Gluten-Free Blackberry Scones with Maple Vanilla Glaze

These heavenly gluten-free blackberry scones are a special treat for breakfast or brunch! Enjoy these soft and tender scones warm right out of the oven and topped with a generous drizzle of maple vanilla glaze.

THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY 
BOB'S RED MILL

Scones and Saturdays both start with 'S'.

Coincidence?

I don't think so. They go together like scones and Sundays.

These blackberry scones are definitely worth getting yerself out of bed and fuzzy slipper shuffling into the kitchen on a lazy weekend morning. You may even do a twirl or two because joy knows no bounds when you start the day off with heavenly blackberry scones with glaaaze.

This weekend is looking up even if the stock markets are down.

Why you'll love these scones!

Putting words to tasty food is hard. I would rather just shove a scone in your mouth and say, "SEE! They're AMAZING, right?!?" But here goes:

• Soft and slightly buttery with a warm, tender biscuity texture.
• Loaded with sweet blackberries.
• Drizzled with a maple vanilla glaze that my oldest daughter just can't seem to keep her fingers out of.
• You need just 30 minutes until homemade scones are baking in your oven and Uncle Jesse yells out, "HAVE MERCY!" The heavenly smells that will waft through your home and nostrils as the scones bake are insane.

And guess what? EVERYONE will love them, whether or not they live a gluten-free lifestyle!

What flour to use for gluten-free scones?

Choosing the right gluten-free flour for these scones is the key to success. There are dozens of different gluten-free flour brands staking their claim on grocery store shelves, but not all of them include quality ingredients and some just don’t work well.

After many years of baking and recipe testing using a multitude of gluten-free flours, Bob's Red Mill is the one brand I turn to every time. Their flours are consistent in quality and produce the best texture. Plus, their gluten-free flours are produced in a completely gluten-free facility with strict batch-testing protocols to assure the gluten-free integrity of their products, an important quality for those with gluten intolerance and celiac disease.

For these scones, I use a combination of Bob's Red's Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour. The gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour provides a reliable and perfectly formulated mix for creating tasty baked treats with a wonderful texture. The gluten-free oat flour lends a subtle warm flavor and structure to the scones.

Scone ingredients & suggestions

• Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour: My favorite all-purpose certified gluten-free flour blend. This is one of my gluten-free pantry staples. Make sure to have extra set aside for the work surface and your hands when shaping the scone dough.
• Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour: Finely ground from the highest quality gluten-free oats and processed, packaged, and tested in a Bob’s Red Mill dedicated gluten-free facility.
• Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder: My go-to baking powder. It's aluminum-free and has no bitter aftertaste. This provides lift to the scones.
• Unsalted butter: I prefer unsalted butter to avoid the risk of my food tasting overly salty. Butter provides flavor, flakiness, and rise.
• Kosher salt: This type of salt has a wider, courser grain compared to table salt making it a better choice for enhancing the flavor of food versus making it taste salty. Unlike table salt, Kosher salt doesn't contain iodine, which can lend a bitter taste to foods.
• Sour cream: A secret ingredient that makes these scones so tender, soft, and yummers. I recommend using full fat sour cream. I have not tested these scones with low, nonfat, or other sour cream replacements.
• Frozen blackberries: Frozen blackberries and/or marionberries (a type of blackberry) are often available in the grocery store's freezer section. Fresh blackberries will just turn into mush when mixing them into the scone dough so if using fresh blackberries, I suggest freezing them first.

Ingredients for a dreamy scone glaze

These blackberry scones are topped with a drizzle (or dunking if you prefer!) of maple vanilla glaze. The flavor complements the blackberries in the most delectable way. The glaze is totally optional (but not according to my kids) and the scones are still delightful without it, but I suggest trying them at least once with the glaze.

• Melted butter: I prefer to melt the butter in a small saucepan on the stovetop versus in the microwave. Since such a small amount of butter is used, melting it in the microwave can quickly turn into a butter explosion even for the most attentive.
• Maple syrup: Pure maple syrup will taste the best.
• Powdered confectioners sugar: This finely pulverized sugar gives the glaze its smooth, silky consistency. You may also see it in the grocery store listed as powdered sugar, confectioners sugar, icing sugar, or 10X.
• Whole milk: Used to thin the icing to a spreadable consistency. Have a little extra on hand in case your glaze thickens too quickly and you need to thin it out again to get that drizzly consistency.

How to make amazing gluten-free berry scones

Step 1: In large bowl, combine Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour, Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder, brown sugar, Kosher salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest.

Step 2: Grate a stick of frozen butter (yes, frozen!) using a box grater or a food processor with the grater attachment. Take all of those lovely little bits of frozen butter and gently mix them into the flour mixture until incorporated.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, whisk together vanilla, sour cream, whole milk, and an egg (with the exception of the vanilla, make sure your ingredients are cold!). Then add the wet mixture to the flour mixture.

Step 4: Gently combine the mixture just until the dough begins to come together being careful not to overmix the batter.

Step 5: Carefully fold in frozen blackberries (or any other frozen berry you'd enjoy!). If the berries bleed into the dough while you are mixing, don't worry. The scones will still be super tasty, they'll just be more colorful!

Step 6: Lightly flour a clean surface with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.

Step 7: Turn dough out onto the floured surface and with floured hands begin shaping and pressing the dough into an 8-inch diameter disc that is at least 1-inch thick.

Step 8: Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges.

Step 9: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the scone wedges about 1-inch apart. Place the scones in the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes prior to baking. While they are chilling, preheat the oven to 400°F. Once the scones have chilled, bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Allow the scones to cool for a few minutes after they have finished baking.

Step 10: While the scones are cooling this is the perfect time to make the maple vanilla glaze. Melt butter in a small saucepan.

Step 11: Remove the saucepan from the heat and add powdered confectioners sugar to the melted butter and whisk.

Step 12: Add maple syrup, vanilla, and milk and whisk to combine.

Step 13: Continue whisking until the glaze is smooth and there are no clumps. The glaze should be slightly runny making it easy to drizzle over the scones. If it's too thick or begins to set too quickly just add a teaspoon or two of milk at a time and whisk until it reaches the desired consistency again. 

Step 14: Drizzle each scone with glaze and serve!

Recipe tips

• Do not substitute other gluten-free flour blends -> The most common reason I find for someone's recipe not turning out is that they subbed in a different brand of gluten-free all-purpose flour. To avoid disappointment, use the Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour I have recommended.
• Use COLD ingredients -> The best way to prevent your scones from overspreading when baking in the oven is to use cold ingredients like cold sour cream, cold milk, a cold egg, and frozen grated butter and blackberries. The colder the better.
• Grating frozen butter -> A frozen stick of butter can be grated on a standard box grater with a little bit of arm strength and patience. The simplest method, however, is to use a food processor with a grater attachment. Either way, you'll have wonderful, perfectly sized cold bits of butter that will help the scones to spread less and when combined with the flour will contribute to a scone that is flaky and tender.
• Refrigerate before baking -> The dough tends to warm up a bit after it's been mixed and shaped with your hands. Cold dough is important to keep the scones from overspreading when baking in the oven. Once the scone dough has been shaped and cut place the scones in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes prior to baking.
• Don't overmix the dough -> When mixing the dough, mix just until it comes together. Overmixing the dough will cause the scones to be chewy and tough, rather than light and fluffy.
• Use a scale to weigh your ingredients. Some websites suggest spooning flour into a measuring cup one spoonful at a time and leveling the top off ("spoon & level") while others simply dunk the measuring cup into the bag of flour and then level it off with the edge of a knife ("scoop & level"). When baking, the most accurate method for measuring dry ingredients that are more than a tablespoon is to weigh the ingredients on a food scale. A food scale is a minimal investment for a guarantee that your scones will turn out delicious each and every time. However, if you don't have access to a food scale, please use the "spoon and level" method for this recipe. Otherwise, your scones most likely will not turn out as intended.

Recipe frequently asked questions

Your new go-to weekend morning tradition? Absolutely. ♡

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• Favorite Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Chia Banana Bread moist, soft, & loaded with healthy ingredients
• Sheet Pan Sweet Potato Hash with Baked Eggs & Romesco an easy, tasty, hearty breakfast

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Thank you to Bob's Red Mill for sponsoring this post and for making awesome gluten-free products that everyone will love! And thank you to those of you who support the brands that allow Pass Me Some Tasty to keep cooking up the tastiness!

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Update Notes: This post was originally published in September 2016, but was re-published with updated photos, ingredient recommendations, step-by-step instructions, recipe tips, and FAQs in June 2022.