Blueberry Lemon Scones

Fresh, homemade blueberry lemon scones are the perfect mix of sweet and tangy. Made with honey instead of sugar, frozen blueberries, fresh lemon juice and zest, and a pop of vanilla to give it that perfect flavor and texture. Enjoy fresh out of the oven (highly recommend) or pair it with your morning coffee to start your day.

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The combination of juicy blueberries and lemons has to be one of my favorites. The freshness of both compliment each other so well. Stuffed inside of this baked good, you really cannot go wrong. I have also used this combination in dutch babies, pancakes, muffins, and quick bread and it never gets old.

We love these scones so much that we freeze as many of our homegrown blueberries as we can just to make these throughout the rest of the year. It's a little guilty pleasure in our house and they never make it more than a day or two.

This blueberry scones recipe is very simple to put together, takes only a couple of minutes, uses basic ingredients, and is always a hit when shared with friends.

Ingredients

Few notes on how to prepare and select the right ingredients to make these lemon blueberry scones.

1. Cold Butter and Cream

The number one trick when making homemade scones is having cold ingredients. You want to make sure your butter and heavy cream are straight out of the fridge cold. Do not use warm butter. The cold butter is what helps the scones rise when baking and gives them that soft flaky texture. If the butter is too warm you will end up with a flatter, dense scone.

Unlike other baked goods, you do not want room-temperature ingredients to make scones.

When making scones always start off by cutting your butter into small size cubes. About ¼"-½". Once cut return butter back to the fridge to stay cold. You can also use the large holes of a box grater to get even smaller pieces.

Working quickly is also really important. Once you incorporate the butter try to use your hands as little as possible. The heat from your hands will quickly warm up and soften the butter.

2. Lemon

This recipe calls for lemon zest and juice to give it that bright citrus flavor. It is best to use freshly squeezed lemon juice. The bottled stuff just doesn't give the same result.

3. Frozen Blueberries

This recipe calls for frozen blueberries which are what I prefer to use. I find the dough is easier to work with.

Fresh berries can add too much liquid to the dough making it stickier. The frozen blueberries also help keep the butter cold.

4. Honey

For this particular blueberry scone recipe, I substituted the sugar for honey. It adds just the right amount of sweetness and enhances the freshness of the blueberries and lemon.

Ingredient list:

• Cup All Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Kosher Salt
• Honey
• Unsalted Butter Cold and cut into ¼" to ½" Cubes
• Frozen Blueberries
• Lemon Zest
• Heavy Cream
• Large Eggs
• Vanilla Extract
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Optional: Turbinado Sugar for Dusting

Full measurements in the recipe card.

Tips and Notes

1. Do not Overmix

You want to work quickly with scones and avoid handling them as much as possible. Including mixing. Mix the wet and dry ingredients just until they are incorporated.

Over mixing can prevent the scones from rising properly. If your scones turn out flat this could be one of the biggest reasons.

2. Pre Heat Oven

Do not wait until your scones are ready to start pre-heating your oven. You want it hot and ready to go, so that cold butter hits the hot oven just at the right time.

Scones need to be as cold as possible before going into the hot oven. If they sit around too long they will start to warm up and not rise properly.

3. Floured Hands

Scone dough can become a bit tacky and hard to work with. Since we want to keep our time handling at a minimum, it is really helpful to flour your hands prior to shaping your disc.

Having Floured hands will help you handle it during shaping and keep that butter and cream really cold. Remember, warm hands can quickly soften the butter which will leave you with a disappointing scone.

4. Work Quickly

Have everything ready before starting to mix the ingredients. Have the oven preheated, the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and a clean work surface to shape the scones.

Instructions

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Step 2:

Start off by cutting your butter into small cubes. Roughly ¼"-½". Return butter to the refrigerator (or freezer) to keep cold.

Step 3:

Zest and juice the lemon and set aside.

Step 4:

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

Step 5:

In a small bowl combine heavy cream, honey, egg, vanilla extract, and lemon juice and whisk with a fork until fully incorporated.

Step 6:

Take out the butter from the refrigerator and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the butter is fully incorporated and the butter is the size of peas. It will be lumpy.

Step 7:

In the dry ingredient mix, fold in the blueberries and lemon zest until the berries are coated in flour.

Step 8:

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold just until combined. Do not overmix.

Step 9:

On a lightly floured surface, dump out the dough and start forming a round disk. It's helpful to flour your hands so the dough doesn't stick.

Step 10:

Working quickly, form the dough into an 8" disk. You want it to be around 1.5"-2" tall.

Step 11:

Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, score the disc into 8 equal pieces and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

Step 12:

Brush the top of the dough with the additional heavy cream.

Step 13:

Optional: Dust with Turbinado sugar or other sanding sugar to give a little extra sweetness.

Step 14:

Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the scones and corners start to turn golden brown and the center is cooked through.

Enjoy warm. Highly recommend! Scones are always best eaten right away. While they will keep for a few days, don't be surprised if they are not as good the next day.

Storage

Scones will keep 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container.

They can also be frozen. Just keep in mind that they will not taste as fresh but they do freeze well. Allow scones to completely cool to room temperature then place in an airtight container or ziplock bag and freeze. Use within 3 months.

Equipment

Mixing Bowls: A large size mixing bowl for the dry ingredients and a small size for the wet ingredients.

Bench Scraper: This tool is very helpful to cut the scones and transfer them to the baking sheet. The dough tends to be a bit tacky so a bench scraper is really helpful in getting it unstuck from the counter.

Pastry Cutter: This tool is used for mixing the butter into the flour.

Baking Sheet

Parchment Paper or Baking Silicone Mat

Microplane Zester: Hands down the best and easiest zester I have ever used. Every kitchen should have a Microplane.

Variations

Sugar instead of Honey: This recipe was adapted from Mom On Timeout. Check out her version with a lovely Devonshire cream.

Add a lemon glaze: Make a simple lemon glaze to put on top. I have a quick easy version in my sourdough lemon poppyseed muffin recipe that would work great on these scones as well.

Would love to see if you made these blueberry lemon scones at home! Tag me on Instagram @dirt.dough or leave a comment below.

I love using my homegrown blueberries in recipes. Check out my beet blueberry smoothie.

Want to grow blueberries of your very own? I would love to help get you started with your very own blueberry garden. Just imagine having fresh homegrown blueberries out your backdoor every summer.

Other Breakfast Recipes: