broken open blueberry scone on a cooling rack

Miniature Blueberry Drop Scones [Recipe]

Breakfast, Dessert, Food, Recipes, Sweet / Friday, February 23rd, 2024
 
Alright everybody, today I bring you… blueberry drop scones! And not just regular drop scones, oh no – miniature ones, which in my opinion are the perfect way to make them for tea parties. Why? Because then you have more room to sample other treats, of course! 
 
I remember as a kid, my mom and some of my aunts talking about how it was the best thing to take a sliver of each kind of cookie at Christmastime so that you could try them all. At the time, my child-like fancies for loads of dessert didn’t get it: Why not just eat a whole one of each kind? Now that I’m grown (mostly, haha– I might never full grow up), I realize that they were right. Filling up on one thing is never optimal when you could just keep your helpings small and get to try so much more!
 
 

Where this recipe for blueberry drop scones came from

I made up this recipe after being invited to a friend’s house for a birthday tea party when I was a teenager. Something very similar to this was served at the time amid a large spread of dainty desserts and snacks. I thought that making the scones in miniature form was perfect because it left us with more room to sample all of the different delicious foods on the table… becoming more and more like my mom all the time!
 

What are drop scones?

Rather than being rolled out and then cut into scone shapes, drop scones are made by simply “dropping” the dough onto a prepared cookie sheet with a spoon or cookie scoop. They are a simpler, no-mess method for making tea time scones.
 

Are Scotch pancakes and drop scones the same thing?

I actually didn’t know about Scotch pancakes until today, but drop scones are apparently another name for them (a thick, griddle cooked pancake). The two are not the same thing, but interestingly, they bear the same name! 


How many berries to use for blueberry drop scones

I have it noted on this recipe that you can use 1/2-1 cup of blueberries, which seems like quite a range. Honestly, both work well. I would recommend going with the lesser amount if you want to serve your scones with jam, but if you want to snack on them just as they are… Go for the large amount. As picture in this post, these scones are made with 1 cup of blueberries.
 

Can I substitute different fruit for the blueberries in this recipe?

You sure can! Just note that if your fruit is super juicy, you might get a slightly wetter dough, and your scones may spread more (becoming a bit flatter) on your cookie sheet.
 

Are frozen blueberries ok to use in this recipe?

I don’t like to, since the juices coating the berries melts into the dough and tints it blue. If you want to go for the marbled look, however, you can feel free to try it! For this recipe, I partially froze some fresh blueberries to keep them intact while mixing the dough (click on the link to see how to do this).


Keeping your scones tender and flaky

The key to tender scones is this: Cold butter and not over-working the dough. For drop scones, it’s really quite simple. Just make sure your butter is cold, and then only mix the dough until the dry ingredients are no longer visible. Then stop, scoop your batter, and away you go!
 

How to make this recipe

Look no further… The recipe is here! Scroll down to check it out:
 
rows of blueberry scones on a cooling rack over a white background
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Miniature Blueberry Drop Scones

This recipe for "drop scones" is a simple way to make scones, quickly, without the bother of rolling and cutting the dough. They are soft, delicious, and just a touch sweet-- perfect to serve for afternoon tea.

Course Breakfast, Snack, Tea
Cuisine British, Canadian, English
Keyword blueberry, currant scones, drop scones
Prep Time 30 minutes
Servings 16
Author Naomi

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 c. all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 Tbsp. cold butter
  • 2 eggs with part of the whites reserved
  • 6 Tbsp. milk
  • 1/2-1 c. fresh blueberries (I used 1 cup in this recipe)
  • sugar to garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

  2. In a medium-large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, or your hands, blend the butter into the flower until it resembles coarse chunks.

  3. Beat the eggs and milk together, reserving part of the egg whites for glazing the tops of the scones.  Add the egg and milk mixture with the blueberries to the flour mixture, and blend with a fork until just combined and the mixture comes together in a soft dough.

  4. Note:  You can spread the washed blueberries over a sheet of plastic wrap on a cookie sheet to freeze them (or at least partially freeze them). This is to keep the juice from running and tinting the dough as you mix it.  I did this for these scones.  Prepackaged frozen blueberries will tint the dough blue.

  5. Spoon (or scoop) the dough into walnut sized pieces onto non-stick or parchment lined cookie sheets, glaze with egg white, and sprinkle (generously) with sugar.

  6. Bake the scones for 10-15 minutes, or until the the tops are a little cracked looking, and the scones are brown around the edges.  Cool on wire racks.

Recipe Notes

These scones are delicious served with tea. You can either eat them as they are, or add a little jam for extra flavour. 

Used in this recipe:

Some other great scone recipes:

…And that’s it! Let me know if you make them; I’d love to know how yours turned out!

In the meantime, I’ll ask: what’s your favourite kind of scone?

Back soon,

–Naomi

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4 Replies to “Miniature Blueberry Drop Scones [Recipe]”

  1. Just made these tonight for my Mother's Day Tea Party coming up on Sunday. Let's hope they last until then! 😀
    I thought I had grabbed blueberries, instead grabbed raspberries and blackberries, so let's see how they turn out with that change, as I have them in the oven this second! Thanks so much for this recipe! I'll let you know how they come out! 😀

  2. Ooh, can't wait to hear how they turn out!

    Just a note, scones are best served on the day they are made – So I would pop them into the freezer if you're going to serve them on Sunday.

    Keeping my fingers crossed that they work out with the variation! 🙂

  3. I mixed these up last night then let them freeze overnight before baking them this morning. They turned out okay! 10 minutes was a little too brown for my old oven.
    For anyone else wondering about the yield, I doubled the recipe and got 40 scones.
    Also anyone unsure about how much egg white to reserve… I used one egg white from my four eggs and that was just right.

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