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
I am really tired of wasting my time and materials on poorly written directions. Blueberries should be folded in after the dough is kneaded a little bit. Just my experience with most recipes lately.
Had some cherries I needed to use…substituted plain Greek yogurt for heavy cream and used almond extract (same measurements). Delicious!! Light and moist and not too sweet. To help with moisture, mix cherries with a few spoonfuls of flour. This recipe is a keeper!!
Wow! Just tried this recipe today using fresh blueberries we picked last week. It’s my first try at baking scones. Had a bit of a scare when I couldn’t find our box grater in the middle of putting ingredients together. But made do with another tool. I read from a different site to place bowls in fridge for a bit before using to make sure everything is cold when dealing with the butter. Other than that I followed your recipe exactly and they turned out great! Crunchy outside, moist inside, and perfect amount of sweetness. I agree with someone’s comment on the tartness of the icing by itself, but somehow perfect on the scones. Simply delicious. My husband said it was the best scones he has ever tasted. Ditto 🙂 Thank you dear Sally for sharing this! Now I have another “best ever” recipe to add to my limited collection.
Hi-
What is the best way to store scones? The texture is great out of the oven but the next day they seem to loose their crunch. Had them in a sealed Tupperware container. Should I wrap in plastic wrap or a zip lock bag? So glad to have found a scone recipe I love!
Hi Tiffany, a tupperware should work well, but you can use plastic wrap or a zip lock bag with all the air removed for storage as well. The scones will lose their crunch after 2 days at room temperature. Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
These are so damn delicious. Made a batch for hubby and I and they’re the best thing to come out my kitchen. Ever! I used half the amount of sugar as is our preference. What a winner!
I love this recipe! Have made it at least a dozen times and it never fails me.
Quick question— if I wanted to cut these into smaller “bite sized” scones instead of 8 big ones, should I just cut back the baking time? Or also lower the oven temp?
Hi Teresa, 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!
Outstanding scone recipe!! So tasty and delicious 🙂 Thank you for sharing! My husband added a piece of bacon on top of the scone and said this was the BEST scone he’s ever had!
My first time ever making a scone. This recipe was easy and they’re delicious. I used fresh blueberries from my garden. I did leave them overnight in the refrigerator and baked them in the morning for a visit and tea with a girlfriend.
What a hit! I am not a baker at all, and have frankly been afraid to make scones until I found this recipe! So easy, so delicious. I’ve gotten nothing but rave reviews over them I made the lemon blueberry and I also tried the apple cinnamon. The salt caramel was a little tricky but I am determined to try it again delicious!
I’ve made these before and they were amazing! However as I’m not a huge fan of the cut blueberries on the sides of my scones, could I shape them individually rather than cutting them?
Hi Kyra! Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem to shape them that way.
Wow!
I followed instructions exactly and these are a winner! I love the way the recipes are laid out with instructions and helpful tips. Took them to the lake for sisters getaway weekend and we enjoyed them with coffee one morning.
I’ve made these several times and the biggest complaint I hear is that there aren’t enough of them! Delicious and a completely different animal from the usual scone! Love your recipes!!
These scones are the best I have ever eaten. They were perfect!
Sally I just love this recipe and have made it many many times. Just wondering if you could use dried blueberries instead of fresh? Would this change the liquid content of the recipe?
Hi Donna! We haven’t tested it, but you should be able to use dried blueberries without issue. Enjoy!
The best ever is what everyone who tasted these said!
Can I substitute the heavy cream with anything else? Buttermilk, plant based milk? If so will it be the same quantity?
Hi Crystal! You could use buttermilk instead – same amount.
These were delicious! I’m wondering though for next time – do you have any thoughts on using an air fryer to just bake 2 at a time? It’s just me and my husband at home now and in the summer I hate to heat up the kitchen by using the oven for just 2 scones. (We COULD eat them all at once; they’re so good, but it seems unwise…)
Hi Judy! We’ve never tried baking these scones in an air fryer, so we’re unsure of bake time and results. If you give it a try, we’d love to know how it goes.
I’ve made these several times and love that they are so easy
This time I’m putting them unbaked in the fridg overnight and baking in the am….I normally use an egg wash on them and add turbinado sugar or use the icing which my husband loves…love them nice and warm from the oven
Do you think using half and half instead of heavy cream would be ok?
Hi Heather! You can use the same amount of half-and-half. The lower the fat of the liquid, the less rich the scones taste.
I’ve made these for my in laws and they all ate them up before I could try one. Haha they were a hit! I tried looking through the comments. Have you tried these gluten free? Or have you heard of anyone that has tried them gluten free?
Hi Syvanna, 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!
I have made these half a dozen times. Never fail! If I freeze the unnamed scones over night, do I need to change the baking time?
These were delicious! I made a double batch to give as a gift and was worried about doubling but they still turned out great. I didn’t have cream so I used buttermilk. Dough was very sticky and it was hard to fold in the blueberries, so next time I would try adding them before putting in the wet ingredients like someone else suggested.
Sally, that butter trick is the best tip EVER!!!! I have just put my scones in the oven and I can’t wait to try one! I opted to not use the glaze, but I will slather in in lemon curd instead. Love your blog.
First off, Sally, we love you around here! You are our go-to.
Second, I have always avoided baking scones since I didn’t want to mess with what could be dry and crumbly. I know, what a weenie.
But we had an abundance of blueberries, and we LOVE lemons. So I went for it. Perfect texture, delicious flavor, excellent recipe. My 3 year old and I fabbed them up for breakfast this morning, and even the husband who hates fruit baked into anything and the middle kid who doesn’t care for blueberries loved them. A repeat for sure!
My mixture was still too dry after adding extra cream…couldnt get it to stick together…I do a lot of baking and this is my second time trying this recipe..not sure why it didn’t work?
Keep adding a little bit more cream until all the four is moist, look for a video on biscuit making and you’ll want that consistency of just enough liquid to just hold all the flower together so it is not dry and powdered. Depending on how dry your flour is, how humid out it is, all that can make it so you need a little more liquid. Much easier to undershoot and keep adding.
This is an excellent recipe. Not too sweet. Very well written. Delicious! Thanks!!
Hi Sally! I’m using this recipe to make 150 scones for my catering company. How many times can I multiply this recipe and it still come out okay? I have commercial mixers etc so I can make huge batches, however we know that not everything multiplies correctly. Do you think I could multiply it by 10?
Hi Leslie! We always suggest making single batches as large quantities of dough are easy to over-mix. But we’re not experienced in baking large batches of scones, so please let us know what you try!
Fantastic scones! I followed the recipe exactly, except I used refrigerated butter instead of frozen. They turned out perfectly. I was hesitant to use the icing because it was so tart, but when it’s actually on the scone it’s incredible!
I made a few adjustments to accommodate a new diet and the scones were still delicious! I used gluten-free flour, coconut milk for the heavy cream, and agave in place of the sugar. Even at 7,000 feet above sea level AND substituting several key ingredients, these came out great! Thank you for the fantastic recipe!!
These were the first scones I ever made, and they were so delicious. I had a few hiccups due to regional differences (the baking powder in Germany is different to American baking powder, and the ovens here convection on default), so they spread out a bit too much and almost burnt, but neverless I’ll make some adjustments and try this one again!
How do you avoid purple scones? I used frozen blueberries (didn’t thaw them), frozen butter and kept the dough cold, but everything instantly became purple when I added the berries. Do you coat the berries in flour first?
Hi SA, frozen berries can tend to leak some color (even when unthawed as you mention). Using an extra careful hand while mixing can help. You can also certainly try coating them in flour if you wish. Thanks for giving these scones a try!
YOU CAN ALSO PUT THEM IN A BOWL WITH A COUPLE OF TABLESPOONS OF FLOUR AND COAT THEM BEFORE ADDING TO THE MIXTURE.
I actually placed the dough on the parchment paper then as I pressed them out into the circle to cut the triangles, I worked in the frozen berries. I dont know if it mattered that the frozen blueberries were bought fresh then placed in the freezer or if it matters if you buy the bagged frozen berries as these may have more juices?
These were perfect. Best scone recipe! I used frozen fresh blueberries, which don’t break or don’t color the dough. The secret is to keep EVERYTHINH COLD. I chilled the bowl, while gathering the ingredients, added dry mixed ingredients, and popped it back into the fridge while grating the frozen butter. Then proceeded as directed. Ah-mazing.