Blueberry

Disclaimer: I wish this post made it up during blueberry season. I tried, I really did. Maybe it's still blueberry season where you live (if you live in like, Maine or Canada or something). In that case, this is timely and you're welcome. If not, you can still buy some blueberries at the store, though you won't have as much luck with picking this time of the season. 

So Stenni and her papa eat a ton of berries. I feel like every week, we're going berry picking because otherwise, I wouldn't be able to keep any fresh fruit in the house (not that I'm complaining)! Remember when I told you about the heat wave we had a few weekends ago? Well, it just so happened to coincide with blueberry picking season at our favorite orchard in NY (Och's, if you must know). Fun, right? Well, it actually totally was, despite the 90 degrees + heat. 

 I wanted to actually use some of the blueberries like, in a recipe, before Stenni and the Hubs ate them all straight from the box. They do that a lot around here, and it's cute to see them do stuff like that together. They eat berries on the floor and act like bears and call it a "bear picnic" and I wish I had pictures to share with you. But in any case, I feared that I was not going to get any blueberries despite the fact that we picked almost 7 lbs of them. When I peeked in the fridge and found out that this was almost the case (there were like, a few cups left only 3 days later), I knew I needed to act fast. So I trolled around the internets and found me a good blueberry mini-scone recipe to share with y'all because that's just how I do. 

Adapted (just slightly) from a recipe I found on Parents.com (original recipe here):

 

Oat and Blueberry Mini-Scones

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons oats (use old-fashioned or quick-cooking, or whatever you've got on hand)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), frozen
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free greek yogurt
• 1 t (or a little more...you know you want to!) vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups  fresh blueberries
• 2 T brown sugar (or turbinado crystals, if you've got them lying around)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup of the oats, the 1/2 cup brown sugar, and the baking powder. Grate the butter into the flour mixture using a box grater. Mix all ingredients together.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, and vanilla until combined. Stir in the blueberries. Pour liquid mixture into the flour mixture and gently stir until just combined. Use your hands to bring dough together. If dough seems sticky, refrigerate dough 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 4 tablespoons oats with the 2 T brown sugar. Sprinkle 1/2 the mixture over a clean surface or cutting board. Form the dough into two 4-inch rounds using your hands and set them in the oat-sugar mixture; press lightly. Sprinkle the remaining oats and sugar on top so that there is a thin layer on both sides of the dough.

4. Cut rounds into 8 small wedges each with a large knife. Set wedges on prepared cookie sheet at least 1-inch apart. Sprinkle with any remaining oat-sugar mixture. Bake for 24 to 26 minutes or until golden brown.

My Berry Awesome Helper

This is how many berries I had left just 3 days after we went picking. That cardboard box was filled to the top only a few days before! I wanted to use them for something before they were all gone!

Dry ingredients in a bowl

Once you add the butter, things will get crumbly. That's ok. That's how you know you're doing it right.

This is what they look like before they're cooked. Remember, they're bite-sized.

Yum. Tell me you don't want to eat those. Well, we sure did!

We seriously ate those things in less than a day. It was awesome. For all of the healthy ingredients in them, you'll want to slather them with butter, and I don't blame you. So go ahead. I won't tell. What did you do this year with all of your blueberries?