Blueberry Scones

Because I bought a giant carton of blueberries from Costco the other day, I had lots to spare after I made my crumb cake. I love putting blueberries on my cereal but I held off in hopes of finding a good blueberry recipe. Well, I found it.
I've never really liked scones but I got a new cookbook for valentine's day and the recipe looked particularly good.  I usually would put scones in the category of foods I like, but would always choose something else over. Even when I'm at a bakery with delicious looking scones I always assume I'd enjoy a croissant, muffin, or danish instead (I know, healthy right?). We have a great local market called Fosters about two minutes away from my apartment which is where the cookbook came from. I often go there for breakfast or lunch and get one of their many homemade specialties. Foster's is a really informal restaurant/cafe with a great local feel. My favorite thing about it (aside from the food, of course) is that all of their tables, chairs and plates are mismatched. Such a little thing but I love it. They also have specialty groceries and sell their homemade products. I never knew the background of Sara Foster, the owner, until I received this cookbook the other day. She's worked in a number of very respected restaurants and collaborated with Martha Stewart many times on cookbooks. She decided she was tired of the big city life and wanted to move to a thriving city with a strong local feel, hence she arrived at the Raleigh/Durham area.
These scones are always on display at Foster's and they are really the only scones that I've been tempted to order.  So, I decided instead of ordering one, I would make the recipe from her cookbook to try them instead. Let me just say, next time I'm at Foster's I'm getting the scones! These were amazing. In Foster's she has all different varieties and her cookbook has the basic recipe with how to adapt it written on the side. I was tempted to make the peanut butter-banana scones but I wanted to use my berries. I'll make those next time. These were best straight out of the oven but they kept well too. The only way I can describe the taste is comparing it to a warm blueberry muffin on the inside and a scone on the outside. My favorite part of muffins is the top crust of it so basically this is a muffin completely surrounded by the delicious buttery top. If you're not a fan of scones, try these anyways, they'll win you over.

Blueberry Scones
Recipe from The Foster's Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon and Night

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups blueberries
Egg Wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk.

*I also sprinkled extra sugar over the scone tops after brushing butter over them.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets and set aside.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and cut it into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (I used my hands but if you choose to do this you must be really careful not to overwork the dough)
4. Add berries evenly to the mixture. Still keep in mind not to overwork the dough.
5. Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined and the dough begins to stick together. If dough is too dry, add up to 2 tablespoons more.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll or pat into two 6-inch rounds, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut each round in half and cut each half into 3 triangles (pie-shaped wedges) and place on baking sheets. Brush the tops with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.
7. Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.