These scones are perfectly fluffy and flaky with fresh blackberries folded in, lavender aroma, and topped with coarse sugar for a little crunch and sweetness.
I’m very fortunate to have a blackberry bush in my garden, especially with this Vegas heat during the late spring every year threatening its existence. I had actually started it from a rooted off-shoot out of my parent’s yard back in CA so I’ve kept it alive for about 7 years now! Each year it’s grown a little bit more in size and so has the harvest, so I’ve been able to freeze the the berries as I pick them to use them for recipes later on without worrying about them spoiling.
Also happening this time of year, my lavender plant is going BONKERS with flowers, so this combo was a must-make. Kinda like my Blackberry Lavender Lemonade! I love me a great scone, and this recipe turned out just like I want them to: not too dense, buttery, flaky, but still soft, with some sweetness and crunch from the sugar topping, and a little tartness from the blackberries.
Substitutions + Tips:
- Full-fat coconut milk – this is being used in place of heavy cream in this recipe and doesn’t add much of a coconut flavor in the end product. If you avoid coconut, a rich cashew milk or store-bought, non-dairy heavy cream will also work.
- Ground flaxseed meal – flax is a great binder to use in vegan recipes, though you could also use chia seeds here.
- Cane sugar – I don’t recommend using any other type of sugar here as it will impact the flavor, color, and texture of the scones.
- Lavender buds – as mentioned before I got these from my garden but some stores will have them in bulk with their other spices!
- Unbleached all-purpose flour – I’ve not yet made these with a GF flour substitute, but I can imagine a 1:1 Gluten-free flour would still work here, and perhaps make them even flakier! I will try this soon and report back. EDIT: I used King Arthur Flour’s 1:1 GF flour and it worked great! Though I do recommend baking for 18-20 minutes so that the inside still stays a bit moist.
- Vegan butter – make sure that this is cold so that when it’s crumbled into the flour mixture it doesn’t melt, which will make the scone less flaky and more cake-like after baking.
- Blackberries – while fresh or frozen work here, using frozen will help them from falling apart when you mix the dough. That being said, I loved that they fell apart and swirled into the dough! So personal preference here.
- Turbinado sugar – this is for topping the scones, and because turbinado sugar is more coarse, it takes longer to melt while baking and gives the perfect sugary crust. You can use cane sugar if it’s all you have on hand, but it may burn so I don’t recommend it.
Other Scone Recipes You’ll Love!
- Vegan Glazed Figgy Maple Scones
- Vegan Blueberry Mint Scones with Zesty Lemon Icing
- Glazed Cranberry Orange Scones
Sugared Blackberry Lavender Scones
These scones are perfectly fluffy and flaky with fresh blackberries folded in and lavender aroma, topped with coarse sugar for a little crunch and sweetness.
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk, divided
- 1 (7 g) tablespoon flax meal
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (75 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried lavender buds
- 2 1/3 cups (315 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (45 g) cold vegan butter
- 3/4 cup (85 g) fresh or frozen blackberries
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (25 g) turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together 1 cup coconut milk, flax meal, and vanilla extract, then set aside. In a small bowl, place sugar and lavender buds and pinch them together with your fingers, to impart more of the lavender flavor into the sugar. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar mixture, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- Cut cold butter into flour mixture using a pastry cutter or fork, until it becomes small crumbles. Add liquid mixture and fold together until there are no dry pockets. Dough will be somewhat sticky, set it aside for 5 minutes.
- Heavily flour a counter or flat surface, and transfer dough to it, press the dough out into a flat layer, then fold it over itself, pressing down gently. Repeat this process two more times and if the dough is still very sticky, add more flour while folding, then roll it out into a circle roughly 1 1/2-inches high.
- Slice dough into 8 pie pieces and transfer to baking sheet, then brush tops with remaining coconut milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 21 to 23 minutes, or until golden on top.
- Once baked, cool on a rack for 15 minutes, and enjoy! Serve within 3 to 5 days.
Notes
- Full-fat coconut milk - this is being used in place of heavy cream in this recipe and doesn't add much of a coconut flavor in the end product. If you avoid coconut, a rich cashew milk will also work.
- Ground flaxseed meal - flax is a great binder to use in vegan recipes, though you could also use chia seeds here.
- Unbleached all-purpose flour - I've not yet made these with a GF flour substitute, but I can imagine a 1:1 Gluten-free flour would still work here, and perhaps make them even flakier! EDIT: I used King Arthur Flour's 1:1 GF flour and it worked great! Though I do recommend baking for 18-20 minutes so that the inside still stays a bit moist.
- Vegan butter - make sure that this is cold so that when it's crumbled into the flour mixture it doesn't melt, which will make the scone less flaky and more cake-like after baking.
- Blackberries - while fresh or frozen work here, using frozen will help them from falling apart when you mix the dough. That being said, I loved that they fell apart and swirled into the dough! So personal preference here.
- Turbinado sugar - this is for topping the scones, and because turbinado sugar is more coarse, it takes longer to melt while baking and gives the perfect sugary crust.
I MEAN! Look at this scone!!!! I’ve convinced myself to make another batch tomorrow.
