Thimbleberries are interesting to harvest. You have to have very light fingers to not smush the fruit. The proper picking motion is almost like peeling a sticker off a bowling ball. After an hour, it will seem like you hardly have any in the bucket, but the fruit is dense. I was happy to harvest almost two cups, which is enough to make something delicious….like scones!
I wasn’t sure how these would turn out, mostly because of the consistency of the berry. It was obvious they would not be scones with large, identifiable pieces of fruit because thimbleberries break apart so easily. Again, I sought to keep it simple and highlight the berry flavor.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup organic sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick of cold butter (8 tablespoons)
1 cup fresh thimbleberries
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used 0% fat)
1 egg
Combine the first four ingredients on the list and mix until blended. Cut the butter up into little chucks and fold it in with your hands. The mixture will turn into little crumbles. Then, mix in the thimbleberries.
In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt and egg together until blended. Watch out for begging dogs. Stir it into to the above mixture by using a fork. The mixture will get very dough-like, and at that point you are ready to form your scones.
I like my scones on the larger side. As you can see, they are the size of a small fist. Put them on the middle-lower rack in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for about 15-17 minutes. When they are done, they will turn slightly brown on the peaks.
These scones are good enough to enjoy alone, but I whipped up some cream and added more fresh thimbleberries and mint before serving. The mint is a great compliment to the tartness of the berries and cream. One great feature of the scones is the little seeds, which provide a delicate crisp with each bite. Review from the taste tester: Best thing I ever made that is not Korean cuisine. I’ll take it.
