Blueberry Recipes: 3 Prize-Winning Almanac Contest Picks

Each year the Farmers’ Almanac picks one ingredient and asks readers to send in their best original recipes. For the 2023 contest that ingredient was the blueberry, and the mail did not disappoint. The three winning blueberry recipes below run from a tender breakfast scone to a lemony poppy seed cake to a savory pork dish, so there is something here for every meal of the day. Every recipe is printed in full, just as our winners submitted it.

Award-Winning Blueberry Recipes

Every year we select an ingredient and ask readers and web visitors to submit original recipes that contain that ingredient. The winning recipes get cash prizes and the chance to be published in both the print edition of the Farmers’ Almanac and here online.

Blueberries were our ingredient for the 2023 contest, and while we knew we would get plenty of sweet-tasting entries, we were very pleased with the wide variety of blueberry-filled recipes that readers submitted. Cakes and scones we expected. A blueberry pan sauce for pork was a welcome surprise. If you enjoy these, our readers also cooked up a batch of 2024 winning bean recipes the following year.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to The Green Ladle Culinary Arts School of Lewiston, Maine, for lending their aspiring student-chefs to prepare each of the final recipes for judging. Special thanks also to the Lewiston Regional Technical Center students who photographed the winning recipe dishes.

The following three blueberry recipes were the Farmers’ Almanac judges’ top picks. Let us know how they taste when you make them.

The Farmers’ Almanac 2023 Prize-Winning Blueberry Recipes

Here are all three winners in order, first place to third, with the full ingredient lists and instructions exactly as our readers sent them. Read on for a savory-to-sweet spread that shows off just how far a pint of blueberries can go.

Blueberry Mascarpone Breakfast Scones Recipe

First Place Winning Recipe Submitted by Donna Marie Ryan of Topsfield, Massachusetts. The mascarpone keeps these scones rich and tender, and a pint of fresh blueberries folded in at the end gives you a burst in nearly every bite.

Ingredients:

Scone:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp blueberry sea salt (or plain sea salt)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup mascarpone
• 1 pint fresh blueberries, washed, and dried

Glaze:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp blueberry or plain sea salt

Instructions:

For the Scones:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In the bowl of a large food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, sea salt, butter, and cinnamon until combined.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and mascarpone. Add to the dry ingredients and pulse until combined.
5. Place into a large bowl and fold in the blueberries with a spatula, turning to incorporate.
6. Using a large (1/4-1/3 cup) scoop, scoop out the dough and place evenly spaced on the 2 baking sheets.
7. Bake at 400°F for 15-18 minutes until golden and set.
8. Cool on baking racks.

For the Glaze:

1. Combine the powdered sugar and yogurt to make the glaze. Let set for the flavors to combine.
2. Glaze each scone when cooled. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Makes 12

Alberta’s Blueberry Poppy Seed Cake Recipe

Second Place Winning Recipe Submitted by Tyler Buss of Norman, Oklahoma. Grated lemon peel and a poppy seed crumb give this springform cake a bright, bakery-counter finish, and a can of blueberry pie filling keeps it simple enough for a weeknight.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Filling:

• 1 can blueberry pie filling
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tsp milk

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of 9 or 10-inch springform pan. In a large bowl, combine 2/3 cup sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy.
2. Add lemon peel and egg; beat 2 minutes on medium speed.
3. Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level off. In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt; mix well.
4. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beating until well combined.
5. Spread batter over bottom and 1-inch up sides of greased and floured pan, making sure batter on sides is 1/4-inch thick.
6. In another medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients; mix well. Spoon over batter.
7. Bake at 350°F for 45 to 55 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
8. Cool for 10 minutes; remove sides of the pan.
9. In a small bowl, blend powdered sugar and enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm cake. Serve warm or cool.

Pork With Blueberry Herb Sauce Recipe

Third Place Winning Recipe Submitted by Anna Benefiel of Stayton, Oregon. This one proves blueberries are not just for dessert. A quick pan sauce of berries, brown sugar, balsamic, and fresh herbs turns a simple pork chop into supper.

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 pcs boneless pork loin chops (6 ounces each)
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp butter
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced (or 1/4 tsp dried thyme)
• 1 tsp fresh sage (or 1/4 tsp dried sage leaves)

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, pepper, salt, and cayenne; sprinkle over pork.
2. In a large ovenproof skillet coated with cooking spray, brown pork chops.
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 10-15 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°F.
4. Remove pork and keep warm. Add remaining ingredients to the pan.
5. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes. Serve with pork.

When Blueberries Are in Season

Fresh blueberries taste best when they are picked in season close to home, and the calendar shifts as you move across the map. In the warm South the harvest starts in spring, while the wild lowbush berries of Maine and Atlantic Canada come in at the tail end of summer. The University of Maine, home of the wild blueberry, keeps a plain-English guide to wild blueberries if you want to dig into the difference between the small wild berries and the plump cultivated ones. For a month-by-month look at what else is ripe near you, see our regional guide to fresh produce.

Region	Typical Fresh Blueberry Season
Southeast & Gulf	April into June
Mid-Atlantic & South Central	May into July
Northeast & New England	July into September, wild Maine berries peak late summer
Great Lakes & Midwest	July into August
Northwest	June into September
Canada	British Columbia and Ontario July into September, Atlantic Canada wild berries in August

Weather moves these windows a week or two either way each year, so treat the table as a starting point and ask at your local farm stand. When fresh berries are out of season, frozen blueberries work in all three recipes above.

Tips for Baking and Cooking With Blueberries

A few small habits keep blueberry recipes from going wrong. These carry over to scones, cakes, muffins, and pan sauces alike.

• Keep them from sinking. Toss fresh or thawed blueberries in a spoonful of the recipe’s flour before folding them in. The light coating helps them stay suspended instead of settling to the bottom of the pan.
• Fold, do not stir. Add the berries last and fold gently with a spatula, the way the scone recipe calls for, so the fruit stays whole and the batter does not turn gray.
• Use frozen berries straight from the freezer. For baking, there is no need to thaw. Thawed berries bleed more color, so fold them in frozen and add a couple of minutes to the bake time if needed.
• Balance the sweet with a savory turn. As the third-place pork dish shows, a little balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and fresh herbs let blueberries stand in for a rich sauce over meat.

Hungry for more reader winners? Try the crowd-pleasing casserole recipe contest winners or these winning summer recipes when blueberry season winds down.

What is this year’s recipe contest? Check it out and enter your own.

Blueberry Recipes: Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 2023 Farmers’ Almanac winning blueberry recipes?

The three winners were Blueberry Mascarpone Breakfast Scones from Donna Marie Ryan of Topsfield, Massachusetts in first place, Alberta’s Blueberry Poppy Seed Cake from Tyler Buss of Norman, Oklahoma in second, and Pork With Blueberry Herb Sauce from Anna Benefiel of Stayton, Oregon in third. All three full recipes are printed above.

Can I use frozen blueberries instead of fresh in these recipes?

Yes. All three blueberry recipes work with frozen berries when fresh ones are out of season. For the scones and cake, fold the berries in frozen rather than thawed so they hold their shape and bleed less color, and you may need to add a couple of minutes to the bake time.

How do I keep blueberries from sinking to the bottom when baking?

Toss the berries in a spoonful of the recipe’s flour before folding them into the batter. The light coating helps them stay suspended instead of settling. Adding the fruit last and folding gently, as the scone recipe directs, also helps.

When are fresh blueberries in season?

It depends on your region. The Southeast harvest starts in April, the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest peak from June into August, and the wild lowbush berries of Maine and Atlantic Canada come in during late summer. Weather shifts these windows a week or two each year, so check with a local farm stand.

Who judged the Farmers’ Almanac blueberry recipe contest?

Student-chefs from The Green Ladle Culinary Arts School of Lewiston, Maine prepared each finalist recipe for our judges, and Lewiston Regional Technical Center students photographed the winning dishes. The Farmers’ Almanac editors chose the top three from among all the reader entries.

How can I enter this year’s Farmers’ Almanac recipe contest?

Each year we name a featured ingredient and invite readers to submit an original recipe using it. Winning recipes earn cash prizes and get published in print and online. See our current recipe contest page for this year’s ingredient and the entry details.