Berry Buckwheat Scones

These gluten-free berry buckwheat scones make a lovely morning snack. Or grab one as you sweep out the door to do school drop-off. Whatever you need them for, these gluten-free scones will fit the bill.

I used a combination of buckwheat, oat, sweet rice, and a touch of tapioca flour to put this recipe together. The buckwheat keeps the batter sturdy enough to support the berries, while the oat and tapioca flours provide the fluffiness I really like in scones. Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and maple syrup bring flavor and texture.

These scones are perfect the day you bake them, but will keep for a couple of days; they are terrific re-warmed. This is a nice, unfussy, reliably good gluten-free scone recipe that doesn't take too much time to put together. Let me know how you go if you give these a try! Also try my tender gluten free lemon scones, gluten free cherry scones, or gluten free pumpkin scones!

Why You'll Love These Sweet Scones

• Lightly sweet: Just a little maple syrup is all you need to sweeten these up.
• Bursting with berries: All the berries make these scones the perfect breakfast bite! You can use whatever berries you like, the sky's the limit.
• Easily gluten free: A simple combo of gluten-free flours keeps this recipe naturally gluten-free, but you'd never know it.
• Soft and tender: I love a fluffy, soft scone, and these satisfy my need for a sweet, comforting pastry!

What You'll Need

Here's an overview of everything you need to make these berry buckwheat scones. You'll find the full ingredient amounts and detailed instructions in the recipe card following this post.

• Oat flour - Learn how to make oat flour or pick up a package. If you can't eat oats, swap brown rice flour.
• Buckwheat flour - Nutty buckwheat flour is a great gluten-free flour for baking.
• Sweet white rice flour - Sweet white rice flour, combined with the other flours, gives structure to the scones.
• Tapioca flour - A bit of tapioca starch brings lightness.
• Rising agents: Baking powder and baking soda.
• Ginger - Ground ginger gives a hint of warming spice. Substitute cinnamon if you like.
• Salt - I use fine sea salt in my baking, and table salt also works.
• Butter - I like unsalted butter in baking, but you can use salted butter in this recipe.
• Egg - A large or extra large egg is best.
• Greek yogurt - You can use low-fat or whole-fat yogurt. For a hint of vanilla, use vanilla Greek yogurt (plain is fine!).
• Maple syrup - Pure maple syrup brings natural sweetness to the scones.
• Lemon juice - Fresh is best!
• Berries - Try blueberries, raspberries, or a combination.

Variation Ideas

• Other berries: You could use any berries here-after several recipe tests, I had used up nearly all of mine and dug out just enough blueberries and raspberries from the freezer to tuck into the batter. This was a lovely pairing! Strawberries, blackberries, or chopped apples would also be nice.
• Chocolate - Add chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips instead of the berries (along with some orange zest!).
• Spices - Instead of or in addition to the ground ginger, try cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or pumpkin pie spice.

Tips & Substitutions

• Start with cold butter - Use butter straight from the fridge to make your scones, or even better, keep a few sticks of butter in the freezer so they'll be ready the next time you want to make scones.
• Make ahead: You can prepare the scones, place them on a baking sheet, and store them, tightly covered, in the fridge or freezer for up to 24 hours.
• Don't overwork the dough - While we're using gluten free flour to make these scones, so there isn't any danger of over-activating the gluten in the flour through kneading, it's still a good idea to go light on your handling of the dough. This will lead to more tender scones.
• Pat and roll the dough for more flakiness: I've included a technique that calls for you to pat out the dough into a rectangle and then roll into a log; this helps give the scones extra height, and I prefer it to the more traditional pat-and-cut-triangles method.
• Oat flour substitute: Substitute sorghum flour or brown rice flour for the oat flour by weight if you can't have oats.
• Buckwheat substitute: Try teff flour.
• Sweet white rice flour substitute: Swap for arrowroot starch.
• Tapioca flour substitute: Use cornstarch.
• Make a glaze: Drizzle a simple lemon glaze over the scones after they've cooled a bit. Mix ¼ cup sifted powdered sugar with the juice of 1 fresh lemon and drizzle it over the scones.

Serving Suggestions

Scones need to be served with a cup or pot of tea! Try a little strawberry honey jam, persimmon jam, or lemon curd along with softened butter.

Proper Storage

• Counter - Wrap cooled scones in plastic or place them in an airtight container and store on the counter at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - Place the baked scones in a freezer-safe, sealable bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can reheat them from frozen, which will take longer, or thaw them in the fridge before reheating.
• To Reheat - Place the scones on a baking sheet, tent lightly with foil, and warm in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.