These easy lemon blueberry scones are tender and flaky lemon scones filled with blueberries, topped with a sweet and tart lemon glaze. What I love most about these blueberry scones with lemon glaze is how quick and simple they are to make. They’re the best melt in your mouth, homemade blueberry scones that are perfect for breakfast or brunch.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
Take a look around the blog and you’ll notice that I absolutely adore lemon and blueberry recipes. My Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins, Blueberry Cupcakes, Lemon Blueberry Cookies, Blueberry Pound Cake, Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake and Mini Blueberry Muffins are just a few recipes I love. These blueberry lemon scones are another recipe I know you will love.
- Layers of flavors and textures. From the tender and flaky lemon scone bursting with fresh blueberries, to the sweet and tart lemon glaze, these glazed lemon blueberry scones will delight your senses.
- Easy to make and bake. These fresh blueberry scones taste like you just bought them from the best bakery in town, but they’re actually so easy to make. Simply whisk the dry and wet ingredients together, fold in the blueberries, shape into a thick disk, chill, cut and bake. Make sure to check out my Raspberry Almond Scones or Herbs de Provence Scones for other delicious scone recipes.
Ingredients
This recipe for lemon blueberry scones requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge. Here’s what you’ll need.
Dry Ingredients: Gather sugar, lemon zest, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and cold or frozen butter.
Wet Ingredients: Gather a lightly beaten egg, heavy cream, lemon juice, vanilla extract and fresh or frozen blueberries.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended substitutions to make these melt in your mouth blueberry and lemon scones if you need them.
- Granulated Sugar: Maple sugar would also work well to make these lemon scones refined sugar free.
- Lemon Zest: Lemon pairs so beautifully with blueberries in these easy blueberry scones. even more perfect. Lime would be a wonderful substitute.
- All purpose flour: Make these blueberry lemon scones, gluten free, by using a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Baking Powder: This acts as a leavener in this blueberry scone recipe.
- Unsalted Butter: Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter. Just make sure the butter is very cold or even frozen.
- Egg: This recipe has not been tested without eggs.
- Vanilla Extract: This is more for background flavor and nicely enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Lemon Juice: For even more lemon flavor in these lemon and blueberry scones, I like to add some fresh lemon juice.
- Heavy Cream: For soft and tender scones, heavy cream is a must. Substitute with half and half or regular plain or vanilla yogurt.
- Blueberries: You can fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen berries, do not let them thaw or overmix as this will cause a more muddied look. Also note that the baking time will be a bit longer if using frozen berries.
Variation
Lemon Blueberry Drop Scones: Prepare the recipe as written through the step of folding in the blueberries. After folding in the blueberries, dump the scone dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently gather and knead the scones 2 -3 times. Scoop the dough with a large spoon or cookie scoop. This blueberry scone recipe should yield about 12 drop scones. Drop the scones onto a lined baking sheet or large plate. Freeze as directed in the recipe. Bake at 400 F (204 C) for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
How To Make
Learn how to make lemon blueberry scones in a few easy steps.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Using your hands, spoon or whisk, rub zest and sugar together until it resembles course sand.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt into the lemon sugar mixture. Grate in the frozen butter. When all the butter has been grated in, use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, lightly beat an egg. Then whisk in the heavy cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice until well combined.
- Form a little well in the center of the flour and butter mixture. Pour ½ of the wet ingredients into the dry and gently incorporate. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients into the dough. Fold in the blueberries. Mix until the dough just comes together. There should be a few stray pieces of the dough.
- Transfer the lemon scone dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape the dough into a ball. Gently knead the scone dough and shape into a 8 - inch disk. Place the disk in the freezer to chill for 30 - 40 minutes. While the scones chill in the freezer, preheat the oven to 400 F (204 C).
- Remove the scones from the freezer and cut into 6 - 8 wedges using a dough scraper or long sharp knife. Space the scones about 2 - inches apart on a lined baking sheet. Brush scones with the heavy cream.
- Bake in the oven at 400 F (204 C) for 18 - 22 minutes. Scones should be nicely golden brown and will be very fragrant. Allow scones to cool for 3 - 4 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack. Make the best blueberry scones even better by topping them with a lemon glaze. Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice to your desired consistency. Then drizzle the lemon glaze on the scones and enjoy!
How To Make Ahead, Store, Freeze and Thaw
Make Ahead: Prepare this homemade blueberry scone dough up to one day ahead of time. Store covered in the fridge overnight to bake the next morning. Do not mix in frozen blueberries if you plan on storing the dough overnight in the fridge.
Store: Store baked lemon blueberry scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day. Transfer the scones to the fridge for up to another 3 days.
Freeze: Place the frozen unbaked lemon blueberry scone wedges in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Place the baked and fully cooled unglazed lemon blueberry scones in an airtight container to freeze for up to 2 months. I recommend individually wrap each scone in plastic wrap or wax paper.
Thaw: The easiest and tastiest way to thaw your blueberry lemon scones is to let them thaw overnight in the fridge. If you would like to bake the unbaked scones straight from the freezer, simply add about 3 - 5 minutes to the baking time.
M’s Expert Tips
- Zest the lemon into the sugar. This releases all the oils from the lemon directly into the sugar.
- Freeze the butter. It’s perfectly fine to pull the butter directly from the fridge, but if you remember, toss the butter in the freezer a couple of hours before you plan to make the lemon scones.
- Cold is a scone’s best friend. In order to create those beautiful tender and flaky layers, the scone needs to be cold. Keep the ingredients as cold as you can prior to baking.
- Don’t overmix. Just like making a pie crust, try to handle the scone dough as little as possible while forming it into a disk. Some kneading is necessary to get those tall layers, but try to touch the dough as little as possible.
- Chill the blueberry scones. It’s helpful to rest the dough in the freezer to help the butter solidify and the flour to hydrate. Use this time to full preheat the oven (which takes about 30 minutes).
- Give the scones some space. Some recipes call for leaving the scone wedges close together. I find the scones need a bit more room in order to have space to fully rise.
FAQs
Touch the scone dough as little as possible. Gather the dough into a ball and knead just until the dough comes together into an 8- inch disk.
This serves two purposes. One is to allow the glutens in the flour to rest and hydrate. The other is to help the butter fat resolidify before baking, creating beautiful flaky layers.
This is usually the result of overmixing or overworking the dough. Knead the dough with a light hand and only until it just comes together.
Other Breakfast Recipes to Try
If you try this Lemon Blueberry Scones recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! - M
Lemon Blueberry Scones Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pastry cutter
- 1 dough scraper or large knife
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 parchment paper
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Scones
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 lemons zested
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter, frozen or very cold
- 1 large egg (US), lightly beaten
- ½ cup (118 ml) cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups (210 g) fresh or frozen blueberries
lemon glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp (30 - 45 ml) lemon juice
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Using your hands, spoon or whisk, rub zest and sugar together until it resembles course sand.½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 2 lemons zested
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt into the lemon sugar mixture. Grate in the frozen butter, stopping every 2-3 tablespoon to lightly toss and coat the grated butter in the flour.2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour , 2½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt , 8 tablespoon (113 g) unsalted butter, frozen or very cold
- When all the butter has been grated in, use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse sand with some larger pieces. This is similar to making a pie crust.
- In a separate bowl, lightly beat an egg. Then whisk in the heavy cream, lemon juice and vanilla extract until well combined.½ cup (118 ml) cold heavy cream , 1 large egg (US), lightly beaten , 2 tablespoon lemon juice , 2 teaspoon (10 ml) vanilla extract
- Form a little well in the center of the flour and butter mixture. Pour ½ of the wet ingredients into the dry and gently incorporate. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients into the dough.
- Fold in the blueberries. Mix until the dough just comes together. There should be a few stray pieces of the dough.1¼ cups (210 g) fresh or frozen blueberries
- Transfer the lemon scone dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape the dough into a ball. Gently knead the scone dough by pressing down on the dough from middle to edges to form a disk. Fold in half. Repeat gently pressing the dough back into a round disk. Shape into a 8 - inch disk.
- Place the disk onto a parchment lined baking sheet or plate to chill in the freezer for 30 - 40 minutes. While the scones chill in the freezer, preheat the oven to 400 F (204 C).
- Remove the scones from the freezer and cut into 6 - 8 wedges using a dough scraper or long sharp knife. Space the scones about 2 - inches apart on a lined baking sheet. Brush scones with the heavy cream.
- Bake in the oven at 400 F (204 C) for 18 - 22 minutes. Scones should be nicely golden brown and will be very fragrant. Allow scones to cool for 3 - 4 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Make the best blueberry scones even better by topping them with a lemon glaze. Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice to your desired consistency. Then drizzle the lemon glaze on the scones and enjoy!1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar , 2-3 tablespoon (30 - 45 ml) lemon juice
Carla Logie says
Can I use milk instead of heavy cream?
Megan says
Hi Carla,
Scones are traditionally made with heavy cream. That being said, you can definitely try! The higher the fat, the better (whole milk instead of skim for these). If you have half and half, that would also work. Please let me know how they turn out!
Sara says
Great recipe, and thank you for the tips and explanations. I gently mixed the dough and they turned out great. I love the way you put the measurements right in with the steps, it's super helpful! Question about grating the frozen butter - I used a box grater, but is that what you meant, or is there some other way to grate butter? It took some elbow grease but resulted in a nice fluffy texture. I've also made your lemon blueberry cookies and LOVED them! thank you!
Megan says
Hi Sara, I am so happy the steps and tips section helped you so much. I am also so happy that the layout of the recipe card made this recipe easy to follow. Yes, I use a box grater to grate my frozen butter as well. The lemon blueberry cookies are a personal favorite recipe of mine!