Last month Tony and I had a fun trip to Maine to learn about wild blueberries. There were many fabulous takeaways, but the one thing I could not get out of my head were the Panera Wild Blueberry Scones. They are reportedly Panera’s top seller, but of course we’ve never tried them since they aren’t dairy-free. That was something I was determined to rectify!
I analyzed the Panera wild blueberry scones recipe and nutrition facts, and what do you know, they are relatively simple cream scones! All I needed to make these beauties happen was a secret dairy-free ingredient.
Rich, full fat coconut milk swaps in for the cream to make wonderfully simple, delicious wild blueberry scones. Do you see how thick it is in the picture above? This should not be confused with coconut milk beverage, which is wonderful in its own right, but is far too thin (more like 2% milk) for this recipe.
Not a fan of coconut? Don’t worry, the coconut flavor is quite muted and actually negated by the vanilla. The result is just a wonderfully sweet scone letting the fruit take center stage.
As you might notice, there are two different-looking types of wild blueberry scones shown here. One is with fresh / frozen wild blueberries, the other is with dried wild blueberries. The fresh ones are a little harder to work with and do take on more moisture, which is why they look a little more “rustic”. If you want that “perfect scone” look, dried fruit is the way to go with this recipe.
The Panera wild blueberry scones are sweet, but I did test “less sweet” scones with equal satisfaction. Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist drizzling some icing on those. What can I say, when I’m craving a baked treat, I like to go all the way.
This post is sponsored by So Delicious Dairy Free, but the wild blueberry scones, photos and opinions are all mine. The recipe is adapted from my Vanilla Cream Scones recipe in Eat Dairy Free: Your Essential Everday Cookbook.
For a quick icing, simply thin powdered sugar with a little dairy-free milk beverage. In this picture, I used 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon So Delicious unsweetened dairy-free coconut milk beverage, and 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract. My icing was quite thin. I would start with just 2 teaspoons milk beverage and drizzle in more drops as needed.
Reader Raves
Thanks to Janina for providing feedback on this recipe via Facebook: “I made these last weekend. They disappeared in less than 1 day. Yummy!”
Thank to Jeanette for providing feedback on this recipe via Instagram: “They were yummy this morning esp with added almond extract ?”
Thanks to Alissa for providing feedback on this recipe via Facebook: “This is one of my favorites! So delicious!”
Thanks to Ashley for providing feedback on this recipe via Facebook: “I’ve made this many times they’re so good!!”
Special Diet Notes: Wild Blueberry Scones
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
I have not yet tested this recipe gluten-free, but it may work with your favorite gluten-free flour blend. Let us know in the comments if you do try these wild blueberry scones gluten-free, what you used, and how it worked out!
- 2 cups all-purpose flour*
- ½ cup sugar*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup frozen wild blueberries or ¼ cup dried wild blueberries
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk (use a good quality one, with lots of cream - NOT coconut milk beverage), or as needed**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and lightly dust two spots with flour.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Add the frozen wild blueberries to the flour, and toss lightly to coat, breaking up any berry clumps.
- Drizzle in ¾ cup of the coconut milk and add the vanilla. Stir to bring everything together. Drizzle in more coconut milk as needed (I use 1 cup total) to get a cohesive dough that is somewhat workable but not too sticky.
- Divide the dough in half and place both on the prepared baking sheet. Gently pat each into a circle that is roughly ¾ to 1-inch high. Place in the freezer while you preheat your oven to 425ºF.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the baking sheet from the freezer an cut each disk into 4 wedges. Pull the wedges apart about 1 inch to give them a little space.
- Brush the tops of the dough with a little coconut milk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool 5 minutes. Can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or individually frozen for longer.
**Coconut Milk Note: Do not use "lite" and do not use "milk beverage". See post above for pictures.
111 Comments
Wow! Alisa these look great and sound soooo Yummy I’ll have to try them soon I found your receipt when I was looking upside affect of milk allergies,others in my family have milk allergies I was never thought I did, but now do and I’m so glad I found your receipt and site I will pass on your scone receipe to family and friends and look into more of your receipes . Do u have a non dairy yoghurt receipe.
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I just made these for my dairy allergic kids and they LOVED them. I subbed out the blueberries for dairy free chocolate chips in one batch and they were amazing too. So happy to have a dairy free scone recipe. Thanks so much!
That’s great! So happy that everyone enjoyed them 🙂
These turned out really good! But mine didn’t rise much, and I had to cook for longer. I did use fresh blueberries since I didn’t have frozen, so maybe that did it.
Hi Shannon, yes, see my pics above for the difference between using fresh berries vs dried. The fresh do spread more and don’t rise quite as much. Glad you enjoyed the recipe though!
Can you use almond flour instead? or a combo of almond and tapioca?
Hi Candace, Almond flour doesn’t typically sub 1:1 for wheat flours. You might be able to work a blend with it, but I couldn’t give you a specific grain-free swap that would work without a lot of testing.
I tried it with coconut flour and I do not suggest using it unless you use less than two cups of it. Coconut flour is very absorbent and so mine turned out rather flour-y. Also I’m pretty sure I used the wrong coconut milk, but here’s to experimenting! Thanks for the recipe
Haha, yes, three cheers for experimentation Stephanie! Unfortunately, coconut flour doesn’t usually swap 1:1 for other flours because it is so dry. For grain-free, I’m thinking almond flour might provide a better base, but I’m not sure if you need nut-free too. I searched for you, but couldn’t find a scone recipe online that used just coconut flour. Sorry 🙁
Could I use the same amount of regular whole milk without ruining the recipe? I’m searching for a butter-free scone recipe.
Milk would be too thin – it would need to be cream.
Can I use honey, maple syrup or date paste in place of sugar?
You can use date sugar, maple sugar, or coconut sugar. You’ll want to stick with granulated versions.
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Made these last week and they are wonderful! Froze half of them so I wouldn’t eat them all at once. Great in the morning with my coffee. They will be regular treats at my house.
Marvelous! So glad you are loving my recipe and thank you for leaving feedback Janet.
I’m going to try these this week, but with currants from the bush in my yard! They sound amazing and so easy!
They should work great with currants – enjoy!
Love this recipe!! So easy and quick, it’s going to be a new staple in my recipe box. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed my recipe Leah and thank you for the feedback 🙂
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I made these for a tea party! I had a request to make them again for Easter! They are so delicious!
Sweet! Thank you for the feedback Ina!
Love these! But I’ve made them twice and both times the bottoms burnt, how can I not do that haha
Did you put a silicone baking mat underneath? That should prevent any issues. Also, put it on a higher rack in your oven. It sounds like you’ve got a lot of heat coming up from the bottom!
Can I prep the dough and not bake it until then next day? Wanting fresh scones for brunch guests but would love to just pop them in the oven!
I can’t make any guarantees on that Sylvia, as scones are so quick, we’ve never made them ahead. But scones are REALLY fast to make. Do a trial run, and it may only take you 15 minutes to throw them together.
Can this be made GF? Thanks.
I’m sure it can, but I haven’t tested it that way Damaries!
Rockstar recipe!
So few ingredients, so much flavor! This is gonna be a staple in our household! Thank you!
So happy you like it Anke!
These look amazing!! I absolutely LOVE blueberries! 🙂