This is my go-to scone recipe packed with blueberries and topped with sweet lemon icing. These lemon blueberry scones are crumbly, yet moist and perfect for brunch, tea parties, bridal showers, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and so much more!
I originally published this recipe in 2015.
It’s only been a couple years since my scone love affair began. Before that, scones were nothing more than a dry crumbly triangle. I mean sure, scones are meant to be dipped into (insert hot beverage of choice here) but a pastry reminding me of cardboard never quite did it for me. Meh.
How appetizing has my writing been so far? Let me switch gears.
What I’m trying to say is: not all scones are created the same and with the right recipe, scones easily compete with muffins, quick breads, and even cinnamon rolls. These are the most delicious breakfast pastries!
All of my scone recipes begin with the same master recipe for scones. A few ingredients change based on flavor, but the process remains the same. This a careful formula brings us chocolate chip scones, blueberry scones, pumpkin scones, and so many more. It promises the BEST flavor and texture.
These Lemon Blueberry Scones Are:
- Sweet with crumbly edges
- Packed with juicy blueberries
- Filled with fresh lemon zest
- Crunchy golden brown on top
- Soft & moist in the centers
- Topped with lemon icing
If you can’t get enough of my lemon blueberry muffins, you’ll definitely love these scones also!
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Scones
These lemon blueberry scones are actually pretty easy. First, mix the dry ingredients together. You need flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and fresh lemon zest. Second, cut cold butter into the dry ingredients. 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.
Next, whisk the wet ingredients together. You need heavy cream, 1 egg, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the blueberries, then gently mix together. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries—if using frozen, do not thaw. Form the dough into a disc on the counter, then cut into 8 wedges. Before baking, brush the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. This is one of my little scone tricks. These extras add a bakery-style crunch and beautiful golden sheen. 🙂
To obtain a flaky center and a crumbly exterior, keep scone dough as cold as possible. I highly recommend chilling the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes prior to baking. You can even refrigerate overnight for a quick breakfast in the morning!
After that, bake the scones until golden brown.
Video Tutorial
If you’re interested, I have a 5 minute video demonstrating the scone recipe. I’m making blueberry scones in this video, but the base recipe and process is the same.
Frozen Grated Butter
Frozen grated butter is key to scone success. As with pie crust, work cold butter into the dry ingredients. The cold butter coats the flour, creating 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.
The lemon icing is even easier than the scones. Sifted confectioners’ sugar + lemon ju… I’m sorry, have I lost your attention? Is that pile of grated butter up there too beautiful to handle? 😉
Lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar produce a sinfully sweet & tangy lemon icing. The icing seeps into the tops of the scones making these summer-y treats almost more than you can handle. They’re 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 with your Mother’s Day spread?
More Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Creamy Lemon Pie
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Strawberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- 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
These lemon blueberry scones are bursting with juicy blueberries and delicious lemon zing! They’re buttery and moist with crisp crumbly edges and soft flaky centers. Read through the recipe before beginning. You can skip the chilling for 15 minutes prior to baking, but I highly recommend it to prevent the scones from over-spreading.
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 (plus 2 Tablespoons for brushing)
- 1 large egg
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
- for topping: coarse sugar
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons 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 crumbs. See video above for a closer look at the texture. Place in the refrigerator or freezer as you mix the wet ingredients together.
- Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the blueberries, then mix together until everything appears moistened.
- Pour onto the counter and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges.
- Brush scones with remaining heavy cream and for extra 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 (if your fridge has space!) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before topping with lemon icing.
- Make the icing: Whisk the icing ingredients together. Drizzle over warm scones.
- Leftover iced or un-iced scones keep well 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, you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. Or thaw 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 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare scones through step 4. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Continue with the recipe the following 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.
I made these for the first time on Mothers Day. Absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly, using frozen wild blueberries. I didn’t drizzle all of the icing over the scones; probably used a little more than half of it. I shared the scones with a couple of my neighbours, and everyone was impressed. These scones are so light, not heavy and dense. Thank you for this recipe. You are the best! I think I will be making a few more batches…
This was my first time making scones and they turned out amazing! I’ve already made this recipe twice this weekend. My wife loved them and can’t stop eating them. I made a batch for us and made a second batch for my wife’s family. They all loved them!
I’ve tried quite a few scones recipes and this is by far my favorite! They only needed 20 minutes for me, but otherwise the recipe was spot on
OMG, delicious! Made a second batch for delivery to the neighbors on week 7 of this quarantine. Described by neighbors as the best, lightest scones they have Ever had! I have to agree. Used the grating blade on my food processor to grate a frozen stick of butter in about 2 seconds. Used tip from another reviewer to dust bowl of the food processor first with flour, which means the butter falls right out with no sticking. Fabulous recipe.
Perfect! My first time making a scone! Everyone loved it. Thank you!! One trick I will share, I learned if you freeze the stick of butter, you can use a veggie peeler to cut the butter into the flour mixture. Very easy!
For anyone struggling to find heavy cream in quarantine, I am happy to report that I made a fairly creative substitution with excellent results. (All credit goes to Sally, because without a good framework I’d have been doomed!) **Instead of 1/2c heavy cream, I used 1/4c Greek yogurt (2% if you wanna get technical), 2T water, and 2T melted butter.** (I would have used 1/4c yogurt and 1/4c milk but we don’t have milk either! Like I said, more creative than I usually get with my baked goods.) The scones came out moist, not too dense, and totally delicious. I also subbed lime for lemon (due to availability but it also gave a nice twist on your typical flavors), and I cut the icing down to a 1/3 batch size (that was plenty of sugar for us, but if you can handle the full batch without totally sugar crashing post-brunch, more power to ya). I used frozen blueberries which produced a beautiful marbled look when the scones were cut, but that Instagrammable vibe disappeared as they baked. Probably my fault as I completely skipped that 15-minute fridge sesh at the end, but what can I say? We were hungry! ;D Even though they spread a bit, we are tearing through some A+ scone-blob deliciousness over here. Thank you Sally!
That is good to know—thanks. We always have a full fat Greek yogurt on-hand “Greek Gods” which is very similar to pudding (it’s delicious) and I bet with a little added milk it would work great here. I ended up using Trader Joe’s Organic Coconut milk. I love many, many things from Trader Joe’s but this coconut milk is just awful.! It was clumpy, and no matter what I did (power wisk, fork) I could not get the coconut milk to be more blended. The end result did not seem to be affected (scones were yummy!)but I will use my regular canned coconut milk in the future OR I’ll try the yogurt route. Happy Quarantine!
Followed the recipe exactly (except no coarse sugar so I used regular), and they are REALLY good. It’s a big recipe so I wish I had frozen half before I baked, just to see what the difference is. But I did glaze, and that just makes them over the top delicious!
I LOVE your blueberry lemon scone recipe! My scones were light in texture with a crunchy bottom. I added about one tablespoon juice from the lemon to the liquid mixture along with the vanilla flavoring. Also, I glazed some of them. My husband said he could eat these scones all day. Thank you for this delicious recipe!!!
These are so good! And easy to make. Great flavor and texture.
Just made these, and they were soooo good! I don’t know if they will make it to breakfast tomorrow!
Made these Saturday and they are really great! Had no powdered sugar on hand, so didn’t do the glaze, but they were ok without. They did spread a bit, and I cooked them a bit too long – more brown than they should have been, but that’s probably because my oven temperature is a bit wonky.
I’ve made several of your recipes and they have all been great!! Thanks!
www.youcanalwayscomehome.com
I just made the lemon blueberry scones and they came out PERFECT. I mean, best scone in my life perfect. Delicious crispy, flaky exterior and that dense (in the best way) fluffy interior.
I was so worried too! I didn’t have heavy cream, so I melted 2 tbsp of butter into a little less than 1/2 cup of almond milk and it WORKED!
Could you use buttermilk instead of heavy cream?
Yes! A 1:1 substitution.
Made this last night/this morning. These were excellent. I used a microfine rotary grater and it worked very well with the frozen butter. Also added a couple of drops of lemon extract to the dough (advice from my mother on baking cakes and cookies years ago).
Made these yesterday and they are FABULOUS!!! This will be my go to recipe from now on. I’ve made several of your recipes and have never been disappointed.
Hmm… I also struggled with my blueberries breaking and making the batter more moist and entirely blue. Any tips? Super novice baker here!
Just use a light and gently hand when stirring together. Or you can dot each individual scone with the blueberries instead of mixing them straight in. Fresh is best–frozen usually leaks their color!
Just discovered your baking site, and tried this Lemon Blueberry scone recipe. I have to agree with you that scones you buy at the coffee shops are pretty much baked sawdust. Your scone recipe is remarkable, it’s like a completely different and wonderful baked item. I’ve passed this on to family and friends; thank you so much for sharing it on your website!
I have made a few other scone recipes and didn’t love any of them. I found this and made this morning and we LOVE it! I had some blueberries and strawberries that needed used and thought “scones!” These are not dry and have good flavor. Next time I will freeze the cut scones. They did spread but tasted amazing anyway!
I have made this awesome recipe 3-4 times in the last month. It is delicious. I use the zest from two lemons because I like the lemony flavor. This is a new favorite in our house. Thanks for the recipe.
Will freeze dried blueberries work?!?
Hi Carol, I haven’t tested this recipe with freeze dried blueberries. They would likely work but you might miss out on the juicy pops of flavor from using fresh or frozen berries.
I decided to get my stress baking on while being required to stay at home like the rest of the country. Wow! I didn’t know grating frozen butter would be so invigorating!
This recipe turned out amazing. This was my first time – ever – making scones from scratch. It was a great experience – the scones were so flavorful and the frozen blueberries definitely made a huge difference.
My wife had demanded I make these again. So this may turn into my weekend chore from now on. I’m not complaining.
Holy Smokes! I really wasn’t expecting these to turn out good because I’m a pretty incredible failure in the kitchen. I followed your directions to a T–extra attention paid to keeping everything COLD, and I didn’t have one problem. I’ve never made scones before and haven’t baked in years, but jeez, I’ll never buy a scone from the bakery again! Thanks for sharing your secrets and being so incredibly thorough. I’m ready to eat all of these right now. They are beautiful and by far the best. Thanks Sally!
Sooooo good! I was never a big fan of scones, but this recipe changed my mind.
Everything I have baked that has been a Sally’s recipe always turn out! I am so grateful for her abilities to help us create yummy goodies. This scone recipe is one of our favorites! We have decided to make a family tradition to make these scones every General Conference weekend.
First of all. I really, really don’t like scones. Dry, mealy things. I tried this recipe for my sweet hubby. Changer recipe! These are absolutely the best ever. Dave said he’d never, ever had any scones this delicious! He gets them whenever we are close to any bakery.
So moist, just wonderful. I came back and found the lavender/ lemon recipe. In the freezer now. What a wonderful job you did in the ingredients. I’m going to look for some savory ones now. Thank you, dear Sally!!!
These turned out amazing Sally! I really love making your recipes, they are easy and all turn out AMAZING!
I’ve made the scones so many times and they are always so well loved. This morning I was feeling like something savory, so I omitted the sugar and vanilla, and added in some spices, green onions, and cheddar cheese. Amazing! Love how you can doctor this recipe up based on what you’ve got lying around.
Can I make these with buttermilk instead of heavy cream or would that mess with the flavor of the lemon and blueberry??
Sure can! Same amount.
I am a lazy baker and I particularly don’t like rolling dough, so I made this recipe as dropped scones. I also substituted coconut milk instead of heavy cream and coconut instead of blueberries. After mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, the consistency of the dough was a bit too crumbly for dropped scones, so I added in some lemon juice and extra coconut milk. I set the timer to 22 minutes and with 4 minutes left I thought they had browned enough, so I dropped the temperature down to 350 degrees. The scones were delicious! Thanks for a great recipe and for the tips about grating the frozen butter and chilling the dough. It made the texture of the scones airy and flaky.
Moooaaannnn…. These scones are SO AMAZING! They are tender and moist! I didn’t even put on the lemon glaze and the flavor is still excellent. And they come together pretty quickly. The most work-intensive part is grating the butter, but I’m getting better at that. I may use the food processor just to grate the frozen butter (not to mix the dough–no overmixing!) next time. Because I’m going to make the buttermilk lavender scones on Monday or Tuesday when my lavender arrives! Swoooon! I also made a batch of chocolate chip using Sally’s recipe and threw in some dried cherries and they’re also really good. I made up the dough separately for each batch, and then cut and froze the scones. Each night, I pull a scone out of the freezer and have a delicious tea time before bed. Thanks, Sally!