Blueberry

Coconut Spelt Scones with Blueberries

May 18, 2013
5
3 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 8 scones
Author Notes

These crumbly, fragrant scones are extremely versatile—just add the fruit of your choosing and enjoy. They're also an excellent way to get rid of extra sourdough starter. If you don't keep sourdough starter on hand, buttermilk or kefir will do just as well.

This recipe is a spelt/coconut variation of my Blueberry Sourdough Scones featured on WildYeastBlog.com in their biweekly Yeast Spotting showcase. —Eat Already!

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Eat Already!'s love of baking comes from years of watching her grandmother at the oven.
WHAT: A fruit-filled vegan scone that holds its own against traditional variations.
HOW: Press a spelt flour- and dried coconut-based dough into a pie pan filled with blueberries. Place the entire pan in the refrigerator to chill and allow the berries to get cozy with the dough. Keeping the blueberries pressed in, divide the dough into six slices, bake, and serve warm.
WHY WE LOVE IT: While we are usually proponents of butter (yay butter!) when it comes to scones, these convinced us that coconut oil can be magical too—especially when paired with the nuttiness from the spelt flour. Add a sprinkle of sugar or let the sweetness from the blueberries speak for itself. —The Editors

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 2 cups whole spelt flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut oil, solid
  • 1 cup mature liquid sourdough starter, kefir, or buttermilk
  • Confectioners sugar, to serve (optional)
Directions
  1. Line the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch pie or tart pan with plastic wrap. Arrange berries over the plastic in one layer. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together the spelt flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and shredded coconut. While breaking up any chunks in the brown sugar by hand, add it into the flour mixture and combine.
  3. Add the coconut oil and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers. Don’t knead or mash—just incorporate the oil as much as you can until it's evenly distributed.
  4. Finally, add the sourdough starter (or buttermilk or kefir). Use a wooden spoon or your fingers to work it in lightly until just combined in order to prevent gluten development as much as possible.
  5. Press the dough onto the blueberries in the pie or tart pan, forming an even layer of dough.
  6. Cover the crust with an additional plastic sheet and freeze for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
  7. Thirty minutes before baking, remove the pie pan from the freezer and preheat the oven to 400° F.
  8. Remove the scones from the pie pan and discard the plastic. Cut the dough into 8 slices, much like pizza.
  9. Arrange the scones on a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet.
  10. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and the blueberries are shriveled and leaky. Remove the sheet from the oven and once slightly cooled, flip the scones over so that the berries are on top. If desired (I did), dust the still-warm scones with a tiny bit of confectioners sugar, just for aesthetic reasons.
  11. Cool on a rack and enjoy warm.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

19 Reviews

Beth L. September 6, 2020
I got rid of the remains of a sack of einkorn flour instead of using spelt. They came out great! Even my picky "I won't eat brown baked goods" teens loved them.
Kira May 30, 2020
Tips for making these without coconut flakes? Not a big fan of the texture of that ingredient. Ok to just omit or should I add more flour maybe?
marigoldr July 8, 2016
do you think I would have a good result if I substitute another flour for spelt..perhaps buckwheat, or whole wheat or a combo ?
Eat A. July 15, 2016
Hmm... I would experiment with it, but keep in mind that spelt has fragile gluten, while whole wheat has stronger one, the results might be quite different. I wouldn't use buckwheat in this recipe, it has an overpowering taste for this setting.
marigoldr July 16, 2016
thank you for the advice!
Memoona M. May 27, 2016
is the measurements american cups?
Eat A. May 27, 2016
Yes, american cups (250 ml)
J F. March 27, 2016
Hello,
I just made these and of course I should have read the comments before hand; I hope they turn out! I used liquid coconut oil instead of keeping it solid. I wish that if you took the time to comment on the comment about solid or liquid that maybe your recipe could have reflected the preferred method.
Thanks you!
Eat A. March 28, 2016
I am sorry you had hard time with the recipe. I hope your scones turned out ok. I noticed that the editors edited my recipe and put "solid", but instead of adding it to the coconut oil, they added it to the coconut crumbs instead :). Makes no sense. I will update it as soon as I can.
Eat A. March 28, 2016
It appears that because this recipe was super-edited by Food52, I have no permission to edit it anymore. I will reach out to them to see if they can correct the problem.
Kris July 28, 2015
Looks amazing, cant wait to try ! One question, so you bake the scones blueberry side down?
Eat A. July 29, 2015
No, you just freeze them upside-down in a pie tin, which makes it easier to press the dough onto them, but before baking, you invert the frozen "pie" onto the board (blueberries now up), cut and bake.
honeybee55 July 19, 2015
Why is the word 'solid' in the ingredients after the shredded unsweetened coconut?
Eugenia C. July 10, 2015
Should the coconut oil be added melted or solid?
Sarah J. July 10, 2015
Solid!
Eat A. July 29, 2015
Solid is better. You want to replicate the butter texture - flaky, crumbly in the end.
Phyllis November 22, 2014
Can't locate unsweetened coconut flakes... will scones be too sweet if I use sweetened?
Caroline L. July 8, 2015
i really like bob's red mill's coconut flakes! but you could probably use sweetened, too. http://www.bobsredmill.com/coconut-flakes.html
I have such a weakness for scones. And these are gorgeous!