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
Made these scones using your recipe (I want to say a few times usually with frozen blueberries) and finally made them again on the 13th (this time with fresh blueberries)for a celebration and they were a super hit! so yummy! I always cut them much smaller for our afternoon tea adventures as there are several goodies with our tea. The baketime is the same, give or take on what oven I am using. Thank-you!
I made today. Used fresh frozen blueberries not bagged, which worked out fine. Used buttermilk to replace heavy cream and monkfish to replace the sugar. They were so huge that I cut all 8 in half. I’ve put in the freezer because I already ate 3 pieces. I just gave some to my friend and she said “these are really good.”
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m finding scones to be the messiest thing I’ve ever made. I wonder if it’s just me? This is my second time. First time I made your savory ones…loved, loved, loved.
Great scones. My wife and I did not like the lemon icing one bit, but fortunately we tasted it before applying to scones and then just the icing away. If you are going to make the icing, I recommend trying it before applying to scones. That may already be obvious to most people, but is it something that I always do. Otherwise, A+ scones
Despite what the recipe says, I would not recommend baking these with frozen blueberries.
I bake a lot and this recipe made me question my skills…
Would i be able to sub blackberries for blueberries instead. I got inspired by your lemon cupcakes with blacberry cream cheese frosting thats why.
Hi Divya, absolutely!
Farmers market worthy recipe! Follow the directions to a T! Best scones I’ve ever made! Will use again and again! Thank you you have the best recipes ever!
Hi again,
Can I use blueberry jam instead of normal blueberries? Thanks.
Hi Johnathan, we haven’t tested these scones with blueberry jam in them, but I’m afraid the added moisture would change the texture of the scones too much. Blueberry jam would taste delicious spread on finished scones though!
Would I be able to use whole wheat flour in this recipe?
Hi Ron, you could, but the scones would be overly dense. Best to use all-purpose flour here.
Delicious! Been making these for a couple of years and always receive compliments. I do have to add a substantial more heavy cream (I add another half cup + two tablespoons) or it’s too dry. Thank you!
Making this the 3rd time in a week (lots of guests in town visiting!). First time: perfection using frozen blueberries. 2nd time tried dried cranberries- made dough night before-& it ended a bit too dry, and will try with frozen cranberries next time. Today it’s just me and hubby so making the original recipe again with frozen blueberries, but only making a half recipe. Yum! I’m not much of a baker-too technical for this adventurous cook (!)…but these are a keeper! Thank you.
I made these again tonight because sometimes mom needs to do something for herself! As usual they turned out amazing. I find this recipe to be very forgiving – if the dough is a bit wet, add more flour, or if it too dry, add more heavy cream.
one quick tip I wanted to add is that I usually put the cream/egg/vanilla mixture in the fridge before grating the butter. then I grate the butter. The bowl with the heavy cream is usually smaller than my mixing bowl with the now minced butter in it.
Anyway, if you have read this far down – go watch Sally’s tutorial, then go make these scones!!!
Hi, I have a question. I made two scones recipes and did the same process, and iI noticed the texture was slightly different. First, lemon blueberry – the texture was soft, lighter, cakey, just like how I like it, but I didn’t think there was enough lemon flavor (1/2 tbsp zest) as the dough tasted bland when not eating with the blueberries. Second cranberry orange, I wanted more flavor, so I added 1 1/2 tbsp orange zest and replace 1 tbsp of cream with orange juice. The flavour is definitely better but the texture was more dense, heavy, which I don’t love. Other than this the temperature for both were 385 degrees and changed to 395 last few minutes. Can you help me??
Hi Veronica, thank you so much for trying these scone recipes. Do you think you over-mixed the cranberry orange dough at all? Orange juice in dough doesn’t bake the way that heavy cream does, but it shouldn’t make a huge difference. If you try the recipe again, see if you can work the dough a bit less and even try replacing the all-purpose flour with cake flour. (I haven’t tried that, but it could help.)
I made raspberry white chocolate scones with this recipe. I am using freeze dried raspberries. I made the dough, flatten it slightly and added the fruit and white chocolate. I did it to keep more of the fruit and chocolate inside the scone. They held shape and had a nice rise. I think next time I’ll add more dried fruit and chocolate, a cup each. The edges came out a little over browned. Maybe my oven runs a little hotter than I thought.
I made these today and I’m in love!! They came out delicious!! Great lemony flavor. I used frozen blueberries and it came out perfect!! Thank you Sally!
Iliana
The first time I made these scones, I used fresh blueberries and they came out perfectly. The second time I used frozen and the dough was super wet. They baked OK but we’re messy and spread a bit. Any tips or tricks for using frozen berries?
This is the best scones recipe I’ve ever made. I bought fresh blueberries, measured out a heaping cup, and froze them before using them. Using these blueberries, they didn’t make the dough too wet because there’s no ice in the bag that gets added to the dough. Hope this tip helps.
Hi, Sally –
I’m baking 200 scones for a wedding on Saturday, and I’m pleased to say the plain blueberry ones I made ahead of time as a test batch turned out soooo good. I want to make some plain lemon scones, too. Could I use this recipe without the blueberries, and would I need to add any additional lemon flavor? Thank you!
Hi Becky, you can certainly omit the blueberries from this recipe for a plain lemon scone, or you can try our master scone recipe for plain scones as well. Hope they are a hit at the wedding!
These scones turned out amazing. I had to add a tablespoon more liquid for the dough to come together. But they rose beautifully, and tasted delicious.
I have made this recipe 3 times. The first time it turned out beautifully w/ amazing flavor. Did not freeze the butter.
The 2nd & 3rd time, I froze and grated the butter but struggled to bring the dough together. I added in more cream, a tablespoon at a time but by the time the dough came together, the butter was melting, the dough was too wet and the blueberries were thawing & breaking apart. The scones turned out flat and dense and it looked like a blueberry massacre occurred.
Scared to try a 4th time but can’t figure out what has gone wrong.
Hi Lisa! Make sure to keep the scone dough very cold. If you can feel it warming up, pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes before continuing. Warm dough means flat scones. Remember, you don’t want to over-work scone dough, so mix it as little as possible. This master scones post may be helpful as well – it goes into more detail on the method. Hope you’ll give these another try!
I agree with this comment. Please change the directions to say add bkueberries AFTER mixing the wet and dry ingredients. I just threw all the dough away because the blueberries all got mashed while trying to mix wet and dry ingredients. Then I watched the video and noticed you added the blueberries after mixing the dough. So frustrated.
THE best scones ever! I always thought scones were hard and crusty but these are moist and have perfect texture. Recipe is easy to follow. 10/10
These look great! Can you make them smaller? If so, How long would you recommend baking them? Thanks!
Hi Angie, Definitely! 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 funfetti chip scones for detailed instructions. Enjoy!
Does this recipe double well?
I’m wanting to make 16 scones.
Yes! You can double the scones recipe or make 2 separate batches.
Curious to know if I can use rice flour for these or another gluten free flour.
Hi Deborah, we haven’t tested these scones with GF flour, but other readers have reported good results using a 1:1 gluten free baking flour like Bob’s Reb Mill. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hi, I wanted to ask about oven temperature. I don’t usually bake them at 400 because I found it to be too high and I’m scared of burning them. I usually bake them at a lower temperature – 375 degrees, then increase it at the end at 400 degrees. But still doesn’t get enough browning even if I added an egg wash/cream wash. So I was wondering if I should have a higher oven temperature at the beginning few minutes or last few minutes for browning in baking?
Hi Veronica! We find 400 to be the best temperature to bake these scones. Could your oven run hot? You can try lowering the oven rack or double checking your oven’s temperature with an oven thermometer.
Yum. Swapped out a bit of
flour with almond flour and ground flax meal. Grated frozen butter is the way to go! Paired them with just made
lemon curd. Thanks for a great recipe!
Can’t mix the blueberries into the dough. Watched the video twice, using frozen butter and everything. Ended up with blue goopy mess! Guess I’m doing something wrong…
Delicious and a breeze to make!
Hi, I love all you recipes. I have made the blueberry scones and they were delicious. We are hosting Easter brunch for my mom this year and she hates blueberries. I was wondering how I can make this scone into a lemon poppy seed one instead. Any suggestions?
Hi Mimi! You can leave the strawberries out of this recipe for a lemon poppy seed scone. Enjoy!
I made these today along with your Glazed Cranberry Orange Scones, the only problem I had was that the frozen blueberries seemed to release too much water into the scones as they were baking. The texture on these were a little more muffin like. I used dried cranberries in the other recipe and they turned out great. I am thinking about trying these again but with dried blueberries.
Hi Heather, we would love to hear how they go with dried blueberries!
These are the BEST scones I have ever had!!
They are a family favorite. Prefer raspberry over blueberry but no matter which, they are devoured thank you so much
I just made these earlier this week for a work staff meeting and they were a HUGE HIT! I made 2 batches: 1 with regular AP flour, and another with Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free flour. Couldn’t tell the difference! The GF flour did seem to absorb the liquid (I used FF Buttermilk because I had it on hand) more than the AP flour did, but that was the only difference. Making the Strawberry Lemon Poppy seed ones next!