011 - 8:46 pm | Permalink

    Oh good. Now I can blame my extra weight on you.

  • 9
    alice foster
    October 29, 2011 - 8:12 am | Permalink

    could you please send me the 1/2 recipe measurements for the blueberry scones. having a problem figuring them out. thanks in advance.

  • 10
    October 29, 2011 - 12:26 pm | Permalink

    Hi Alice,

    I know, a half recipe is tricky. This is the best I can do. Here you go:

    2 3/8 cup all-purpose flour (3/8 cup = 6 tablespoons)
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    3/8 tsp. baking soda (a scant 1/2 teaspoon)
    1/4 cup sugar
    1/2 tsp. salt (a heaping half teaspoon)
    1/2 tsp. lemon zest, grated
    1/2 cup + 1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, very cold
    3/4 cup buttermilk
    1 cup blueberries

    Topping
    1.5 T. butter
    sugar for sprinkling such as demerara or turbinado (regular granulated is fine, too)

  • 11
    Annetta
    February 3, 2012 - 10:43 am | Permalink

    Can I use frozen blueberries for the scone recipe.

  • 12
    February 3, 2012 - 12:18 pm | Permalink

    Annetta — I’m sure you could — I’ve never tried, but I think frozen blueberries almost always can be substituted for fresh in baked goods. I would not thaw them before using them. Report back if you have success!

  • 13
    Annetta
    February 5, 2012 - 8:44 am | Permalink

    Thanks. I plan to make this for my son whose away at college.

  • 14
    Annetta
    February 11, 2012 - 3:18 pm | Permalink

    Ok. I made theses this morning and they didn’t turn out exactly right. They did taste good but the texture wasn’t right. I think when using frozen blueberries you should not mix the buttermilk and berries at the same time. The frozen berries freeze up the buttermilk and make your dough to dry. I had to add more buttermilk which made it too soft in the end.

  • 15
    February 13, 2012 - 6:04 am | Permalink

    Hi Annetta — I’m sorry to hear that the frozen blueberries didn’t work out. Thanks for reporting back on this — I wouldn’t have thought about the coldness of the berries affecting the buttermilk, but that makes sense.

  • 16
    rachel
    March 16, 2012 - 8:54 am | Permalink

    Hi there, i’m wondering, would it still be okay if i refrigerated the dough and put it away for tomorrow morning (St. Patty’s Day!!!) to bake? would they stay fresh if i did make them today and saved them for tomorrow?
    also, i think i’m just going to keep them in the shape of a disk like they do in Dub-town (hehe). would that be possible, and if so, should I make any baking changes?

  • 17
    March 16, 2012 - 10:53 am | Permalink

    Rachel — Definitely refrigerate the dough and save it to bake fresh for tomorrow morning. Scones taste OK the second day, but they definitely dry out a bit. They taste so much better freshly baked. If you have to bake them a day ahead, they liven up a bit if you slice them and toast them.

    The disc shape sounds nice — you shouldn’t have to make any baking changes. Happy St. Patty’s Day!!

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