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.
Best scones I’ve ever had! Seriously. And so simple to make! I used fresh blueberries and soaked them in lemon juice before adding at the end. Didnt have heavy cream so I used Vanilla almond milk and it was awesome!
So delicious! One of the best baked goods I’ve ever made. Used buttermilk instead of heavy cream and it worked just fine.
I was so excited to try these! Just before putting them in the oven I realized I forgot to add sugar!! So I put them back in the bowl and kind of squished it in and then the batter was all wrong. Amateur mistake! They’re in the oven now—hoping they still come out okay. Recipe looks great!
This is my go-to recipe for scones. It’s solid, and interchangeable with many different ingredients. Great job! Thank you!
Wow! These are so good! And I didn’t have cream so used milk, but still turned out great (I also subbed one cup whole wheat flour). And so quick and easy too. Scones every Saturday!
Love your website. These were amazing! Best scones ever. The frozen butter and refrigerating prior to baking were what made them so delicious. I wasn’t that pleased with the shape as I did have some spreading, can I bake them in a scone pan next time?
I am in Colorado at around 6500′ in elevation. I didn’t change anything in the recipe except tweaking the baking temperature and time (410 degrees for 19-20 mins, and they turned out AMAZING. I love a good scone and this recipe was the best!
Just made these this morning for the adult students of a watercolor class I’m teaching, and they were THE BEST SCONES EVER! (My students all thought so too!) Super great tip about grating the cold stick of butter! I’m 60 years old, and I had never, EVER heard of that before! I’m convinced it’s what made them extra special and “to-die-for-scrumptious!”
This is an amazing recipe! Relatively easy and the scone tasted fabulous as the lemon acid and fresh blueberries made perfect combination! It’s not too sweet, and a bit of lemon icing makes it perfect. I used a Chinese style large rectangular cutting knife to chop the butter into small squares, and a plastic spatula (that came with Cuisinart food processor) and a regular knife to mix into the dough. On the second try, I sprinkled granulated sugar right before baking, as it melted into the dough first time. Scone came out semi-moist and semi-flaky, exactly the way I liked.
I made these yesterday and WOW! They are so delicious. Thanks for the tip about placing them in the refrigerator for 15 min prior to baking. They are very light and fluffy. Can’t wait to make them for my grown daughter’s next visit.
I had a hard time working in the blueberries. Although frozen, they still squished a bit making the dough wet. I had to push them in because they kept rolling away.
I love this recipe! Have been making it for years now. I’ve also substituted toasted coconut for the blueberries and substituted lime for the lemon! Also incredible. Another substitute I’ve made is making these sugar free with swerve sugar replacement as you can use it cup for cup like sugar. They have granulated, confectioners, and brown sugar replacement! You can’t tell the difference…So delicious!
Made two batches on Saturday night and baked them off on Sunday. They were amazing!! Sally’s recipes DO NOT DISAPPOINT.
Sally, these scones were without a doubt the best I have ever tasted!!!
The first time I used your recess for the raspberry almond and they spread. Today I watched your adorable video a few times before starting and figured out where I went wrong. I had used a round cookie cutter and wanted to make smaller scones. I patted it out too thin. I also over handled the dough! I’ve made scones before and they never turned out as moist and flavorful as these!!! This recipe is sooo easy too!!
In fact I had made homemade spaghetti sauce yesterday, cooked it all day! Bought Italian bread for garlic bread with it tonight. Instead I had my delicious fresh scone and hot tea! Savored every bite
Thank you for all of your delicious recipes and instructions!
You are my go to for baking recipes!! I am also addicted to baking !
My kitchen is now dubbed: Busy Bee Bakery
Can I use unsweetened coconut cream instead of heavy cream?
Sure can! Same amount.
I made these blueberry lemon scones yesterday and they turned out perfectly! I’m so pleased with this recipe and it will be my go to from now on. Very pleased with the results even though I did not shave the butter but used a pastry blender and subbed milk for the cream. Thank you for a great recipe!
My favorite scone recipe! I’ve made this 4 or 5 times over the last 2 years and now I always have butter in my freezer just in case. I first made these when I started a new job and now my coworkers beg for them whenever we have a potluck.
Why do I keep waiting to post reviews?? Every single thing I have ever made from Sally’s site is outstanding. No exception here – follow all her steps and you can’t possibly mess these up, even if you swap ingredients. They turned out moist and gorgeous; no spreading, just a lovely fluffy rise and golden star-spangled tops. Swaps: I used yogurt instead of whole milk and added a tbs of fresh lemon juice to the yogurt. Didn’t have blueberries, used (soaked & squeezed) dried cranberries. Sally – you are a Kitchen Queen and always make me look good. Many thanks for your excellent recipes and thoughtful directions. Happy baking – your addiction is contagious.
Wonderful recipe! I made a double batch of these scones and a quadruple batch of your lemon curd for family and friends to eat on Christmas morning. They all turned out perfectly. Thank you!!!
i’ve made these twice now, and everything tastes great – my problem is maybe with my oven. I took them out this time at 16 minutes because I noticed the bottoms burning compared to the rest – I’m using a light pan and parchment paper, but do you know why this might be happening?
Hi Natalie! It could be the crush of heavy cream on the baking sheet that’s browning and not the bottom of the scones in particular. Is that the case? It could be your oven, too. You can try lowering the oven rack or double checking your oven’s temperature with an oven thermometer.
This is the best scone recipe ever. I have tried several and always come back to this one. They turn out perfect every time and they taste amazing
COMFORT FOOD! I love these…but would buttermilk subbed for the heavy cream work?
Gotta watch my calories/cholesterol and want to make them often over holidays!
Thanks so much!
FABULOUS! My new favorite scone recipe. Grating frozen butter was a new trick for me. Only problem was they did not last long!! Thanks
I just made these for breakfast, and they were AMAZING. A bit hit all around! This is definitely the best scone recipe I’ve ever used.
Fist time making scones and these turned out so well. Can I use this recipe for a basic scone then add herbs:cheese for a savoury scone?
Yes! Here is my in-depth post on scones.
Just made these today; my first time ever making scones and they came out great! Usually scones are too dry and kind of flavorless, but these were moist even at high altitude! They browned beautifully. I used fresh blueberries. Every recipe I’ve tried from your website has been amazing! Thanks for all that you do!
Thanks Sally, for an amazing recipe. I have been making these scones at the cottage for a few years now. It is my go-to for a sweet morning treat. They have turned out perfect every time.
Made these, and they were the best scone I have ever tasted! Mine flatten out a little bit of over all it was AMAZING!!!!!
Thank you Sally for responding so quickly. Since you didn’t mention it I am assuming that I don’t have to adjust the baking power.;) Sara
Loved this! Tried many different recipes. Thanks! Also I loved the tips you gave along with the tutorial. If I wanted to do chocolate morsels in it. Do I just substitute the blueberries for the morsels? What glaze do Input on it? Thanks
Hi Linda! I have a recipe for chocolate chip scones– I think you might love those, too 🙂