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
Making these for school teachers breakfast tomorrow morning. Should I ice them today or tomorrow morning?
Hi Jessica, either will be just fine. Hope they’re a hit!
So delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Can you use white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour?
Hi Danielle, you could, but the scones would be quite dense. Best to use all-purpose flour here, or even a combination of the two.
Found this recipe last week and I’ve made it 4 times!!! Amazing! we do add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the batter and chill the dough for an HOUR before baking. It has turned out much better with a longer chilled dough (as she says in the recipe!)
I would warn anyone against making these with frozen *wild* blueberries unless they want a big mess on their hands! OR maybe add more flour in the first step?
I made these twice in a row, both times following the recipe exactly, and when I went to add in the frozen blueberries, it made the dough entirely too wet/sloppy …but also too thick to mix well (somehow?) it was super weird. I think it’s because real Maine wild blueberries are so small that they thaw too quickly. The batches still tasted good but the whole dough was purple and a huge pain to deal with once turned out onto the floured countertop. Nice to eat, ugly to look at & make.
My favorite scone recipe. I have made these many times and always receive compliments and requests for the recipe. I make them exactly as directed but make them smaller. I actually cut into 16 not 8 pieces. They do puff up when baked and I find the smaller size the perfect size. I love all the recipes Sally publishes but this is my favorite I make time and time again.
Could dried blueberries be substituted for the fresh/frozen ones?
Hi Charlotte, We haven’t tested this recipe with dried blueberries. They would likely work but you might miss out on the juicy pops of flavor from using fresh or frozen berries.
Best blueberry scones. Period.
I made these with margarine and half & half cream (10% m.f.) These substitutions worked well, and the Scones were absolutely delicious!
Infamous Scones!
I have been making these scones for years now. My family and friends will request these from me, especially for special occasions. I love using frozen blueberries in this recipe and freezing the dough before baking is essential
Absolutely delicious!! Don’t skip chilling them before you bake. My family ate them warm out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. They were gone in no time. Will definitely be making these again
This are so good and flavorful!
These scones were delicious! I ended up making them minis by making 2 balls and then yielding 16 instead of 8. Baked for 18-22 minutes and they were perfect! All other steps were followed. I made a lemon curd and fresh whipped cream to go with them and they were a hit at the party.
I did want to note our family has chicken egg allergy so we use duck eggs and I didn’t have heavy cream, just whole milk but the whole milk and duck egg together was perfect and they rose and held their shape beautifully. So if you have duck eggs and whole milk you will be okay.
I baked these for a church tea – they were a huge hit! Even the “non-scone” people liked them. I made four batches of 16 mini scones. I used my mini scone pan, so they would be fairly uniform. They were moist and just delicious!
I am going to be making these for a breakfast pot luck at my husband’s job and I bought the mini scone pan! I’m looking to make 5 batches of dough ahead of time and keep in the fridge until I bake tomorrow night. Wish me luck!
This is the best recipe!
I have made these a few times and I must say they are delicious..With or without the blueberry’s..
Really lovely taste, but found flour/wet ingredient proportions off. Had to add loads more flour to make it a dough I could cut
These scones were the talk of the brunch! I made for Palm Sunday brunch last year and everyone was talking about them. Getting ready to make them today for brunch tomorrow and just have to decide if I double it or not. Thanks! Sally you sure are the best!
I am so glad to read this! Thank you very much for reporting back.
That lemon icing just adds the right lemony sweetness you need to finish this all off.
Me gusto esta receta y la voy a preparar,luego les digo como me quedó!!!!
These were delicious. I added extra lemon zest and a little lemon juice. Everyone loved them.
Well, 2% milk work
Hi Lori, heavy cream (or buttermilk) is necessary for these homemade scones. 2% milk is too thin.
These are great scones. Flakey dough, not too sweet. We substituted 1/2 buttermilk for 1/2 heavy cream and added toasted pecans. Will definitely make again and try other flavors.
Delicious, I needed to use up some heavy cream, made 2 batches, first very dry and hard to work with, added more cream and pushed through. Second batch so easy. I think I didn’t lightly spoon flour in cup on first.
Great recipe. I added some sliced almonds for additional texture and substituted almond extract and a little lemon extract in the dough. I have made the scones as directed and they are perfectly flaky and wonderful. If time is tight, the mixture works well as a drop scone with no refrigeration, too.
This is the first time I’ve ever tried making scones and it was a success! I will use this recipe again and bookmark your site.
Sally, I’ve tried a number of your cookie recipes since November and each one has turned out perfect! They are now actual “keepers” for my Christmas cookie list! Decided to try these Lemon Glazed Blueberry Scones yesterday since I had 2 containers of fresh blueberries. Sally, these are the BEST scones I have ever baked! I almost skipped the lemon glaze since I wasn’t sure I wanted the added sugar, but I am SO glad I didn’t. The glaze makes a wonderful addition and my husband is still singing the praises of these scones! Thank you for providing all these fantastic recipes for us to try!
So glad you loved this recipe!
Absolutely delicious!
Can I replace the sugar with honey? If so, any suggestions as to how much honey to use?
Hi Jinny, that substitute would take a bit of recipe testing to perfect. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a scone recipe that is specifically formulated for using honey. Let us know if you find one you love!