Vegan Blueberry Scones

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.

*photos and recipe slightly updated for more deliciousness – July 2023*

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?

Extra blueberries on hand? Be sure to make Blueberry Watermelon Salad, Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins, Summer Berry Trifle and Blueberry Banana Bread.

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 recipe 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.

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

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