These tender and moist lemon, blueberry scones are the perfect treat for afternoon tea, or as a breakfast pairing with a strong cup of coffee! They are incredibly flaky, not overly sweet, but soft and moist in the middle with a zing from the lemon zest to offset the sweetness. The lemon glaze adds a perfect touch of creamy sweetness to each scone.
The recipe itself is very simple, and the key is in not overworking the dough. The rougher it is, and the more those clumps of butter will melt into soft and flaky biscuit texture.
Now the recipe itself, while rather simple, has a few important steps and instructions that need special attention.
Keep it cold!
One of the most important things to remember, is that all the ingredients should be as cold as possible. If the butter melts during mixing, or the milk becomes lukewarm, the pastry will cook too quickly and turn dry and flat in the oven.
If you worry that your hands are too warm, use a fork to mix in the butter, and if that still feels too warm, you can always pop the unfinished dough into the fridge for 10-15 minutes to chill it again.
When mixing the ingredients, make sure at all costs do not over-mix. It’s important the dough remains rough and not smooth. These may be rustic in nature, but their flavour will be smooth and silky when the pastry is baked. Try not to mash the blueberries when you mix. You want the berries to stay whole as much as possible.
Once the dough looks slightly combined, it’s time to shape it on a floured surface. Try to work quickly, so that the ingredients don’t get warm and shape the dough into a size that you prefer – I went with an 8″ disc, but if you like taller scones, you can reduce it to 6″.
Place cut scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and allow to chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, before brushing them with milk.
Bake at 400 degrees, or until the tops are golden. It’s better to over-hold them in the oven by 5-8 minutes vs. under cook them. The butter won’t allow the pastry to get dry, so don’t worry if you are baking slightly longer than the recipe. I would gage the time based on individual ovens.
Once the scones are cooled, drizzle your glaze onto them and allow for it to set – just a few minutes. After which – enjoy!
My personal favourite pairing with these blueberry scones is a hot cup of earl grey tea. My husband and I are what you would call tea snobs, and despite trying so many fancy, hipster varieties of tea, our top two favourites are rather simple: Tetley Earl Grey and Greenfield Earl Grey Fantasy.
The perfect combination of lemon zest and lemon glaze counters the sweetness of the blueberries without it being overwhelming. If you’re having company over, or are trying to make these ahead for breakfast, they’re easy to make a day ahead, but I wouldn’t let them stay out more than 2 days or prepare too far in advance. They are absolutely perfect when eaten fresh or within the first day! Just keep them covered to make sure they don’t dry out.
They are easy to modify as well, with similar tartness berries especially, or using chunks of apple. I’ve tried this same lemon blueberry scones recipe with chopped strawberries, raspberries, and apple chunks instead. As long as you use a moist addition, the recipe should largely remain unchanged!
Blueberry Lemon Scones
Ingredients
Dough for the Scones
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- ⅔ cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 ½ cups blueberries
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tbsp lemon zest
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).
- Using a fork, or by hand add in the cold butter cubes and work into the dough. Make sure not to overwork – dough should resemble a pie crust dough, as not to have the butter melt. Chunks of dough should not exceed a cranberry in size.
- In a separate bowl (or in the measuring cup), combine buttermilk (if no buttermilk on hand, use regular milk + 1 tbsp of vinegar – allow to sit for 5 minutes), egg, lemon zest, extract, and vanilla.
- Add the blueberries to the dry ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients to the bowl, and stir until just moistened. You want the dough to look shaggy, and rough. Do not overwork it. Once the dough looks moistened, turn it over onto a floured surface on the counter.
- Shape dough into an 8" disc, about 2" in height. Slice into 8 pieces/ Place 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with a tsp of buttermilk/milk.
- Set in fridge for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400° in meantime.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool before adding glaze.
- While baking, combine confectioners sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice to make the glaze. Using a spoon drizzle the glaze on the cooled scones.
Notes
I hope you enjoy this, and if you happen to make it please tell me how it went, and share pictures if you have any!
