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!
Welcome back to an overdose on scones.
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.
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 (1 stick; 115g) 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 (180g) 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: Glass Mixing Bowls, Box Grater, Pastry Cutter, Baking Sheet, Silpat Baking Mat, Pastry Brush, Citrus Zester
- 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.
Keywords: lemon blueberry scones
I regularly make Sally’s scones with the definite favourite being the lemon blueberry. I have a daughter with celiac, and I can no longer consume gluten, so I decided to try making them gluten free. They turned out great. The dough felt pretty dry so I added a bit more cream. I was worried they would fall apart but once I baked them and the butter bits melted, they held together just fine. They were a huge hit! A bit different than the original recipe but still excellent. I used the President’s choice gf flour (the only gf flour I use for baking).
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followed the recipe but my scones were burnt on the bottom =( used parchment paper over aluminum baking sheet @ 22 mind =( do you know where I went wrong?
Hi Leila! Your oven may run a little hot, you can try reducing the temperature a bit next time, or moving the baking pan to a different position in your oven – away from the heating element. Hope you enjoy these scones!
thank you, they are sooooo delicious! wonderful recipe indeed =)
I’ve tried the frozen grated butter twice, and both times so much butter stuck to the grater, my fingers, etc., that I thought I probably didn’t have the right amount of butter. I’ve made these scones with frozen butter that I cut into tiny pieces, and that worked better for me. Would spraying the grater help to make the butter not stick?
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Hi Susan, Make sure that the butter is 100% frozen solid before you grate it. We usually freeze it overnight. Or you can cut the butter very, very finely into very small cubes instead. Then freeze those for 10-15 minutes before using in the recipe.
If I do the overnight instructions, is it still okay to use frozen blueberries?
That should still be fine, Jessica. Enjoy!
Made these today, they were awesome! So very easy.
★★★★★
I’ve loved your recipes for years!
Do you think almond milk “buttermilk” will work for the cream? Or stick with the coconut milk? Thank you! Making these for Mother’s Day 🙂
Hi Sydney, you want something very rich and fatty like cream or coconut milk. We haven’t tested it, but it may not be rich enough. Let us know if you do!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but i’m wondering if it’s ok to add other fruits such as raspberries or strawberries?
Absolutely! Here’s our master scones recipe you can use as a base for any variety as well 🙂
I want to use this recipe to make scones for a ladies tea at church! If I made two discs of dough to make 16 smaller scones, would that work? Would the cooking time change?
Hi Brooklyn, we make mini scones often. Prepare the dough, cut it in half to make two smaller disks, then cut each disk into 8 mini scones to have 16 mini scones total. The bake time is a couple minutes shorter. You can see these rainbow sprinkle scones for detailed instructions. Enjoy!
Love these but the bottoms keep burning . Going to try with a slightly lower baking temp to see if they turn out a little bettet
Hi John! You an also try moving the baking pan to a different position in your oven – away from the heating element. Hope you enjoy these scones!
Can’t wait to try! Has anyone tried fresh elderberry? I have frozen from a farmer’s market and they’re a much smaller berry, similar to fish eggs (sorry for the visual & smell) but contemplating on fresh ones this summer? ??
Hi Rachel, we haven’t personally tried it but would love to know if you do!
We LOVED the blueberry lemon scones. We made a double batch for an Easter Brunch. They were gone in no time. We followed all your instructions and the results were magical! We only used the drizzle of lemon sugar icing on top and it was the perfect amount of sweetness.
Highly recommend this recipe! Follow the freezing of the butter, shredding it, and chilling your dough before baking. Awesome! Thank you.
★★★★★
I have made this recipe so many times!
since I am not a fan of blueberries I put in poppy seeds instead!!!
Make this recipe!!!
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I’ve made these scones twice now and I am going to make again for Easter. No matter how many I make they just fly off the plate! Everyone seems to have room for one more blueberry-lemon scone! Thank you!
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Absolutely DELICIOUS !!! My only complaint is that I only brought one to work this morning 🙂 Thank you for this great recipe !!!
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These are amazing! My husband loves scones, but I can’t ever get them right. He LOVED these!
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These are delicious and so easy to make.
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Absolutely loves these scones, I make your master scones often and usually add whatever fruit I have in the fridge to mix it up along with some spices (clove, cinnamon etc) anyway just wanted to say thank you for sharing this is a lovely recipes and I will definitely be making it again x
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Made them followed everything and the still spread out very disapointed
Hi Ann, the key to reduce spreading is VERY cold scone dough. Make sure your butter is frozen, and if you need, stick the dough back in the refrigerator throughout the process if it starts to warm up too much. 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. Thanks for giving these a try!
I love this recipe and have made it many times, it’s always a hit!! I was wondering if you had any tips for keeping the frozen blueberries intact. Mine rarely turn out as pretty as yours (but they taste sooo good, so I’m not too concerned with how they look!) because the blueberries turn the dough purple and they burst as I am mixing them into the dough. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Cait, blueberries are pretty delicate, so it’s easy for a few to pop in the mixing process. Just be extra gentle when mixing and forming to prevent as much breakage as possible. So glad you love these scones!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and the detailed instructions. I followed your lemon blueberry scones recipe to the letter, with one exception – I halved the lemon glaze. They turned out perfect. Everyone in the house loved them. I was initially very frustrated with the dough because it didn’t seem to be coming together but I refrained from adding more flour. I gently patted it together as best as I could and accepted what seemed to be too much excess flour bits that didn’t want to stick. .
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I’ve made these before for my bible study group and everyone absolutely LOVED them! The glaze is heavenly! I’m making these for my dads birthday tomorrow – do you think I could substitute oat milk for heavy cream? Maybe even add a little Greek yogurt to thicken it?
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Hi Hannah, you can certainly give it a try, but expect a different texture. Some readers have used plain yogurt or sour cream instead of heavy cream. (A 1:1 substitution.) It works, but the scones taste a little denser. Let us know how it goes and hope your dad enjoys the scones!
Awesome, thank you so much! This is seriously one of my favorite baking recipes ever and I can’t wait to try out your other scones!
So good! Tried it with fresh blueberries. You can taste the lemon, the vanilla and the blueberries and they all just compliment each other so well! Definitely making these again for brunch!
Hey! I’m so sorry but my experience with this recipe was terrible 🙁 I followed every instruction precisely, the frozen grated butter, the measuremens, everything. The dough was incredibly sticky and impossible to work with so I had to add a ton more flour (probable around 1 cup more!!!) until it was more or less manageable, also corrected the sugar but the rest of the proportions will most likely be wrong. Also I used frozen blueberries straight from the freezer as instructed… They were unmanageable and by the time I was able to work with the dough the peel of the berries had fallen off and my batter has quite an awful purple – brownish colour. I formed the disk and cut it in 8, and they are currently in the freezer. I plan to bake them when fully frozen because the dough was still too sticky so I could not transfer the unfrozen scones to the baking sheet. I wonder what I did wrong… I think proportions or measurements in grams are not right, and frozen blueberries are not to be used. Also my hands hurt like hell from working with frozen ingredientes. What a shame 🙁
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Though these are delicious as I’ve made them before, Lina’s experience was mine both times I made them. The dough is SOOO difficult to work with. But again, the flavor is unmatched; I just wish there was a better way of working with the batter that wasn’t so unpleasant…
I’ve just made these, they are currently chilling in my fridge. I agree, the dough is very, very sticky and hard to work with. I added a bit more flour, but was very difficult to pick up off bench to put on the pan after cutting into wedges. Keeping my fingers crossed they turn out!
Sounds like you had too much wet ingredients for the flour ratio. Here’s something to try, keep it cold and dry. Freeze your butter, flour mixture and the mixing bowl for 30 min prior to making the dough. Then slice and pulse the butter into your flour in a food processor. Just a couple seconds does it and add it back into the bowl. Add about 3/4 of the liquid part, the Egg/Cream mixture and let sit to soak in for minute before turning over a few times with a wet metal spoon. Only add the balance if it needs it, meaning only if you can see dry flour, then pour the rest on to the dry flour, but don’t work in. Press it together into a big ball right in the bowl and refrigerate for an hour to get it really cold. The spread into disk, and take it from there.
Lina, I had the same experience, but not with this recipe…I used one given to me by a friend. The scones were delicious, but looked horrible. I’m experienced in scone making, so I don’t know what went wrong. I’m going to try this recipe and hope for better results. My advice is to try it again. Being very careful not to break the blueberries. Also. I’m going to add them after the dough is partially mixed, not at the beginning. Fingers crossed!
Awesome Recipe! Super Good!
I made this recipe today and they turned out great. I didn’t have any cream so I mixed 1/4 cup milk with 2-3 tablespoons of Greek yogurt instead (1/2 cup total). Also, I added zest of 2 large lemons. I made the dough in to 2 discs and cut each into 8 to make total of 16 small scones and baked for 21 minutes.
I weighed the flour as per given amount in grams to be accurate and used 6 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup heaping blueberries as per recipe. But noticed that my tablespoons and cup measurements does not equal the given gram amounts for blueberries and sugar but still sweet enough, beautiful, and tasted great. A versatile recipe. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious these will defiantly be on my Easter Bruch table !!!
I made these vegan by substituting the butter with Earth Balance, heavy cream with oat milk, and the egg with Just Egg (made from mung beans – I got it from Target). They turned out absolutely excellent, just as lovely as the scones from the fancy vegan bakery near me!
★★★★★
Could you use Half and half instead of full cream?
Hi Becky, yes, you can use half-and-half instead of heavy cream in this scone recipe.
Made these for scone loving guests who raved about them and begged for the recipe. Very easy and don’t skip the refrigeration step. I actually left them in the fridge for hours and cooked them later…I have made similar recipes without the refrigeration step and I do believe that is what makes these so incredibly airy.
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My family , friend and coworkers look forward to these . This recipe also works well replacing the flour with a gf blend, which makes my daughter very happy since she is very sensitive to gluten.
I am happy to read this! I wan to make this recipe using GF flour…any adjustments?
So so SO Good! I always imagined scones to be one of those tricky things to bake that required babysitting and what not – but this was totally doable. Thank you for a wonderful recipe to celebrate my moms birthday!
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Really really amazing results! I wish I could take all the credit but I can’t, so let me say thank you from all my girlfriends and me! Even my husband is now a fan of scones, and he had never heard of them.
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Have you ever used cinnamon chocolate chips in scones? If so how much should I use? Should I use these in place of cinnamon?
Hi Bonnie! Here is our cinnamon chip scones recipe 🙂 and you can always make any flavor of scone you would enjoy with our master scones recipe. Happy baking!
I cannot thank you enough for the delicious scone recipe ! I’ve tried many recipes for them in the past and none come close in flavor or soft texture. Unbeatable !!
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