maple blueberry scones

My Momma K is having a birthday today! Yup, it's my momma's birthday and I don't even have a cake for you today. Fail. Pretend there's a candle in that scone up there, please!

For those of you who know my momma, please be sure to wish her a happy birthday! For those who don't know her, well, you're missing out on a good lady.

She's the kind of mom who mails me boxes of Girl Scout cookies and funny cards, just because. She's the kind who will drink too much red wine and refer to herself as Betty Badass…even though she'd never hurt a fly. She's the kind who will watch Project Runway with me every week (even though we live hundreds of miles apart) so we can text each other our opinions the entire time. And she's the kind who will choose everyone else's favorite cake for her own birthday.

So, momma, I owe you one birthday cake of YOUR choosing.

But in the meantime, I offer up these scones. Because when I was first learning to bake you would always try my scones and claim to like them…even when certain other members of the family (cough cough dad) gave them the side eye and referred to them as the "big, ugly cousin of the muffin." (Poor scones…)

Thanks for being wonderful, momma! Happy birthday to you!

maple blueberry scones

ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, but into small cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 Tbsp buttermilk for brushing the tops of the scones before baking
granulated sugar for sprinkling on top before baking

directions:
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pinch of nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter (using your fingers or a pastry cutter) until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Work the butter into the dry ingredients until some of the butter flakes are the size of peas and some are the size of oat flakes. In another bowl, combine egg, maple syrup, and milk and beat lightly with a fork. Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough. Fold in the blueberries.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead until just combined. Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds using a round cutter. Reshape and roll excess dough to create more scones with dough scraps. Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with buttermilk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm. Scones are best the day they’re made but will keep up to five days refridgerated.

Yield: 10-12 scones

Source: Joy the Baker