
Blueberry Lemon Scones are soft, crumbly and bursting with flavor. I adore scones but most tend to be dry so I experimented over and over to develop a recipe that would be perfect.
Blueberries and lemon pair perfectly together but this recipe is very flexible so you can use almost any fruit you have on hand. I love them with coarse sugar sprinkled on top or drizzled with a bit of icing.
Qualities of the best scones:
- Soft and a bit crumbly
- Golden brown tops and edges
- Moist and soft on the inside
- Slightly sweet and packed with flavor
How to make the best Blueberry Lemon Scones:
Scones are easy to make but there are lots of small tricks that go into making the best scones. The colder the ingredients the better the results, so keep your scone dough cold.
I suggest starting with frozen butter because it helps make the scones flaky. If it’s very warm in your kitchen you may want to refrigerate all of your ingredients before you start.
- Whisk all dry ingredients together, including the lemon zest.
- Scatter cold butter pieces into the flour mixture and mix together with a pastry blender or the back of two forks. I don’t recommend using your hands to blend because the temperature of your hands is too warm and it will cause the butter to start softening.
- Blend in the butter until the pieces are the size of peas. Too much blending will develop the gluten and make the scones less tender.
- Add in the cold buttermilk, lemon juice, and blueberries and blend very gently. The dough will still be shaggy, which is OK.
- Lightly flour your work surface, turn the dough out, and gently knead for about 30-seconds,
- Shape dough into a large 1 1/2″ thick disk.
- Cut scones into 8 triangle wedges. Place onto a baking sheet, brush with cream, and place the tray in the refrigerator for 15-minutes before baking
- Bake about 25 minutes. Scones should be lightly browned and easy to pull up off the baking tray.
- Cool and drizzle with icing.
Tips and Tricks for perfect blueberry lemon glazed scones
- Start with very cold butter and buttermilk
- Gently mix the dough by hand. The butter should be pea-sized after mixing the flour. The key to flaky scones is to not over blend the butter.
- The dough shouldn’t be too wet and should be able to stand up on its own.
- If you use frozen blueberries (or any fruit) do not thaw them before adding. Blending the berries with a teaspoon of flour will help them keep their shape during baking.
- Use fresh lemon juice and zest for a bright tangy flavor
- Chill the scones for 15-minutes before baking to get fluffy scones and avoid them over spreading in the oven.
- Make scone dough ahead of time, cut into shapes and freeze. Add about 3-5 minutes to the cooking time.
- If you want smaller scones, form dough into a rectangle, and cut into smaller wedges
This can be your master scone recipe
Use the basic recipe below and add or omit flavors for any type of scones. The process for making the scones will be the same each time. Some favorites are:
- Cherries and almonds
- Strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries
- Currants
- Dried apricots, pineapple, cranberries
- Chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Need a buttermilk substitute?
In case you don’t have buttermilk on hand it’s easy to make a substitution:
- The ratio: 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to every 1 cup of regular milk.
- Mix together and let stand for a few minutes
More breakfast or bread ideas?
- Buttermilk Pancakes
- Buttermilk Banana Bread
- Baked Churro Donuts
- Blueberry Apple Quick Bread
- Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Apples
- Crustless Mini Quiche Bites
Blueberry Lemon Scones
Ingredients
Scone Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups All-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup unsalted butter (4 ounces), very cold, Cut into ½" pieces
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ¾ cup buttermilk, very cold
- 1 cup blueberries
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp coarse sugar, optional
Lemon Glaze, optional
- ½ cup powdered confectioners sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Scones:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, Silpat liner or grease lightly.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and baking soda.
- Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, or the back of 2 forks, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is dispersed throughout, and butter is about the size of peas. Be careful not to overwork because you want the butter to stay very cold.
- In a small bowl toss cold blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour to coat
- Add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and flour-coated blueberries to the dough and gently mix until just combined. The dough should be combined but rough and shaggy, and should hold together.
- Dust a work surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. With floured hands knead the dough for about 30-seconds. Shape the dough into a large disk about 1½" thick. Cut into 8 equal wedges.
- Place wedges onto prepared baking sheet, brush with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Chill in refrigerator for about 15-minutes. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned.
- Remove scones from baking sheet and cool for about 15-minutes.Drizzle with lemon glaze and serve.
Lemon Glaze
- In a small bowl whisk confectioners sugar to remove any lumps. Slowly drizzle in vanilla and enough lemon juice to make a smooth glaze. If too thick add more lemon juice.
Nart | Cooking with Nart
I made these for breakfast yesterday and they were terrific! Everyone in my family loved them. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Dannii
Blueberries and lemon go SO well together and these look delicious. I can’t wait to try them.
Paula Montenegro
I can never have enough scone recipes and this blueberry lemon combo is always welcomed! They look fantastic and the step-by-step photos are perfect. Thanks for sharing!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
These look so delicious and with the perfect combo of blueberries and lemon too!
Adrianne
Scones are THE BEST and this flavour combo is to die for!! I love the step by steps photos, making it so easy for me to follow!