My perfect weekend morning starts a little something like this – coffee, family and a delicious bite for breakfast.

That’s where these scones come in – I love to pair these scones with a cup of coffee for Sunday brunch!

Fresh baked bakery-style blueberry muffins are one of my favourite Sunday brunch recipes to make ahead of time. However, during Saskatoon berry season these Saskatoon Berry Scones take first place!

They’re tender, fluffy and studded with juicy Saskatoon berries and have a hint of lemon. Serve with butter for the most divine lemony saskatoon berry scones bite.

Why you’ll love these Saskatoon Berry Scones

• The scone dough comes together all in one bowl!
• These delectable scones are one of the best ways to enjoy Saskatoon season.
• You don’t need any fancy equipment to make these scones; no food processor required.

What are saskatoon berries?

Saskatoon berries are native to the Canadian Prairie provinces, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Alaska, British Columbia and the northwest and central USA. They’re different than juicy blueberries as they’re smaller and have a sweet and nutty flavour. I first discovered them at a farmer’s market when I moved to the Canadian Prairies and they’ve been one of my favourite berries ever since! You can find them at farmer’s markets during the Summer season and during the cooler months, they’re sometimes sold in the frozen section of the grocery store. When I find them during the Summer I purchase a ton and freeze them myself too!

Ingredients needed for these saskatoon berry scones

Saskatoon berries: Saskatoon berries are the key to these scones!

Milk: I like to use 2% milk (or whole milk) in this recipe for both the dough and brushing on the tops of the scones; I have not tested this with other percentages of milk

Flour: all purpose flour is the base for this scone recipe

Sugar: a must to provide some sweetness to the dough

Baking powder: baking powder gives these scones lots of lift

Lemon: lemon zest is a must in these scones to add flavour; you’ll need 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest which is about 1 large lemon

Butter: you’ll need 1/2 cup of butter for this scone recipe

How to make these Saskatoon berry scones

Step 1: Pre-heat your oven to 375F and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 2: In a bowl whisk flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and until combined.  Then, whisk in the lemon zest.

Step 3: Cut the cold butter into cubes, add to the flour mixture and then using your fingers combine the butter into the flour mixture until you get small pieces of butter left *You can also use a pastry cutter if desired instead of your hands.* Add in the berries to the flour mixture and stir gently.

Step 4: Stir in 1 ¼ cup of milk until the dough just comes together. If you notice the dough is still a bit dry / there is flour remaining, add in an extra ¼ cup of milk and stir once more to bring dough together.

Step 5: Take the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead gently, fold dough about 2-3 times and then shape the dough into a circular or rectangular disc.

Step 6: Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 triangle shaped scones and put each scone onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush the tops of each scone with a little bit of milk and sprinkle a little bit of coarse sugar on top of each. Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes until golden on top.

Step 7: Enjoy warm! Or, let the scones fully cool on a wire rack and then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Expert tips for making these Saskatoon berry lemon scones

• For the best scones, make sure you use cold butter (not room temperature) to ensure you get a flaky scone once baked.
• Use 2% or whole milk to ensure the best-tasting scone! Lower percentages of milk or non-dairy milks will result in a tougher, less flavourful scone once baked.
• To save time, you can grate the cold butter on the large side of a cheese grater right into the dry ingredients. Then, use your hands to combine the butter into the dough, until you only have small pieces of butter left.

Common questions

What if I can’t find Saskatoon berries?
A great substitute if you can’t find Saskatoon berries are wild or regular fresh blueberries.

Can I use frozen Saskatoon berries?
You sure can! I’ve tested this recipe with both fresh and frozen Saskatoon berries and they both work well.

Why do you separate the scones on the baking sheet?
While some scone recipes you’ll find have the scones bake close together on the cookie sheet, this scone recipe bakes better when the Saskatoon berry scones are separated on the baking sheet when baking.

How to store

Enjoy the scones fresh out of the oven. Or, let the scones fully cool before storing them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Warm scones in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds if desired.

More delicious baked goods from the blog

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins with Streusel Topping

Lemon Blueberry Blondies

Apple Pie Breakfast Cookies (Gluten Free Option!)

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Saskatoon Berry Lemon Scones

My perfect weekend morning involves these fluffy Saskatoon Berry Lemon Scones that are packed with Saskatoon berries and lemon flavours.

Course Breakfast, brunch

Cuisine American

Keyword breakfast scone, coffee, saskatoon berry, scone

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8 scones

Author Jess

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest (from about half a lemon)
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 cup Saskatoon berries (you can substitute blueberries)
• 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups 2% milk
• 1/4 cup milk for brushing
• optional: coarse sugar for topping

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 375F and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and whisk combine.  Then, whisk in the lemon zest.
• Cut the cold butter into cubes, add to the flour mixture and then use your fingers to combine the butter into the flour mixture until you get small pieces of butter left. Add the Saskatoon berries to the flour mixture and stir gently.
• Stir in 1 ¼ cup of milk until the dough just comes together. If you notice the dough is still a bit dry / there is flour remaining, add in 1 tbsp of milk at a time, up to ¼ cup of milk total (4 tbsp) and stir once more to bring dough together.
• Take the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead gently, turning over about 2-3 times and then shape the dough into a circular or rectangular disc.
• Cut the dough into 8 triangles and put each scone onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush the tops of each scone with a little bit of milk, top each with a sprinkle of coarse sugar (optional) and then bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes until golden on top.

Notes

• For the best scones, make sure you use cold butter (not room temperature) to ensure you get a flaky scone once baked.
• Use 2% or whole milk to ensure the best-tasting scone! Lower percentages of milk or non-dairy milks will result in a tougher, less flavourful scone once baked.
• To save time, you can grate the cold butter on the large side of a cheese grater right into the dry ingredients. Then, use your hands to combine the butter into the dough, until you only have small pieces of butter left.
• What if I can't find Saskatoon berries? A great substitute if you can't find Saskatoon berries are wild or regular fresh blueberries.
• Can I use frozen Saskatoon berries? You sure can! I've tested this recipe with both fresh and frozen Saskatoon berries and they both work well.

The post Saskatoon Berry Lemon Scones (My Perfect Morning) appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

A couple of months ago I was chatting with my friend Clare and we realized we had fond memories of having tea and coffee with our grandma’s, always over delicious baked goods.

Clare mentioned that her and her Great-Grandmother had a tradition when she would go over to visit that involved teacups. Given my love for pretty serving pieces that I love to use, I had to know more!

We got together one afternoon and over my Oma’s Apple Sponge Cake, I chatted with Clare about her memories while I photographed her amazing antique teacup collection.

Having both an English Grandmother and Great-Grandmother it only made sense she’d have a love for all things tea!

As a child Clare spent days and nights with her Great-Grandmother, learning to quilt, sew and taking several tea and cookie breaks in between. Each time when she would leave her Great-Grandmother’s house she was allowed to pick one tea cup from the china hutch, to take home and begin her own collection.

The collection is comprised of family heirlooms from New Brunswick that were brought across country when the family moved and lots of fun colourful pieces that were acquired over the years – creating this lovely backdrop for endless entertaining possibilities.

As you can see, Clare has this amazing collection of teacups that carry such special memories and whenever she uses one of those teacups, she can be transported back to those lovely afternoons with her Great-Grandmother.

For me, seeing Clare’s collection reminded me a lot about my Oma (German grandma).  A tradition that I can remember since I was very young was having ‘coffee’ around 3-3:30PM every afternoon which involved everyone sitting down, enjoying coffee from teacups and of course a delicious baked good.

That is where this simple Apple Sponge Cake comes in as its a cake I remember having at ‘coffee’ and its the perfect accompaniment to coffee or tea.  It’s a light sponge with a buttery outer crust that forms from baking the cake in a springform pan. Plus the apples add the perfect sweetness and you can top this cake with either an apricot jam glaze or simply icing sugar.

Total time: 75 minutes (30 minutes preparation, 45 minutes baking)
Servings: 10-12
Equipment: springform pan, electric mixer

Ingredients:

2 large apples (i.e. Gala), peeled and each sliced into about 16 slices
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs
2 cups all- purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp butter, melted

For the topping you simply sprinkle icing sugar over the cake once cooked OR make the apricot topping:
2 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp water

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350F and butter the springform pan.

Peel the apples and cut each apple into about 16 slices. Set the apples aside.

For the sponge cake, use an electric mixer or hand-mixer with a whisk attachment.  Whisk the soft butter for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Add the sugar, vanilla extract, salt and lemon zest, whisking for 2 minutes on medium speed until you obtain a smoothie mixture, scraping the sides of your mixing bowl as needed.

Whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds on high speed after you add each egg.

In a separate bowl, mix together your flour and baking powder.

Then, add the flour mixture into the mixture in two instalments, alternating with the milk, whisking on medium speed briefly after each addition (flour-mix-milk-mix-flour-mix-milk-mix).  You will have a mixture that is more like a dough than a batter once all is combined.

Transfer the mixture into the springform pan and smooth the top to make it even.

Arrange the apples in two circles on the sponge cake mixture. Then melt the 2 tbsp of butter and pour the melted butter over the apples.

Put the cake in the bottom third of the even to bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

As the cake is getting close to being done mix the 2 tbsp apricot jam with 1 tbsp water in a small pan. Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from the heat.

As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, pour the apricot jam mixture over the cake.

Then, release and remove the ring part of the pan. Loosen the cake away from the bottom of the pan, then leave to cool on a wire rack.

Alternately, if you don’t use the apricot jam mixture as a topping when the cake has cooled sprinkle the top with icing sugar.

Then, enjoy a piece of this delicious cake with a cup of tea or coffee and family or friends!

This cake is best enjoyed within two days of baking.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Teacups, Grandmas and Apple Sponge Cake appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.