Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones – Sourdough Brandon (2024)

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With juicy blueberries and heavy cream, these sourdough discard blueberry scones are tender and full of flavor.

Sourdough scones are great any time of day for breakfast with coffee, an afternoon pick-me-up with tea, or a light dessert.

Spelt flour gives these sourdough discard blueberry scones a nutty flavor that complements the warming cinnamon spice.

Sourdough discard helps tenderize the scones and offers the slightest tang to balance the sweetness from the blueberries and sugar.

This is an easy sourdough discard recipe to use up some extra sourdough discard, and the scone dough comes together quickly.

Despite how simple they are to make, these sourdough discard blueberry scones are sure to impress anyone who eats them (including yourself!).

❓ What is Sourdough Discard?

Sourdough discard is an unfed portion of sourdough starter that is removed when feeding your sourdough starter.

To ensure that your sourdough starter does not become too large, you need to remove a part of it during each feeding.

Sometimes referred to as “sourdough excess”, sourdough discard does not have to be discarded!

I keep my sourdough discard in a small deli container in my refrigerator and use it in various sourdough discard recipes like my Easy Sourdough Discard Granola, Biscuits, or Waffles.

Because sourdough discard is not a ripe sourdough starter and can be quite acidic, it’s not best to use it as a leavener. Instead, sourdough discard is best used in recipes for a slightly tangy flavor and to make baked goods extra tender.

Sourdough discard acts similarly to how any acidic, viscous ingredient like sour cream, greek yogurt, or buttermilk would be used in a recipe!

Click the toggles below for more information and recommendations.

🛒 Ingredients needed:

Click the toggles below for more information on each ingredient, recommendations, and possible substitutes.

All-purpose flour

I use King Arthur All-Purpose flour for this scone recipe. I almost exclusively use their flours for most of my recipes because it is the highest quality flour found in most grocery stores in the Northeast. Any type of all-purpose flour will work well here though!

Spelt flour (optional)

Spelt flour gives a nutty, light texture to these sourdough discard scones that takes them to the next level.

See Also

How to Make Scones RecipeScones with Sour MilkStrawberry Sour Cream SconesSour Cream Scones - Awesome on 20

If you’re not using spelt flour, it’s a great addition to lots of baked goods and breads like this Spelt Sourdough Focaccia and this Spelt Sourdough Bread. Experiment with it- I think you’ll love!

If you don’t have spelt flour, I’d go with a white whole wheat flour for the most similar quality. You can substitute with regular whole wheat flour but the scones might be a little more dense.

Ground cinnamon

I use ground cinnamon in this recipe as the warming spice and it complements the flavors well. Cardamom, ginger, a pinch of clove, or any other warming spice would all be good here- just adjust as necessary.

Sourdough discard

Sourdough discard tenderizes the scones and gives a slight tang to them. If you don’t have discard, you could use ripe sourdough starter and it will work the same way.

If you don’t have a sourdough starter, be sure to read my How to Make a Sourdough Starter post to learn how to make your own sourdough starter from scratch with only flour and water.

Fresh Blueberries

This recipe was developed specifically for fresh blueberries like my Sourdough Blueberry Yogurt Muffins. However, if you only have frozen blueberries, I developed a Wild Blueberry Spelt Scones recipe for Wyman’s that is only slightly different!

Blackberries or raspberries would also work well here! For strawberries, be sure to check out my recipe!

• Granulated sugar
• Kosher salt
• Baking powder
• Unsalted butter
• Heavy cream
• Vanilla extract
• Coarse sugar like raw sugar for topping
• Icing (optional): Confectioner’s sugar & whole milk

👨‍🍳 Tips to Make the Best Sourdough Scones:

To make the best sourdough discard scones possible, there are some important tips to keep in mind:

1. Keep the butter and ingredients cold
   • When making biscuits, scones, or pastry, it’s really important to keep your butter and other ingredients cold throughout the mixing process. Cold butter creates steam when it hits a hot oven and this is what gives biscuits, scones, and pastry their characteristic flakiness.
   • If the butter gets too warm or begins to melt, it will be incorporated into the dry ingredients and start to form gluten. Gluten formation will result in a chewier scone instead of a tender, crumbly scone.
   • If the butter or dough starts to get warm, simply put it into the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
2. Don’t over-mix the dough
   • Akin to the first point, do not over-mix dough for biscuits, scones, or pastries. Overmixing will warm up the ingredients, create more gluten, and result in a less tender/flaky pastry. Overmixing scone dough will also result in a flatter scone.
   • This scone dough is purposefully crumbly and might seem a little dry. As you bring it together though, the ingredients will come together into a shaggy dough that does hold together. This is what you want!
3. Place scones near each other when baking
   • Placing scones close to each other while they bake will help the scones rise higher, have straighter sides, and not flatten as much.
4. Chill scones before baking
   • After shaping the scones, freeze them on the lined baking sheet for about 30 minutes (or longer). This will chill the butter and other ingredients which will create the maximum amount of steam when they bake, resulting in a taller rise and crumbly (not dense) texture.

🫐 How to Make Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones:

Follow along with this recipe visual guide for step-by-step instructions on how to make these sourdough scones!

1. Whisk Dry Ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:

• 215g All-Purpose Flour
• 60g Spelt Flour
• 75g Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 TBS baking powder

2. Add Butter

This step is similar to making pie dough by hand.

Use a bench scraper or a butter knife to cut 113g cold unsalted butter (8 TBS or one stick) into small cubes.

Toss the cubes of butter into the dry mixture until the cubes are coated in flour.

Working quickly so the butter doesn’t get too warm, smash the butter and dry ingredients together between your fingers until each piece of butter is flattened into the size of walnut halves and coated.

You can use a pastry cutter here too but I find doing it by hand to be more efficient.

3. Toss In Blueberries

Pour 150 grams (about one cup) of fresh blueberries into the bowl.

Using your hands, toss everything in the bowl together so the blueberries are coated in the dry mixture.

Note: Make sure your blueberries are washed and dried so they do not add additional moisture to your scone dough.

4. Add In Sourdough Discard & Mix

Pour in 50 grams of sourdough discard into the bowl.

Using a spatula, lightly mix the sourdough discard into the mixture.

The mixture should still be very dry and maybe only a few clumps forming at this point.

If the mixture is at all warm, place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

5. Add Heavy Cream, Vanilla, and Combine

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together 180 grams of cold heavy cream and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Slowly pour most of the heavy cream mixture into the bowl. Hold back a few teaspoons of the heavy cream in case it’s not needed.

Using a spatula, mix together the blueberry scone mixture until it forms a cohesive, still somewhat dry, and shaggy dough. Use your hands to gently bring it together if needed and try not to burst too many blueberries in the process.

If the dough is still not coming together, add reserved heavy cream or additional heavy cream one teaspoon at a time.

6. Shape & Freeze Scones

Turn the scone dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

If your dough still has many dry pockets, you may need to knead it lightly a couple of times. You should still see visible pieces of butter in the dough.

Pat the dough into a circle about 1 inch tall. The circle should have about a 10-11 inch diameter, but the height is more important here than the size of the circle so that you get thicker scones.

Using a bench scraper or a butter knife, divide the dough in half. Then, cut it perpendicularly to create a cross-section of four pieces. Divide each of the four pieces in half so that you have eight wedges in total.

Transfer the wedges onto a half-sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and place the scones about one inch from each other on the pan. Placing them close together will help the scones rise higher.

Place the prepared baking sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes. Don’t skip this step! The scones need to chill so you get the best results with a tender texture.

At this point, the scones could be wrapped and kept in the freezer to bake at a later time as well.

7. Preheat Oven & Topping

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

After at least 30 minutes in the freezer, use a pastry brush to brush heavy cream on top of the scones lightly. The heavy cream wash will help your sugar topping stick and brown the scones lightly.

Sprinkle sanding sugar, granulated sugar, or raw sugar on top of the scones.

8. Bake

Bake the scones at 400ºF for about 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving. They’re excellent with coffee or tea.

Scones are best in the first two days after they’re made, but I’ve found that these can last up to five days in a sealed container!

Optional Icing:

Make a simple icing to drizzle on top of the scones!

Mix together a couple of teaspoons of whole milk and add confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar in a small bowl until you have a viscous, thick icing. Adjust to your liking and for however much icing you want adding more milk/sugar at a time. Feel free to add vanilla extract, lemon zest, or another flavor you like!

Use a spoon to drizzle the icing on top of the scones.

❓ Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones FAQs:

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