My husband asked for blueberry scones on a Saturday morning — the kind I made once before with all-purpose flour. Then he mentioned in passing that a coworker with celiac could finally join us for brunch.
So I set about making them with almond flour. It took seven tries to get right, but the version below is the one that stays in the rotation. Tender insides, a light crunch along the edges, blueberries that burst when you bite in. You don’t even taste the almond much, and you don’t need to cut them out of your life at all — gluten-free or not, these are a keeper.
Real time: 30 minutes · Hands-on: 15 minutes · Yield: 8 scones
What changed when I went almond flour
Swapping in almond flour meant rethinking the recipe, not just swapping the powder. I kept the flour amount the same and adjusted everything else:
- Added an egg — without it, the scones fall apart.
- Went lighter on the butter, since almond flour carries its own fat.
- Trimmed the sugar, because almond flour doesn’t blunt the sweetness the way wheat flour does.
- Dropped the Greek yogurt and skipped milk — almond flour is naturally moist and less absorbent.
- Reduced the blueberries a little to match the smaller batch.
A few honest notes
No pastry cutter. Regular scones need cold butterChunks for those tender pockets, but these turned out better with melted butter. You stir the whole thing together. That’s the trick that stopped the falling-apart phase.
The dough is delicate. Cut with a sharp chef’s knife so you can slice right through the blueberries, then use a pie server or a small metal spatula to move them to the sheet. If a scone breaks along the edge, just smush it back together — think of it as working with soft playdough.
Leave several inches of space around each one. They spread, and you don’t want them kissing each other mid-bake.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 2½ cups blanched almond flour, spooned and leveled (225 grams)*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 large lemon, about 1½ teaspoons
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, just melted
- 2 tablespoons plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (4½ ounces) fresh blueberries
- Optional: 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a small bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers — it pulls more flavor out of the zest — then stir into the dry ingredients.
- Whisk the melted butter, yogurt, and egg in a small bowl. Pour into the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Turn the dough onto a clean surface, fold it over onto itself a couple of times, and shape it into a circle about one inch thick. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar if you’re using it.
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- Cut the round into 8 even wedges with a sharp chef’s knife. Transfer each to the prepared sheet with a few inches of space. If one breaks, patch it back together and tuck in any stray blueberries.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until golden on top. Let them rest a little — the flavors settle as they cool. Leftovers keep up to 3 days at room temperature or 6 months in the freezer.
Almond flour note
Not every almond flour bakes the same. I tested with Bob’s Red Mill super-fine almond flour and Whole Foods 365 almond flour, and both worked well. Stick with one of those for the surest result.
Make it yours
This blueberry base goes in a lot of directions:
- Berry scones: Swap the blueberries for raspberries, blackberries (halved if large), or sliced strawberries. Keep the lemon zest, or switch to orange.
- Cherry scones: Use halved, pitted cherries. Leave out the lemon zest and add ½ teaspoon almond extract — it plays beautifully with cherry.
- Chocolate chip scones: Skip the fruit and zest, add up to ¾ cup chocolate chips. I tried ½ cup semi-sweet chips with ½ cup toasted, chopped pecans and loved it.
- Savory cheddar scones: Skip the fruit and zest, drop the sugar to 1 teaspoon, and stir in ¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar plus 3 tablespoons chopped green onion. This one has quietly become one of my favorite afternoon snacks.
Happy cooking,
Maya