These Vegan Blueberry Scones are crisp on the edges, soft in the middle and bursting with juicy blueberries. Made with whole grain flour, coconut oil, and lightly sweetened with coconut sugar. Gluten free friendly, too.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox.
*photos and recipe slightly updated for more deliciousness – July 2023*
Extra blueberries on hand? Be sure to make Blueberry Watermelon Salad, Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins, Summer Berry Trifle and Blueberry Banana Bread.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Warm flaky scones that are totally vegan!
- Gluten free friendly with one simple ingredient swap.
- Stores for days – and freezer friendly, too.
- What’s not to love with this bakery classic?
Scone Recipe Ingredients
Since first developing my vegan scone recipe, I’ve made tiny changes over the years to perfect the recipe I’ve been going for – crisp edges and soft middles, without being too dry or crumbly.
This vegan blueberry scone recipe is essentially the same as the original, just a higher baking temperature with some slight modifications to the simple ingredients. We will need:
- whole wheat white flour – you can also use whole wheat pastry flour, or half whole wheat with half all purpose flour. A 1:1 gluten free flour should also work yielding similar results.
- coconut sugar – or a dry granulated sweetener of choice. You only need 1/4 cup here. But if you’re looking for a sweeter scone, feel free to add up to 1/2 cup sugar.
- baking powder – creates the biscuit-like rise in the scones.
- fine sea salt – balances flavor.
- coconut oil – make sure it’s frozen to get the best scone texture. You can also sub frozen vegan butter (or conventional butter if not dairy-free or vegan).
- full-fat coconut milk – I like canned coconut milk here because the higher fat content makes for a richer scone. But you can also use a non-dairy milk of your choice, such as almond milk or cashew milk (or conventional dairy milk, or half & half).
- vanilla extract – always use vanilla when baking!
- fresh blueberries – I personally prefer fresh blueberries here, but you can also use frozen blueberries. If using frozen, make sure to toss them in flour first and don’t let them sit out or the added moisture will affect the color of the batter.
- turbinado sugar – optional, but a final sprinkle of turbinado or raw cane sugar just before the scones go in the oven adds visual and textural appeal.
- lemon – for a vegan lemon blueberry scone twist, you could add the zest of one lemon to the scone batter when you add the blueberries. For a lemon glaze, combine a few tablespoons powdered sugar with fresh lemon juice and drizzle once cooled.
Find the full detailed instructions with measurements in the recipe card below, at the end of this post.
How to Work with Frozen Coconut Oil / Vegan Butter
My original vegan scone recipes calls for coconut oil as the fat. You can also use the same amount of frozen vegan butter. Either way, frozen is very important as it helps create more of a biscuit texture, versus a muffin texture you’d get from using liquid or softened oil.
To freeze coconut oil or vegan butter, measure out 6 tablespoons of softened coconut oil and transfer to small bowl or plate lined with parchment paper. Place in freezer for at least one hour. You can also use dairy-free butter or conventional butter if not dairy-free. Whichever fat you use, it must be frozen.
- Food Processor: To make vegan scones with frozen coconut oil, I’d suggest using a food processor to pulse in the frozen coconut oil into small bits.
- Box Grater Method: If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate a large chunk of frozen coconut oil using a large box grater, but it is slightly more challenging. I’d get frozen vegan / dairy free butter if you only have a grater as it grates much easier than frozen coconut oil.
How to Make Vegan Blueberry Scones
Much like traditional scones, the key is to pay attention to the feel of the scone batter, but we talk more about this below. Here’s how I like to do it:
Preheat Oven
Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make Scone Dough
In a large bowl with a wooden spoon or bowl of food processor, mix together the dry ingredients, including flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add frozen coconut oil or vegan butter and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Remove the S-blade and fold in about half of the blueberries. Add the vanilla, then slowly begin to add the milk and gently mix. Then add the remaining blueberries and just enough milk until the dough comes together.
Note: You may not need all of the milk here. Only add until dough comes together and is not overly wet.
Shape into a Disc
With floured hands on a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into an 8″ large circle, about 1″ thick.
Use a large knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into 8 triangles, then separate and place apart on the prepared baking sheet as pictured below.
Note: If you’ve been making my scones for a while or found other scone recipes on my site, you may notice I’ve started to completely separate my triangles before baking. I’ve found I prefer the texture of the edges and middle with this method.
Bake
Bake for 18-25 minutes. If dough still seems soft, continue baking for another few minutes until tops are lightly golden brown.
Let scones cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
Serving Suggestions
Take a few tips from the way they serve British scones and serve with plenty of jam and clotted cream. I love to make these for:
- Breakfast / Brunch: Enjoy these beauties any morning with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
- Holidays: Make these during the warmer months for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day weekend, 4th of July or Labor Day.
- Special Occasions: Think bridal shower, graduation, baby shower, wedding celebrations or just because.
How to Store
Blueberry vegan scones are best enjoyed the day they are made, but if stored properly, will still hold up their integrity. Here are my best tips for storing:
- Kitchen Counter: Leftover scones will stay fresh in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
- Freezer: For longer storage, double wrap scones in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature or rewarm in the microwave.
Recipe Tips & Notes:
Here are my top tips to ensure the best vegan scones:
- Use frozen coconut oil or frozen butter – Frozen fat is key for the best scones.
- If your dough seems too dry – add a splash of milk and use your hands to continue to combine.
- If your dough seems too wet – add about 1 tablespoon flour and use your hands to combine. You want your dough sticky enough to hold together, but not so much that the dough is all over your hands and you can’t create a circle or cut into triangles.
- Chill the disc of dough or sliced dough of triangles on baking sheet before baking to make sure the scones hold their shape.
- These vegan scones can be made in a bowl or using a food processor. As noted above, it may depend on whether or not you’re using frozen coconut oil or frozen butter.
- If using frozen blueberries, you may need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
Recipe FAQs
Can you use frozen blueberries in these scones?
Yes, you can use frozen blueberries, but don’t thaw them and toss them in a teaspoon of flour before mixing into the dough. This should prevent them from bleeding too much and turning the scone dough blue.
What is the best plant-based milk for scones?
In my experience, canned full-fat coconut milk is the best non-dairy milk for scones because of it’s higher fat content. How thick or thin the scone batter is will make a difference in the rise and texture.
What is a good egg substitute for scones?
The right balance of coconut milk and coconut oil provides enough fat and moisture, you don’t even miss the egg in the scone batter.
What is the secret to moist scones?
Freeze the unbaked scones for 30 minutes prior to baking. Freezing allows the fat to solidify, then melting away in the oven and creating steam and super moist scones.
More Vegan Scone Recipes You’ll Love:
If you make this Vegan Blueberry Scones recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating on the blog! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn more about the recipe too. Xx Ashley
Vegan Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat white flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar, or granulated sweetener of choice
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons frozen coconut oil, or vegan butter
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup canned coconut milk, light or full-fat both work
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional but adds texture)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make scone dough: In a large bowl or bowl of food processor, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add frozen coconut oil or vegan butter and pulse until there are just small pieces. See notes in post for other methods you can use. i.e. grating the butter or using a pastry blender. Remove the S-blade and fold in about half of the blueberries. Add the vanilla, then slowly begin to add the milk and gently mix. Then add the remaining blueberries and just enough milk until the dough comes together. If the dough is overly wet, you won’t be able to slice them very well. You can stir in some more flour if this happens.
- Shape dough: With floured hands, shape dough into large circle, about 8″ in diameter, on prepared baking sheet. Use a large sharp knife to make 8 triangle slices into dough. Gently separate the triangles and space out 2″ apart on baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sugar for a crunchy texture if desired.
- Bake for 18-25 minutes. If dough still seems soft, continue baking for another few minutes until tops are lightly golden. Let scones cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
Leave a Reply