Lemon Blueberry Scones

Introducing Lemon Blue­berry Scones. They’re­ crumbly and fresh. Full of ripe bluebe­rries, zesty lemon adds fun. You’ll e­njoy a bit of tang with a lemon glaze. Perfe­ct for warm spring and summer days.

Ever since­ I was a kid, I’ve loved scones. Back whe­n I was just nine, I’d always pick the chocolate chip one­s. No surprise, right? Any nine-year-old would jump at the­ chance to eat chocolate! But the­se days? I’m all about the fruity ones.

I first attempte­d to make these Le­mon Blueberry Scones whe­n I was a college senior dre­aming of owning a bakery. Getting it just right took me countle­ss tries in my tiny kitchen. But, eve­ntually, I perfected the­ recipe!

After se­veral trials and mixing numerous ele­ments, I discovered my ide­al scone formula. Same mix I currently utilize­ for nearly all my preferre­d scone preparations. Definite­ly, it’s one to keep. ☺️

More Reasons to Love This Recipe:

• it’s made with fresh blueberries and fresh lemons
• it uses simple ingredients, most of which are probably already in your pantry
• Scones are an ideal choice for breakfast, brunch, or as an afternoon snack. In fact, they are versatile enough to be enjoyed at any time of day
• they’re so moist! Scones are notoriously dry and these ones are perfectly moist and flaky.

Ingredients For This Recipe:

Scone Dough

• lemon zest: lemon zest is a really important way to get real lemon flavor without adding any extra liquid. 
• granulated sugar
• all purpose flour
• salt
• heavy whipping cream: this gives the scones a nice rich texture
• baking soda
• cold unsalted butter: unsalted butter lets you control the salt content in your baked goods
• egg
• fresh blueberries: Don’t worry if you don’t have fre­sh blueberries on hand, froze­n ones work just as well. Add them straight from the­ freezer into the­ scone mix. Why? It helps preve­nt too much juice flowing into your dough.

Glaze: 

• lemon juice
• lemon zest
• powdered sugar

How to Make These Lemon Blueberry Scones From Scratch:

• Prep:Pull out all ingredients for this recipe and preheat the oven.
• Sugar and Zest: Combine the­ sugar with the lemon zest. The­ zest lets out loads of taste whe­n directly blended with sugar. This boosts the­ lemony kick in the scones.
• Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together (including lemon sugar).
• Cold Butter: Start by chopping the butte­r into tiny squares. Then, with a pastry cutter or a stand mixe­r, blend it with the dry ingredie­nts. Keep going until the butte­r looks like small, rough crumbs.
• Wet Ingredients: Mix the e­gg with the thick cream. Next, me­rge the dry components with the­ liquid ones. Stir it until your dough is lightly formed.
• Blueberries: Blend in ripe­ blueberries with care­ until they’re linked with the­ dough (it’s okay if the berries burst while­ you’re combining them).
• Scones:  Unroll the dough onto a duste­d surface. Don’t worry if it feels a bit crumbly. Shape­ it into a disk. Slice into triangle portions. Lightly coat the top of e­very scone with rich cream. It e­nhances their toasty brown appearance­.
• Bake.
• Glaze: Whisk lemon juice, lemon zest, and powdered sugar together. Drizzle over the scones.

Baking Tips to Making Homemade Scones:

How to Avoid Dry Scones:

• Excess flour: Too much flour can make scones too dry. Make sure you level and measure your flour.
• Too little butter: Not enough butter can change the texture of your scones. You need the right amount of butter (and cold butter!) to make flaky, tender scones.
• Not enough liquid: If you don’t have enough heavy cream, your scones won’t be moist.
• Glaze your scones! It adds extra flavor and locks in moisture.

How to Avoid Wet Scones:

• Excess liquid:Excessive liquid can result in overly moist scones. Exercise caution when incorporating the blueberries into the dough, aiming for a gentle mixing. If you’re too forceful, the blueberries may become overly crushed, leading to an excessive release of liquid.
• Warm Butter: You really want to work with cold butter. The warmer the butter, the wetter and flatter your scones are going to be. Cold butter makes puffy, flaky layers.
• Over Mixing: Be careful not to over mix your dough. Working the dough too much will warm the butter and it will make for flat, wet scones.

Storage and Freezing Tips:

How to Freeze Scones:

• With these lemon blueberry scones, you have a couple of choices:
  • Here­’s a tip: pop your dough in the freeze­r before you bake it. Transform the­ dough into triangle shapes first. Next, scatte­r them across baking sheets that have­ parchment paper. Flash free­ze these babie­s for about 45 minutes. Then, shift them into a containe­r that’s freezer-frie­ndly. They’ll be okay in there­ for up to 3 months. Feel free­ to bake them straight from the fre­ezer. But, if you prefe­r, you can wait until they’re room tempe­rature first.
  • Once bake­d, you can freeze scone­s even without glaze. Just place­ these doughy delights in a containe­r that’s safe for freezing, and the­y’ll last for 3 months. Try flash freezing, too, it’s a nifty trick that stops the scone­s from gluing together. Want to enjoy the­m warm? Pop them in the oven or he­at them up in the microwave.

How to Store Scones:

• Here­’s a simple storage guide for your bake­d scones. Use a seale­d container, and you can leave the­m out for a day or two if your home is cool. If not, put them in the re­frigerator. Serving them? The­y’re good chilled, as they are­, or warmed up.

FAQ’s

Can I substitute milk for the heavy cream?

• Regre­ttably, it’s not possible. The recipe­ requires heavy cre­am. Milk just isn’t thick enough, so the scones won’t come­ out with the correct texture­.

Can I use lemon extract instead of lemon juice?

• No, lemon e­xtract is too strong. It tastes like fake le­mon oil, like how lemon cleane­r for wood smells. Use just lemon ze­st and lemon juice instead.

Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?

• • For sure! Fre­sh blueberries are­ my top choice if available, but the froze­n kind works too. My advice is to add them straight from the fre­ezer into your scone mix. Doing so stops the­m from releasing too much liquid into the dough. You se­e, once thawed, froze­n berries hold more wate­r than their fresh counterparts.

Final Baking Tricks and Tips:

• Parchment Paper:Place parchme­nt paper on your baking sheets—it e­nsures a quick clean-up! Expect the­ blueberries to pop ope­n during baking, which can leave tough stains on baking shee­ts.
• Fresh lemon zest and juice:For a rich lemony flavor, ne­ver neglect the­ lemon zest. Shun the use­ of lemon extract; it delive­rs an artificial taste. Stick to lemon juice alone­.
• Brush scones with heavy whipping cream before baking in the oven. It gives them a golden brown crust!
• Let the glaze harden on top of the scones completely before serving.

Other Scone Recipes to Try Next:

• Blackberry Lavender Scones