This is my go-to scone recipe bursting with fresh blueberries and zingy lemon zest, and topped with a sweet lemon icing. These glazed lemon blueberry scones are soft and tender in the middle, with crisp-crumbly edges, and simply perfect for brunch, tea parties, bridal showers, or really any time at all!
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos and success tips. These have become such a fan favorite that I included the recipe in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
When you think of breakfast treats, do scones come to mind first? In a bakery-case lineup of cinnamon rolls, donuts, muffins, croissants and other pastries, the humble scone doesn’t always get the prime spot or the most attention… but it absolutely should. With the right recipe, scones easily compete with muffins, pastries, and—yes!—even cinnamon rolls.
This lemon blueberry scone recipe in particular has received so much love over the years from readers who have tried it, that I wanted to shine the spotlight on it once again. Here are just a few of the many glowing reviews readers have shared after making these scones:
One reader, Andrea, commented: “Literally the best scone recipe! Grating the frozen butter is a game changer. Everyone comments on how wonderful these scones are… ★★★★★”
Another reader, Susan, commented: “I’m so glad I found this recipe! Absolutely delicious scones. Exactly what I was looking for, as I wasn’t satisfied with other scone recipes I’ve tried. This will be my forever scone recipe! I loved the tip about freezing and grating the butter. What a good idea! ★★★★★”
And one more reader, Claudia, commented: “Easy to make and came out perfectly! This was my first time making scones and these came out so good! Easy-to-follow directions and can be made ahead or frozen! ★★★★★”
If you can’t get enough of my lemon blueberry muffins, you’ll definitely love these scones, as well!
These Lemon Blueberry Scones Are:
- Soft & tender in the center, with crumbly edges
- Packed with juicy blueberries and fresh lemon zest
- Topped with coarse sugar and lemon icing for a sweet finish
All of my scone recipes begin with the same base recipe for scones. A few ingredients change based on flavor, but the process remains the same. This careful formula brings us chocolate chip scones, blueberry scones, pumpkin scones, apple cinnamon scones, and more. It promises the BEST flavor and texture.
Why the Ingredients Promise the Best Results:
- Flour: 2 cups of all-purpose flour is my standard amount, but have some extra on the side for the work surface and your hands.
- Sugar: Scones aren’t meant to be super sweet, so we’re using just enough granulated sugar to lightly sweeten and balance out the tart lemon flavor. You can top them with coarse sugar and icing if you want a sweeter scone, or leave them plain on top to keep these lightly sweet.
- Baking Powder: Adds lift.
- Salt & Vanilla Extract: Add flavor.
- Lemon Zest: You need a full Tablespoon of lemon zest, which is about 2 lemons. Zest the lemons for the scone dough, then juice them to make the lemon icing.
- Cold Butter: Besides flour, cold butter is the main ingredient in scones. It adds flavor, flakiness, crisp edges, and rise. More on butter below!
- Heavy Cream: For the best-tasting pastries, use a thick liquid such as heavy cream. Buttermilk works too! For a nondairy option, try using full-fat canned coconut milk. Avoid thinner liquids such as regular milk or almond milk—you’ll be headed down a one-way street to flat, dry scones.
- Egg: Binds ingredients together.
- Blueberries: For best results, use fresh blueberries. If using frozen, do not thaw.
In Photos: Making Lemon Blueberry Scones
You’ll start with the dry ingredients. Whisk those together with the lemon zest, then cut cold butter into the dry ingredient mixture. 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.
Success Tip: Use Frozen Grated Butter
Frozen grated butter is key to scone success. As with pie crust, work cold butter into the dry ingredients to create 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. Use the side with the larger holes.
After cutting the frozen, grated butter in with a pastry cutter, you’ll have a bowl of tiny flour-coated crumbles:
Place the bowl of dry ingredients in the freezer while you get your wet ingredients together. We want to keep things as cold as possible when it comes to making scones.
Now, whisk the wet ingredients together, then pour into the dry ingredients. Add the blueberries, then gently mix together:
Form the dough into a disc, then cut into 8 wedges.
Before baking, brush the scones with heavy cream mixed with water, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. This is one of my little scone tricks. These extras add a bakery-style sparkly crunch and beautiful golden sheen. 🙂
I know I sound like a broken record, but to obtain the desired flaky center and a crumbly exterior, you really have to keep the scone dough as cold as possible. I highly recommend chilling the shaped scones for at least 15 minutes before baking. You can even refrigerate overnight and then bake in the morning, for a quick and easy breakfast treat!
After they’ve chilled, bake the scones until just turning golden brown on top.
Video Tutorial
If you’re interested, I have a 5-minute video demonstrating the scone recipe. I’m making regular blueberry scones in this video, but the process is the same.
2-Ingredient Lemon Glaze
Lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar produce a sweet & tangy lemon icing. The icing seeps into the tops of the scones making these sunshine-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 for a special afternoon tea?
More Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Blueberry Cake & Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Lemony Blueberry Galette
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Blueberry Babka
- 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
This is my go-to scone recipe bursting with fresh blueberries and zingy lemon zest, and topped with a sweet lemon icing. These glazed lemon blueberry scones are soft and tender in the middle, with crisp-crumbly edges, and simply perfect for brunch, tea parties, bridal showers, or really any time at all! Read through the recipe before beginning; it’s imperative to keep the scone dough as cold as possible. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
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 + 1 Tablespoon (135g/ml) heavy cream, cold and divided
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup (140g) fresh blueberries
- 1 Tablespoon (15g/ml) water
- optional for topping: coarse sugar
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45g/ml) fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt. Using the large holes of a box grater, shred the frozen butter. Add the butter to the flour mixture and use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers to blend until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Place the bowl in the freezer before you continue.
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together 1/2 cup (120g/ml) of the heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract. Remove the flour mixture from the freezer. Drizzle the cream mixture over the flour mixture and add the blueberries. Gently mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon until everything appears moistened and the ingredients are just combined.
- Lightly flour a work surface. Pour the crumbly mixture onto the surface and, with floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can. The dough should be sticky and shaggy. If it’s too sticky, sprinkle a little more flour on top. Press the dough into an 8-inch disc, about 1 inch thick. Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut the disc into 8 wedges.
- In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 Tablespoon cream with the water, then brush it on the scones. For extra sweetness and a little crunch, sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar. (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.) Place the scones on a plate or a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 24 hours. (If refrigerating for more than an hour, lightly cover the scones.)
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Arrange the chilled scones 2–3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 22–25 minutes or until lightly browned on top and golden around the edges. Cool the scones on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before icing.
- Make the lemon icing: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle the icing over the scones.
- Store leftover scones covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 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.
- Blueberries: For best results, use fresh blueberries. If you must use frozen, do not thaw.
- Freeze Before Baking: Freeze scone dough wedges on a plate or baking sheet for 1 hour. Once relatively frozen, they won’t stick together, and you can layer them in a freezer-friendly bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes to the bake time. Or thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freeze After Baking: Freeze the baked and cooled scones before topping with icing for up to 3 months. 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 step 5 the next 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
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?
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!!!
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!
Absolutely DELICIOUS !!! My only complaint is that I only brought one to work this morning 🙂 Thank you for this great recipe !!!
These are amazing! My husband loves scones, but I can’t ever get them right. He LOVED these!
These are delicious and so easy to make.
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
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. .
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?
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 🙁
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.
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!
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.
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 !!
I love the lemon blueberry scones. The chocolate chip scones are a hit with the kids! They have a request for a cinnamon raisin scone. Any suggestions on amounts on cinnamon and raisins to use.
Thank you
Bonnie
Hi Bonnie! You can use our master scones recipe as a base. We would use 1/2 – 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 – 1.5 cups raisins. Enjoy!
Thank you!