Scones are my bakery treat of choice to have with coffee. Why? Because they’re not too sweet, they’re not too rich, and they’re not too heavy. Especially when they’re dotted with juicy blueberries and topped with a bright and zesty lemon glaze. Homemade scones are especially great because they’re incredibly easy, super inexpensive, and they freeze really well, so you can keep them in the freezer to reheat one at a time when that craving hits. And of alllll the flavors of scones, these Lemon Blueberry Scones are by far my favorite!
What is a Scone, Anyway?
It’s important to note that the word “scone” can mean different things depending on where you are in the world. Classic British scones are simple, with not a lot of fat or sugar, they’re often round, and are served with clotted cream and jam. In the U.S., scones are decidedly more dessert-like with a crust of sugar on top or a drizzle of glaze, they’re served with coffee or breakfast and are often triangular in shape. But the bones are the same. It’s a deliciously tender and flakey baked good leavened with baking soda or baking powder, rather than yeast. They’re quite similar to what we call a biscuit in the U.S., although scones are usually a little more dense and less rich.
This Lemon Blueberry Scone Recipe is for a U.S.-style scone. It’s sweet, although not as sweet as a muffin or cupcake, triangular in shape, and deliciously crumbly. It’s the perfect side for a hot cup of coffee!
If you’d like to learn more about British-style scones, try this recipe for Authentic British Scones from Curious Cuisinière. She does a great job breaking down the difference between the two types of scones.
Fresh Lemon is a Must
While I use bottled lemon juice for a lot of recipes, this is one where you definitely want to use fresh lemon. The lemon zest is where most of the lemon flavor comes from in the scones, while the juice just provides tartness to the icing.
How to Freeze Lemon Blueberry Scones
As I mentioned in the intro, I love to keep a batch of these Lemon Blueberry Scones in the freezer. To freeze the scones, first make sure they are fully cooled to room temperature (which they should be before adding the glaze, anyway). You can either freeze them without the glaze, or glaze them and wait about 30 minutes for the glaze to dry slightly. Then just place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag and toss in the freezer. The glaze will absorb a little moisture while in the freezer, but they’re still quite tasty!
To thaw the frozen lemon blueberry scones, either let them sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or microwave for about 30 seconds straight from the freezer.
Lemon Blueberry Scones
Servings 8Ingredients
- 1 lemon ($0.60)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.19)
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar ($0.02)
- 2 tsp baking powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 6 Tbsp cold butter* ($0.66)
- 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh ($0.89)
- ¼ cup milk ($0.10)
- 2 large eggs ($0.47)
- 1 cup powdered sugar ($0.07)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Zest and juice the lemon. You'll need about 1 tsp lemon zest for the dough and 2 Tbsp lemon juice for the glaze.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir until they are very well combined.
- Grate the butter into the flour mixture and stir until the butter is well incorporated and no large lumps remain.*
- Add the blueberries to the flour mixture and stir to combine (no need to thaw first, if frozen).
- Whisk together the milk and eggs, then pour it into the bowl with the flour and bluberries. Stir everything together until it forms a cohesive ball of dough, with no dry flour remaining on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too dry to come together into a single ball of dough, add a splash more milk (1 Tbsp or so) until it comes together.
- Press the dough out into a flat 8-inch diameter circle. Cut the circle into eight wedges. Place the cut scones on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the scones in the preheated 425ºF oven for 15-17 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer the baked scones to a wire rack to cool.
- Allow the scones to cool completely, then combine 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 Tbsp lemon juice until it forms a thick glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones, then enjoy!
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Notes
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Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Love lemon and blueberry together? Me too! Try these other great lemon blueberry desserts: Blueberry Lemon Curd Shortcakes, Lemon Blueberry Cornbread Skillet, or Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese Galette.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Scones From Scratch – Step By Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Zest and juice the lemon. You’ll need 1 tsp zest, and about 2 Tbsp juice. The zest will be used in the scone dough, the juice will be used later for the glaze. Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, and 1 tsp lemon zest in a bowl. Stir until very well combined.
Grate 6 Tbsp cold butter into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir everything together until the butter is very well mixed into the flour and no large clumps remain.
Stir ½ cup frozen blueberries into the flour mixture. Do not thaw the blueberries first.
Whisk together ¼ cup milk and 2 large eggs
Then pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the flour and blueberries.
Stir everything together until it forms a stiff dough. There should be no more dry flour left on the bottom of the bowl. If it’s too dry and won’t stick together in a cohesive ball or there is a lot of flour left on the bottom of the bowl, add a small amount of milk (maybe 1 Tbsp) to bring the dough together.
Press the blueberry scone dough out into an 8″ diameter circle, then cut it into eight wedges.
Place the cut scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake the scones in the fully preheated 425ºF oven for 15-17 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer the scones to a wire cooling rack to cool.
Allow the scones to fully cool before making the glaze. Once ready, stir together 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp lemon juice until it forms a thick glaze.
Drizzle the lemon glaze over the blueberry scones. If the scones are still hot or warm when you try to glaze them, the glaze will simply melt off, so make sure the scones are cool first!
Serve your delicious, homemade lemon blueberry scones with a hot cup of coffee and enjoy the day!
I was so nervous when I was making these. The dough was weird and I had to add a couple of splashes of milk to finally get it to come together. My frozen berries were starting to soften and the dough turned blue. I was like – there is no way this is going to work. But on the other hand I have never, not once, had a Budget Bytes recipe fail. Sure enough, they baked up great and we absolutely loved them. I’m already planning on trying a raspberry version. The only thing I might do differently is sprinkle the tops with raw sugar before baking instead of doing a glaze.
Hi Beth! I’m not very good at baking. I tried making this but the dough was extremely sticky And difficult to work with. Do you have any idea what I did wrong?
Sorry to hear that! Ironically, as a former professional baker, I absolutely HATE getting my hands dirty. I would guess your batter turned out sticky rather than stiff and dry because there either wasn’t enough flour or too much milk/egg. I’d suggest making sure to use the correct type of measuring cups for dry ingredients (individual cups) vs. liquid ingredients (Pyrex measuring cup). We have links to both on our Shop page (follow the link below, and select the image of the product to visit an Amazon page to purchase/find more information) — but you can usually find both in the kitchen tools section of most grocery stores.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/shop/
You can also add the milk in multiple additions in the last step — that way, you only add just enough, using our step-by-step process photos under the recipe card as a visual guide for what to look for. Chilling the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes after mixing, and/or dusting both the dough and your hands lightly with flour before working with it will also help make it easier to handle.
I hope that helps! ~ Marion :)
I’m not a very experienced baker but I wanted to try my hand at scones. This was a surprisingly easy recipe and the scones came out great! I used vegan butter and vegan milk, and used a free range egg to make it as vegetarian/vegan friendly as possible and everything worked. I was very pleased. I think I’ll try my hand at clotted cream next since I have some frozen heavy cream I need to use up and make another batch of these scones.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Scones! I used fresh blueberries and had to delay my husband from eating them until they cooled and had glaze on them! LOL!
I followed your recipe to the T and they came out lovely…not quite as brown as yours, but golden! Scones are one of my fav’s to bake, so will try other recipes you give us!!
Thank you so much for clear and easy directions as well as delicious treats!
I’ve never made scones before and these came out perfectly! Followed everything exactly except I might have only baked them 14 minutes, I went to check after 13 minutes and they basically looked done. Used fresh blueberries and didn’t have any issues when them getting mushed up when mixing. Only annoying part making them was the butter, I’m going to keep it in the freezer even longer next time.
Sounds lovely. Will try it, with a few tweaks. I am vegan, so no butter or milk. May try something like Stevia for all the sugar. I think I will use eggs. Anyone know of a good substitute for eggs? I think boiled chia, scoop off the topping.
Another keeper recipe!! I messed up and put in all the zest instead of 1 tsp. My dough was sticky and hard to cut into sections, so they didn’t look like pretty triangles. Next time I’ll freeze the butter for a few minutes as you suggest.
Delicious despite my mistakes. Thank you for idiot-proof recipes that make me feel like I can cook. 😀
The flavor is good but they look terrible. The dough was dry so I added a bit of milk. Then the frozen blueberries melted leaving me with a blob of very wet purple dough. Hard to pat out, hard to cut hard and move to the parchment. I may try again someday.
It’s normal, same thing happened to me in my first and second attempt, try using whole wheat flour for your mixture instead of regular flour and you should get the dough in how the picture looks. Hope this helps!! :)
Omg please ignore my stupid reply, I’m an idiot that didn’t realize that whole wheat flour wouldn’t work. I am so sorry
So far so good! They are in the oven right now, and I screwed up and forgot to whisk the milk and the eggs first, I ended up getting blue dough instead of what the picture shows, but I just pulled a tray out and it looks exactly like the picture! Thank you! I’m about to make the glaze so I’ll come back and edit if I can
Omg- they are so good! The only thing I would say to do while making the glaze is to add as much lemon juice as you need until it fully starts to get smoother, but other than that, it’s great!! One million out of ten!!! (Don’t be stupid like me and forget to whisk the eggs and milk 🤣)
How long can I freeze these for?
There’s no definitive cut-off, they’ll just slowly get dried out over time. :)