These Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones are light and flaky with crispy crumbly edges, juicy blueberries, and fresh thyme.
They make a delicious breakfast treat or pair beautifully with your favorite tea.
You may also want to try one of my favorite sourdough breakfast treats, this sourdough dutch baby.
My herb garden is exploding so I am experimenting with pairing fresh herbs with different fruits. One of my favorite pairings is thyme and blueberries. Thyme helps to make these scones unique. Thyme also pairs well with cherries, citrus, peaches, figs, honeydew, and cranberries.
I spent most of my life never having tried a scone. Now that I have I just can't get enough. Try one of my other scone recipes: Ham and Cheese Sourdough Scones, Apple Pecan Scones, or Brown Butter Pecan Scones.
Why you will love this recipe
- These scones are a great way to use up sourdough discard.
- You can use any type of sourdough discard; freshly fed or runny acidic hungry discard.
- They are also easy to customize by changeing the added fruit or herbs.
These sourdough discard blueberry and thyme scones are one of my favorite ways to use up my sourdough discard. They are so quick and easy to make.
If you don't have a sourdough starter, I've created a guide for creating and maintaining your own sourdough starter.
Plus the acid from the sourdough discard helps to break down the gluten in the flour to create super tender scones.
Pro Sourdough Tip: Keep a glass jar in your refrigerator to store your sourdough discard. Continue adding to it until you have enough to make your chosen sourdough discard recipe.
What are the best containers for storing sourdough starter and discard?
How long does sourdough discard last?
What is the difference between sourdough starter and sourdough discard?
Note the discarded starter is not used to leaven the scones. For lift, these scones use baking powder.
Other great ways to use up sourdough discard include:
Ingredients
Most of the ingredients in this are pretty standard for scones: flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, butter, and heavy cream.
For the flakiest scones, make sure the butter and heavy cream are chilled. Keeping the scone dough as cold as possible prevents over-spreading and preserves the scone's flakiness.
The addition of an egg yolk is nontraditional. But I think it adds richness and creates a lighter less dense scone. The additional fat will also help stop the scones from drying out.
Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries can be used interchangeably in this recipe. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before adding them to the scone dough.
Thyme: You can use fresh or dried thyme.
Equipment
Kitchen scale: Kitchen scales make baking faster and neater. Accuracy matters in baking. Scales are more precise than measuring cups. Too much flour or not enough sugar can dramatically change a recipe. The most accurate way to bake is to measure your ingredients by weight rather than volume.
A kitchen scale also reduces the number of dishes you will need to wash because you are measuring each ingredient directly from the container into the mixing bowl without the use of measuring cups.
This scale from OXO is the one I use after it was recommended by Alton Brown. What makes this scale great is the display pulls out to make viewing measurements easier when using a large bowl.
You could cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender, but I prefer to use a food processor. It is much faster and creates a finer more even mixture. Just be careful to not overwork the dough.
Mixing Bowls: These are some of my favorite mixing bowls. They come in a huge range of sizes, nest together for easy storage, and are easy to clean.
You could shape the dough into one round blob and cut it into triangles like a pie, but I prefer to cut it with a circle biscuit cutter or this fluted circle cutter when I am feeling fancy.
When baking items like scones or cookies, I love these AirBake baking sheets. My cookies and scones bake evenly every time I use these pans. AirBake baking sheets have two aluminum layers with a layer of air in between them. The layer of air decreases the temperature of the top layer of metal, preventing the bottom of the cookie or scone from browning too quickly. These pans are also really easy to clean. Just wipe them clean with a little soap and hot water. It is not recommended to fully submerge these pans in water or place them in a dishwasher.
Pastry Brush: I am partial to silicone pastry brushes because they are heat resistant and dishwasher safe. I like them over bristled brushes because I don't have to worry about them leaving stray bristles behind.
Directions
Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, thyme, and kosher salt to the bowl of your food processor.
Cut in the cold butter. Cut the butter into 4 pieces and added it to the food processor. Pulse a few times to chop and incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Continue processing until the butter pieces are the size of peas.
Whisk the wet ingredients together. In a large bowl whisk together the sourdough discard, heavy cream, and egg yolk.
Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and add the blueberries. Fold together being careful to not over mix the dough or crush the blueberries.
Knead and shape the dough. Pour the dough onto the counter and lightly flour it. Knead the dough a few times until it begins to come together and smoothes out a bit. Flatten the dough and fold it into thirds like you would a letter. Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat this flattening and folding process two more times.
By folding the dough you will literally be creating layers of flour and butter, creating flakey layers, and encouraging the scones to rise. The dough will be a bit sticky, do not add extra flour. The moist dough gives the scones a soft texture and helps them to rise. Pat into a disc approximately 1 inch thick and cut into circles using a 2.5″ cutter. You can reshape the scraps and cut out additional scones but they won't be as flaky.
Freeze for at least 30 minutes. To prevent the scones from spreading chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Brush tops with heavy cream. Brushing with heavy creams will encourage browning.
Bake until golden brown. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Tips
- A food processor makes blending the butter into the dry ingredients a million times easier. And allows you to work with colder butter without hurting your hands. Try putting the butter in the freezer for an hour before blending it into the dry ingredients. The texture of your scones will be even better.
Bonus Tip: I store extra butter in the freezer at all times. Which means I always have frozen butter ready to be used in scones or pie crusts. Butter can be frozen for up to six months.
- If you don't have a food processor, use a box grater to create small strips of butter that will be easier to cut into the flour with a pastry blender.
- If you don’t have any sourdough discard, you can substitute ½ cup of heavy cream and a ½ cup of all-purpose flour for the 1 cup of sourdough discard.
- If you don't have heavy cream, you can substitute milk or half and half.
- Don’t overwork the dough. Overworking the dough creates gluten which will result in chewy rather than flaky scones.
- Fruit Variations: Swap the blueberries for your favorite fruit.
- Don't use a rolling pin. Pat the dough out with your hands to avoid overworking the dough.
- When cutting the scones, push straight down without twisting the cutter. Twisting the cutter seals the edges together and will prevent them from rising,
- To help scones keep their shape, chill them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking.
- Bake scones on parchment paper or a silicone mat to avoid overcooked bottoms.
- Baking times will vary depending upon your oven. It is helpful to know your oven and worth purchasing an inexpensive oven thermometer. Oven temperatures can vary as much as 50 degrees plus or minus.
- If the bottoms of the scones are browning too quickly slide a second baking sheet directly under.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frozen blueberries are a great substitute. Frozen blueberries can be added directly to the batter while they are still frozen.
There are a few reasons why your scones may not have risen.
Check your baking powder. For maximum efficacy, the baking powder should be used within six months of opening. To test your baking powder, drop a small amount into hot water. Look for bubbles and fizzing. If a reaction occurs it's still good to use.
Kneading the dough for too long will make them tough, dense, and shorter.
Using too much flour will make the dough too stiff to rise to its full potential. I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients by weight rather than volume. Accuracy matters particularly when baking.
Yes, scones can be in advance and frozen either before or after baking. See below for additional instructions on how to make and save scones made in advance.
Scones are best the day they are baked.
Leftover scones can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to four days.
To freeze baked scones, let them cool completely and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a zip-top bag labeled with the date and contents. Freeze scones for up to 3 months.
Thaw on the counter for a few hours, and then warm in the oven to get the best texture.
To freeze unbaked scones, cut the scones out and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze them until solid and then transfer them to a zip-top bag labeled with the date and contents. Scones can be frozen for up to 3 months.
To bake frozen scones, bake the scones directly from frozen adding an extra 2-3 minutes of baking time.
If you are new to sourdough, I've created a sourdough gift guide which lists all of my favorite sourdough products.
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones with Fresh Thyme
Equipment
- pastry blender or food processor
- mixing bowl
- baking sheets
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ¼ cup fresh thyme
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter 113g - chilled
- 1 cup sourdough discard
- ⅔ cup heavy cream plus extra for brushing
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Add the 3 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated white sugar, ¼ cup fresh thyme, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to the bowl of your food processor.
- Cut the 8 tablespoons unsalted butter into 4 pieces and add it to the food processor. Pulse a few times to chop and incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Continue processing until the butter pieces are the size of peas.
- In a large bowl whisk together the 1 cup sourdough discard, ⅔ cup heavy cream, and 1 egg yolk.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and add the 1 ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries. Fold together being careful to not over mix the dough or crush the blueberries.
- Pour the dough onto the counter and lightly flour it. Knead the dough a few times until it begins to come together and smoothies out a bit. Flatten the dough and fold it into thirds like you would a letter. Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat this flattening and folding process two more times.
- Pat into a disc approximately 1 inch thick and cut into circles using a 2.5″ cutter. You can reshape the scraps and cut out additional scones but they won't be as flaky.
- To prevent the scones from spreading chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Brush tops with heavy cream. Brushing with heavy creams will encourage browning.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- Scones are best the day they are baked.
- Leftover scones can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to four days.
- To freeze baked scones, let them cool completely and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a zip-top bag labeled with the date and contents. Freeze scones for up to 3 months.
- Thaw on the counter for a few hours, and then warm in the oven to get the best texture.
- To freeze unbaked scones, cut the scones out and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze them until solid and then transfer them to a zip-top bag labeled with the date and contents. Scones can be frozen for up to 3 months
- To bake frozen scones, bake the scones directly from frozen adding an extra 2-3 minutes of baking time.
Nutrition
More sourdough recipes
Thanks for Reading!
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below! You can also snap a picture and post it on Facebook or Instagram be sure to tag me @RaspberriesandKohlrabi.
Blueberry thyme sourdough scones
Kelley says
They're done, and AMAZING!!! Much better w just 4t of baking powder ☺️
Erica says
Yay! I am so happy they worked out for you!
Kelley says
I made these yesterday! When fresh look out of the oven, they were savory (used fresh blueberries, which were super tasty when sampled) but I really only tasted the thyme. Still good I thought! But then later, after they cooled completely, they tasted of baking powder... overwhelmingly. I ended up dumping the entire batch. I do understand baking powder is a chemical compound...and the recipe did call for a seemingly larger amount... AnyHoo, I'm making these again today, using less of the baking powder...I want them to be delicious! Because in theory, this recipe sounds amazing for using my sourdough discards! Stay tuned!
Erica says
I'm sorry the recipe didn't work out for you perfectly the first time. You can certainly reduce the baking powder although they may not rise as much. I have been noticing lately that my baking powder has been clumping in recipes creating pockets of baking powder in the final product. It is becoming standard practice for me to press my baking powder through a sieve when adding it to the dry ingredients, just to make sure it gets evenly distributed. I just used up the last of my sourdough discard, but as soon as I have more I am going to test this recipe again,
Kelley says
The new batch is in the freezer now! (Great tip BTW! They held their shape beautifully!)
Anyway, I used 2t less baking powder...so we'll see!!
I'm very optimistic!!
I'll keep you posted!
Erica says
I am excited for you and wish I had homemade scones waiting for me.