Vegan Blackberry Scones

Making homemade scones takes me right back to my first trip to England twenty years ago. Vegan blackberry scones are a dairy free and gluten free version of this traditional English treat. Drizzle with a dairy free icing to create the perfect sweet bite!

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The British have perfected the art of high tea which includes finger sandwiches, baked goods, sweets and of course, endless cups of tea! Scones are often a part of a tea ceremony. Clotted cream and jam are served along side these familiar treats. Let’s see how we can bring some of that British charm home to our own kitchens no matter if you need a recipe that is traditional, gluten free, or vegan.

Scones are lovely for breakfast. Another vegan breakfast recipe that I love for its ease is strawberry overnight oats. Have you tried overnight oats yet? They would be great with blackberries too.

What are scones?

Scones are a baked good that could be described as a dense biscuit. Lightly sweetened, scones are baked in a triangular or round shape. Fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate might be baked within the scone dough.

The dough is soft, slightly sticky and not the easiest to manage without getting bits clinging to your fingers.

Scones are a balancing act–crumby vs. fluffy, a soft interior vs. an outer lightly golden-brown top. Making scones a vegan and gluten free recipe is also a feat of balance. Traditional scones have dairy, eggs and flour. Let’s see how baking with So Delicious® products help transition to a dairy free recipe.

Scones are a type of quick bread. Muffins and shortcakes are too! Check out this vegan strawberry shortcake recipe. You’ll love all my my quick bread recipes!

Vegan ingredient substitutions

The trick to my vegan scone recipe is the addition of So Delicious® Dairy Free coconutmilk yogurt alternative. I use the plain variety although there are a number of other flavors that might pair well with scones.

This dairy free yogurt alternative provides the stability in the scone recipe that might traditionally come from using eggs. The product is creamy, rich, and it blends really well with the rest of the scone ingredients.

I also find that there are plenty of vegan butter substitutes available that make it easy to create dairy free recipes.

All of the ingredients used in this recipe are from Sprouts Farmers Market. Do you have extra blackberries? Try this recipe for vegan blackberry cobbler or these vegan blackberry muffins!

Ingredients in vegan and gluten free scones

• gluten free flour blend
• baking powder
• sugar
• salt
• vegan butter
• So Delicious® Dairy Free coconutmilk yogurt alternative
• blackberries
• confectioners’ sugar
• So Delicious® unsweetened Organic coconutmilk

Of course, if you don’t need a gluten free recipe, all purpose flour is fine.

Secrets to making vegan scones

After testing this recipe numerous times, I learned that the success of my scones depended on my method of preparing the scone dough. You can make scones by hand but more consistent results will come with the use of a food processor.

A food processor lets you first combine the dry ingredients by pulsing, then cut in the vegan butter, and then blend with the So Delicious® Dairy Free coconutmilk yogurt alternative. Final steps of adding the fresh blackberries and shaping the dough are done by hand.

Steps to make scones

1. Combine the dry ingredients to a food processor.
2. Add in the cold butter and process until it looks like small crumbs
3. Add the coconutmilk yogurt alternative.
4. Process until the dough comes together.
5. Empty the scone dough onto a piece of parchment or a large mixing bowl.
6. Gently fold in the berries.
7. Shape the dough into a round disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.
8. Cut the disc of dough into 8 triangular pieces. Bake.

Tips for making fluffy vegan scones

• Use a food processor
• Start with very cold vegan butter
• Don’t over process the dough
• Very gently fold in the berries. They will break apart and color the dough slightly.
• Freeze the dough before baking the scones
• Keep an eye on the scones towards the end of the baking time. The bottoms brown more quickly than the tops
• Use a digital baking thermometer to test that the interior is at least 200 degrees F when baked. This step of checking temps has helped to improve my baking.
• Of course the drizzle is optional but I think it adds a touch of sweetness that I love in a baked good. The English version would more likely be served plain but sometimes it is ok to break with tradition!
• If you do want to mirror the British tradition of serving scones with clotted cream (a thickened type of cream) and jam, just top the scones with a dollop of the coconutmilk yogurt alternative for a great dairy free option!
• Serve for breakfast, brunch or tea time.

If you enjoy vegan recipes, you’ll love this vegan lemon curd recipe, vegan oatmeal cups, and strawberry banana fool.

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