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
Amazing! Best scones ever. I will be making these for many years! Frozen butter with grater. Genius
I made this gluten free with measure to measure flour. They were a little dryer or grittier than with regular flour. Any suggestions? Thanks. I love these recipes!
Hi Candy! We don’t have much experience baking with gluten free flour. Perhaps another brand of flour would be worth a try? We’ve heard good things about King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flours.
I made your orange cranberry and I loved it so I tried this one the flavor was delicious but I had trouble with the blueberries I used frozen ones as I was folding them in dough they mushed any idea I could do next time ?
Hi Chrissy, Fresh berries will bleed a lot less color than frozen. Make sure not to thaw your frozen berries first.
Love this scone recipe! It’s the absolute best. I make it several times a year.
INCREDIBLE recipe. I had a blueberry scone at a local bakery (first time I had ever had a scone) and I fell in love. Wanted to try my hand at making it at home and came across this recipe. I found it about 2 months ago and have already made it 5+ times (I’ve lost track). We’ve brought it to holiday parties, baked with friends, made some for ourselves.
This recipe has the perfect balance of all the flavors. I omitted the icing to have slightly less sugar in the scone and doubled the amount of zest in the scone in order to still get that extra lemony kick that the icing gives.
Thank you for this incredible recipe!!
I’m so excited to make these! Just wondering how long they last and if they need to be refrigerated:)
Hi Michelle! Leftover iced or un-iced scones keep well at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
The only recipe I use for scones! Thank you!!!
these were delicious, the only issue I had was the dough was quite dry and I had to overwork it a bit. This caused the frozen blueberries to bleed considerably. I will definitely try again
I tried making this with measure to measure gluten free flour. How can I make them moister and less gritty?
I’ve made this recipe several times now. It’s always a big hit with my family & friends. Perfect balance of flavors.
I made these and the plain blueberry scones and my family ate them all, the same day! These are fantastic! My go-to scone recipe for sure!
Can’t wait to make this recipe
I am super excited to make these for a birthday party! Any suggestions on making minis? Size/time/temp?
Hi Bianca, you can make this scone dough and follow the baking time and directions from rainbow scones for mini size. Enjoy!
I had the same question! Thank you Bianca and Lexi!
Could I use salted butter and cut back on the salt?
Hi Josie, absolutely! The general rule is to reduce or add 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1/2 cup of butter. Here’s more on Salted Butter vs Unsalted Butter that might be helpful!
This was my first time ever making scones, so I had no idea what to expect. All I know is this was sooo easy, not even a mixer required, and the results were phenomenally delicious! Now I will be looking at more of Sally’s scone recipes to try some other flavors! Another amazing recipe!!
I made the recipe only adding lemon zest. (I didn’t have blueberries) these were the best lemon scones ever!
I’ve been making these scones for sometime now and follow the directions to a T. I weigh all my ingredients and make sure to use frozen grated butter and to keep all my ingredients cold. Although these scones taste amazing, they press too much and end up looking more like a danish. Any advice would be appreciated.
Hi Lisa, as you mentioned, 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. Does your scone dough look like the video tutorial in the post above? Thanks for giving these a try!
I want to use self raising flour. How do I adjust the baking powder and salt?
Hi Dana, we don’t recommend using self-rising flour in this recipe. It would take some recipe testing to determine how best to incorporate it with the other ingredients listed. For best results, stick with all purpose flour and the added baking powder + salt.
First time making scones and this was a hit! Will definitely make again. A bit of extra effort but so worth it!
Made this exactly as written. I can’t even find the words to describe how melt in your mouth decadent these scones are…i have made scones before but never had them turn out this fabulous… also, i used kerry gold unsalted butter, which has improved everything i bake. Bottom line, these don’t disappoint… Best Ever!!♥️
Why does the blueberries bleed so much that the scone dough is all bluish. How to avoid that?
Hi Osi, were you using fresh or frozen blueberries? Fresh berries will bleed a lot less color than frozen.
So delicious and easy to make. Thank you Sally! This will be my go to recipe, esoevially for crowd pleaser days.
Great scones! My new fav! I froze them before I baked them and they were perfect!
This is by far the best scone recipe I have used!!! They are awesome….! Also don’t skip refrigerating them before you bake.
I think these scones are the tastiest thing that I have ever baked, and I’ve baked a lot!
A M A Z I N G.
They taste amazing. My dough was a little too wet. I think the frozen berries let out a lot of water when I mixed them in. Easily fixed wihh the the suggestions above – add more flour and freeze before baking (I froze the wedges for 20 mins)
Can I replace with butter milk or ricotta cheese instead of heavy cream?
Hi Franny, buttermilk works great in scones.
Yeah! I finally had success with scones. They were light and delicious. I find it challenging to integrate the blueberries, so I form the scones and poke my finger in the top of the scones to make holes and insert the blueberries that way.
Sally’s recipes are consistently lovely. I made this again today, as we had fresh blueberries in the house. The scones turned out perfectly terrific, with the right balance of tangy, sweet, flaky, & crusty.
I made these without the icing and with refrigerated not frozen blueberries just before some friends came over for coffee. Even though my butter didn’t have time to freeze all the way the grating trick was brilliant. They came out perfect and were so delicious.
Well, it’s Sunday morning and scone time!! This is my go to recipe!! Everyone loves the Blueberry ones!! I add butter and cream to my glaze and it is creamy delicious….