This is my go-to scone recipe bursting with fresh blueberries and zingy lemon zest, and topped with a sweet lemon icing. These glazed lemon blueberry scones are soft and tender in the middle, with crisp-crumbly edges, and simply perfect for brunch, tea parties, bridal showers, or really any time at all!
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos and success tips.
When you think of breakfast treats, do scones come to mind first? In a bakery-case lineup of cinnamon rolls, donuts, muffins, croissants and other pastries, the humble scone doesnโt always get the prime spot or the most attentionโฆ but it absolutely should. With the right recipe, scones easily compete with muffins, pastries, andโyes!โeven cinnamon rolls.
This lemon blueberry scone recipe in particular has received so much love over the years from readers who have tried it, that I wanted to shine the spotlight on it once again. Here are just a few of the many glowing reviews readers have shared after making these scones:
One reader, Andrea, commented: โLiterally the best scone recipe! Grating the frozen butter is a game changer. Everyone comments on how wonderful these scones areโฆ โ โ โ โ โ โ
Another reader, Susan, commented: โIโm so glad I found this recipe! Absolutely delicious scones. Exactly what I was looking for, as I wasnโt satisfied with other scone recipes Iโve tried. This will be my forever scone recipe! I loved the tip about freezing and grating the butter. What a good idea! โ โ โ โ โ โ
And one more reader, Claudia, commented: โEasy to make and came out perfectly! This was my first time making scones and these came out so good! Easy-to-follow directions and can be made ahead or frozen! โ โ โ โ โ โ
If you canโt get enough of my lemon blueberry muffins, youโll definitely love these scones, as well!
These Lemon Blueberry Scones Are:
- Soft & tender in the center, with crumbly edges
- Packed with juicy blueberries and fresh lemon zest
- Topped with coarse sugar and lemon icing for a sweet finish
All of my scone recipes begin with the same base recipe for scones. A few ingredients change based on flavor, but the process remains the same. This careful formula brings us chocolate chip scones, blueberry scones, pumpkin scones, apple cinnamon scones, and more. It promises the BEST flavor and texture.
Why the Ingredients Promise the Best Results:
- Flour: 2 cups of all-purpose flour is my standard amount, but set extra aside for the work surface and your hands.
- Sugar: Scones arenโt meant to be super sweet, so weโre using just enough granulated sugar to lightly sweeten and balance out the tart lemon flavor. You can top them with coarse sugar and icing if you want a sweeter scone, or leave them plain on top to keep these lightly sweet.
- Baking Powder: Adds lift.
- Salt & Vanilla Extract: Add flavor.
- Lemon Zest: You need a full Tablespoon of lemon zest, which is about 2 lemons. Zest the lemons for the scone dough, then juice them to make the lemon icing.
- Cold Butter: Besides flour, cold butter is the main ingredient in scones. It adds flavor, flakiness, crisp edges, and rise. More on butter below!
- Heavy Cream: For the best-tasting pastries, use a thick liquid such as heavy cream. Buttermilk works too! For a nondairy option, try using full-fat canned coconut milk. Avoid thinner liquids such as regular milk or almond milkโyouโll be headed down a one-way street to flat, dry scones.
- Egg: Binds ingredients together.
- Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen, do not thaw.
In Photos: Making Lemon Blueberry Scones
Youโll start with the dry ingredients. Whisk those together with the lemon zest, then cut cold butter into the dry ingredient mixture. You can use a pastry cutter, 2 forks, or your hands. A food processor works too, but it often overworks the scone dough. We want to avoid that.
Success Tip: Use Frozen Grated Butter
Frozen grated butter is key to scone success. As with pie crust, work cold butter into the dry ingredients to create tons of flour-coated butter crumbs. When these crumbs melt as the scones bake, they release steam, which creates all the scone flakiness we love. The exterior becomes crumbly, crunchy, and crisp.
Refrigerated butter might melt in the dough as you work with it, but frozen butter will hold out until the oven. And the finer the pieces of cold butter, the less the scones spread and the quicker the butter mixes into the dry ingredients. I recommend grating the frozen butter with a box grater. Use the side with the larger holes.
After cutting the frozen, grated butter in with a pastry cutter, youโll have a bowl of tiny flour-coated crumbles:
Place the bowl of dry ingredients in the freezer while you get your wet ingredients together. We want to keep things as cold as possible when it comes to making scones.
Now, whisk the wet ingredients together, then pour into the dry ingredients. Add the blueberries, then gently mix together:
Form the dough into a disc, then cut into 8 wedges.
Before baking, brush the scones with heavy cream mixed with water, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. This is one of my little scone tricks. These extras add a bakery-style sparkly crunch and beautiful golden sheen. ๐
I know I sound like a broken record, but to obtain the desired flaky center and a crumbly exterior, you really have to keep the scone dough as cold as possible. I highly recommend chilling the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes before baking. You can even refrigerate overnight and then bake in the morning, for a quick and easy breakfast treat!
After theyโve chilled, bake the scones until just turning golden brown on top.
Video Tutorial
If youโre interested, I have a 5-minute video demonstrating the scone recipe. Iโm making regular blueberry scones in this video, but the process is the same.
2-Ingredient Lemon Glaze
Lemon juice and confectionersโ sugar produce a sweet & tangy lemon icing. The icing seeps into the tops of the scones making these sunshine-y treats almost more than you can handle. Theyโre so good!!! Vanilla icing or lemon curd would be equally fabulous topping choices, too.
How lovely would a plate of these flavorful scones look on your table of Easter Brunch recipes, or for a special afternoon tea?
More Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Blueberry Cake & Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Lemony Blueberry Galette
- Lemon Bars
- Homemade Lemon Cupcakes
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 large scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my go-to scone recipe bursting with fresh blueberries and zingy lemon zest, and topped with a sweet lemon icing. These glazed lemon blueberry scones are soft and tender in the middle, with crisp-crumbly edges, and simply perfect for brunch, tea parties, bridal showers, or really any time at all! Read through the recipe before beginning; itโs imperative to keep the scone dough as cold as possible.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- 6 Tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream (+ 1 Tablespoon for brushing), cold
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) water, for brushing
- optional for topping: coarse sugar
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectionersโ sugar
- 2โ3 Tablespoons (30โ45ml) fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter using a box grater. Add it to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized (or a little smaller) crumbs. Place the bowl in the freezer before you continue.
- Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl or a liquid measuring cup. Remove the flour mixture from the freezer. Drizzle the cream mixture over the flour mixture, add the blueberries, then gently mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon until everything appears moistened and the ingredients are just combined.
- Lightly flour a work surface/counter. Pour the dough onto the counter and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If itโs too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1โ2 more Tablespoons heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc, about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the disc into 8 wedges.
- In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 Tablespoon cream with the water, then brush it on the scones. For extra sweetness and a little crunch, sprinkle with coarse sugar. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
- Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, or up to 24 hours. (If refrigerating for longer than an hour, lightly cover the scones.)
- Preheat oven to 400ยฐF (204ยฐC).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Arrange chilled scones 2โ3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 22โ25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before topping with icing.
- Make the lemon icing: Whisk the confectionersโ sugar and 2 Tablespoons lemon juice together in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. If desired, to thin out, whisk in an additional Tablespoon of lemon juice. Drizzle over warm scones.
- Store leftover scones covered tightly at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Bench Scraper | Brush | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper
- Sugar: These scones are sweet, but feel free to increase to 1/2 cup (100g) of granulated sugar for sweeter scones.
- Freeze Before Baking: Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, they wonโt stick together, and you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. Or thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with icing. I usually freeze in a freezer-friendly bag or container. To thaw, leave out on the counter for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking sheet in a 300ยฐF (149ยฐC) oven for 10 minutes.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 4. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with step 6 the next day.
- Over-spreading: Start with very cold scone dough. Expect some spread, but if the scones are over-spreading as they bake, remove from the oven and press back into its triangle shape (or whatever shape) using a rubber spatula.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I would like to make just lemon scones without the blueberries. How do I adjust the recipe?
Hi Anna, you can simply leave the blueberries out of this recipe. Enjoy!
Hi ,do you have to freeze the blueberries?
You can use fresh here.
I have used this recipe countless times and these scones are 5 stars every time. Thank you for sharing this recipe. This is my go to recipe for scones as they are my momโs favourite when I come to visit her. I have to caution you though, once you make these, you will have to keep making them. My mom refuses to go out to bakeries to get scones now because she likes these better!
These were amazing! Will be making again and again!
This is my first time making scones and they came out perfect. My husband loves them and I will be making more!!!
This is my first time making scones and they came out perfect. My husband loves them and I will be making more!!!
Do you think I could make these into mini scones?
Hi Melissa! To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
I recently made these scones, though not without much grumbling and resentment. Firstly, I canโt see the reason for โspooningโ the flour. I always fluff the flour before measuring it, so why go to the trouble to spoon it? I did it, but used the biggest tablespoon I could find, and heaped it. And then, grate frozen butter! Do you know how much trouble it is to grate frozen butter? I absolutely hate doing that. But I followed directions, because that is just what I do. At this stage, being short on temper and patience, I decided to use my hands to combine the butter with the flour. Somewhere during the working of the butter and flour with my hands, I started to have fun. Pretty soon, I was really enjoying myself and looking forward to the finished scones. I baked โem up, cooled them a bit, and enjoyed the best blueberry scone I have ever had. And I have baked a LOT of blueberry scones in my time! So, kudos, Sally. These scones are worth all the extra trouble.
They taste delicious but the blueberries must have been exceptionally juicy because they leaked, making a wet scone dough and turning it a blue/grey color so they arenโt pretty. Any idea how to avoid that? I used frozen blueberries. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, thatโs common with frozen blueberries. If you have a chance to use fresh, they will bleed less. Glad you still enjoyed the scones!
Love this recipe, they turned out perfect!!
Can I add poppyseeds to these?
Hi Lauryn, You can add up to 2 teaspoons of poppy seeds. Enjoy!
Hi! Love this recipe and have been using it for years. My sister in law canโt eat eggs. What substitution would you recommend?
Hi Cassidy, we havenโt tested an egg-free version of these scones, so weโre unsure of the best substitute. We wouldnโt omit it completely without a substitute, as it helps bind the dough together. Let us know if you give anything a try!
Aquafaba! 3 tbsp = 1 egg. Itโs the best substitute out there, especially for baking. I just made this recipe and the scones came out beautifully.