Lemon Blueberry Scones

Name: Lemon Blueberry Scones Recipe with Lemon Glaze
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups (240g) flour; 1/3 cup (65g) sugar; 2 tsp (10 ml) of baking powder; ¾ tsp tsp (3.75 ml) salt; 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon zest; 10 tbsp (140 g) cold butter, diced into cubes; ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream; 1 egg; 6 ounces (170g) blueberries; ¾ tsp (3.75ml) vanilla extract; 1 egg; 2 tbsp (30ml) milk; ¾ cup (75g) of powdered sugar; 2 tbsp (30ml) fresh lemon juice

byBeth Le Manach Published:August 10, 2019March 26, 2026 Updated:March 26, 2026

August 10, 2019Updated: March 26, 2026 byBeth Le Manach

36 Comments

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These flaky Lemon Blueberry Scones are the perfect treat for a Sunday brunch and a great way to use up all of those extra summer berries! They are light, flaky, and extra moist!

If you have ever had a dry, crumbly scone, this is the recipe to change your mind about what a scone should really taste like!

For more tasty blueberries for brunch, try my Blueberry Almond Cake, Classic Blueberry Muffins, Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake, Crispy Blueberry Waffles, or my Blueberry Crumb Cake.

Blueberry Scones on a baking sheet cooling. — These blueberry scones are light and flaky and bursting with fresh blueberry flavor!

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The great thing about this recipe is that you can prep the scones the day before.
Just mix the dough, cut the scones, and place them on a baking tray. Cover loosely with foil.
Then keep them in the fridge until you are ready to serve, pop them in the oven, and bake!
Serve as a starter when welcoming guests, with coffee and juice. Then follow up with my Puffy Egg Bake Casserole and my Foolproof Roasted Potatoes.
Once you get the technique down, try my Strawberry Scone Recipe, or in the fall, try my Pumpkin Scone Recipe with Chai Glaze.

Ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour: No special flours needed for this recipe. All-purpose is all you need.
Sugar: White granulated sugar adds a little sweetness and flavor to these scones.
Baking Powder: For a nice lift once the scones are baked.
Salt: Use kosher salt for the best flavor.
Butter: outside the U.S.A., I use unsalted butter, but if you are in the States, I recommend Land O’Lakes salted butter for the best flavor.
Lemon Zest: From one whole lemon, you will create 1 tablespoon of zest, as the recipe calls for. Save the lemon after zesting, since you’ll need it for the glaze.
Lemon Juice: You’ll need 1/4 cup, which is typically what you will get from one large lemon. But if your lemons look smaller than what I have pictured above, you might need two lemons.
Fresh Blueberries: Fresh is best in this recipe. The frozen berries are a good backup, but defrost them first and pat them dry before using.
Heavy Cream: For a rich and delicious scone.
Eggs: Will help the scone bind together and prevent them from being too crumbly. And you’ll need another egg for the egg wash on top once the scones are cut.
Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Confectioners’ Sugar + Lemon Juice: For the lemon glaze. Only use fresh lemon juice for this for the best flavor.

Watch My Video Demo Below

Why Hand Mixing is Best!

A moist scone comes down to the mixing! There are two ways to make scones: by hand or in the food processor. I’ve made them both ways and definitely prefer mixing by hand for a flaky, moist scone, and here’s why:
When you mix by hand, the butter stays in nice chunks instead of broken-down bits made by the food processor.
When the little chunks of butter hit the oven and begin to melt, they create air pockets.
These air pockets create nice, flaky scones that also keep them moist.
Also, the addition of heavy cream and egg creates a richer, moister scone than those without.

flaky scone broken in half and placed on a plate.

Drawbacks of the Food Processor

Sometimes with the food processor, it’s easy to over-mix the butter and flour mixture.
Instead of butter chunks, you end up with a fine meal. A fine meal won’t create those air pockets when the butter melts in the oven; this, in turn, creates a dense, dry scone.
I also find that adding an egg to this recipe during the wet-ingredient stage adds richness while retaining moisture and preventing the scones from drying out.

Step 1: Prep the Scone Dough

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt (see the recipe card below for exact quantities). Whisk until well combined. Now, for the butter!
It’s important to start with very cold butter to get the perfect scone texture.
I like to cut the butter into cubes, then pop it in the freezer for a few minutes.

How To Incorporate Butter for a Flaky Scone

Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture, and smush the flour and butter together with your hands.
The mixture should resemble a coarse meal with crumbly, pea-sized pieces of butter.

Butter and dry ingredients combined into a coarse meal. — The butter and flour mixture should look like this before adding the zest and wet ingredients.

Step 2: Mix in the Wet Ingredients

Then, add heavy cream, egg, and vanilla in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.
Create a “well” in the center of your dry ingredients and pour the cream mixture into it.
Creating a “well” allows the wet and dry ingredients to combine in a way that incorporates them, but doesn’t “over-mix” them.

Wet ingredients added to a well created in the butter and flour mixture. — Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the cream mixture in. This will help prevent overmixing the dough by incorporating it slowly. A Danish dough-whisk also helps!

Why Adding an Egg To Scone Dough Matters?

There are recipes that make scones with and without eggs.
But eggs add richness to the scones, so if you do want to amp up the richness, use the egg; otherwise, you can substitute the egg by increasing the milk or cream by 1/4 cup in this recipe.
Gently stir the dough together with a wooden spoon or my favorite a Danish dough whisk until well-combined.
It may look like an antique farm implement, but trust me, it’s perfect for mixing scone dough and not smashing the blueberries!
After everything is mixed well, flour your hands and form the dough into a basic square on a floured surface.

A mass of blueberry scone dough formed into a square. — Remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a basic square. It will look a bit jagged and rough at this stage. That’s OK, just form it into a basic square first.

Step 3: Form and Cut in Half

Then gently roll the top of the ragged square with a rolling pin to remove any cracks.
Be careful not to overwork the dough, or you will end up with a tough, flat scone!
Tighten up the edges and corners by pressing a chef’s knife against the sides until a smooth, tidy square forms.
Then cut it in half.

A scone dough square cut in half showing blueberries. — After the dough-square is formed and tidied up, dip the Chef’s knife in flour and cut the square in half.

Cutting Scones into Triangles

Then cut each rectangle in half to create 4 squares.
Then cut each square down the diagonal to create triangles.
Place the cut triangular scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
The parchment paper will prevent the scones from browning too much on the bottom.

Scones cut into triangles on a rolling mat. — Cut each square on the diagonal to create 8 triangles. Be sure to dip your Che’s knife in flour between cuts.

Step 4: Brush with Egg Wash and Bake!

To make the egg wash, whisk together egg and milk. Then brush the tops of the scones with a pastry brush, adding a thin layer of egg wash.
Place the tray in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. This will allow the butter to firm back up and prevent it from oozing out of the scone as it bakes. Freezing also helps the scone retain its triangular shape.
Place the scones in a 400°F oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and risen, with the berries bursting!
Then, remove the scones from the oven and allow them to cool. They are delicious just like this with butter and jam, or you can kick it up a notch and make a Lemon Glaze!

Blueberry scones baking in the oven. — The scones are ready when they look like this! Golden brown, gently risen, with berries bursting!

Step 5: Make the Lemon Glaze

In a small bowl, add powdered sugar and lemon juice and whisk to combine.
Then, drizzle the glaze over warm scones.
Use a fork to drizzle the glaze, as it will be thinner than a spoon and could create too much glaze on the scone.
These are best with just a drizzle, so the blueberries and buttery, flaky scone remain the stars of the show.

Glaze the scones on a baking tray. — Glaze the scones on the baking tray once they are cooled. This will allow the glaze to drip onto the parchment paper and make cleanup easy.

Flat and tough scones can be caused by a few issues:

Too much handling! If you overwork the dough, the scones will not rise as tall.
Another reason for flat scones could be expired baking powder. Make sure you are using baking powder that was opened within the last six months.

Why are my scones dry?

Dry scones can be caused by not enough butter chunks in the dough, caused by mixing the dough in the food processor, which can create too fine a meal.
You may have cut your scones too small, and they overbaked, which can also cause dryness.
There’s not enough milk or cream in the dough. If the scone dough is too dry when you turn it out on your board, add a little more cream or milk so that the dough comes together easily without crumbling.
Scones made without eggs also tend to be on the dry side. The egg in this recipe not only adds richness to the scones but also adds a bit of elasticity to the dough, which helps prevent dryness.

Tips For Success

Just before baking, place your scones in the freezer for a few minutes to harden up.This will prevent room temperature butter from melting out of the scones when they hit the hot oven.It will also create a flakier scone if your butter is very cold before baking. Remember those air pockets!
If making this ahead of time, place it in the refrigerator, covered loosely with foil, then remove the foil and bake when guests arrive.
To be sure your scones have that “glazed” look, make sure your scones have cooled to room temperature before adding the lemon glaze on top.
If you add the glaze while the scones are still hot, you will have a melty glaze which isn’t nearly as pretty as a white, drizzled glaze

Scones cooling on a baking sheet limed with parchment paper.

How-To Freeze

After baking the scones, allow them to cool completely, then place them in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze.
To reheat, wrap them in a paper towel (to keep them from drying out) and microwave for 30- 45 seconds until warmed through! They will taste freshly baked!
Alternatively, you can defrost them in the refrigerator overnight, then place them on a baking sheet and reheat in a 350°F oven for about 10-15 minutes.

More Muffins and Scone Recipes

Lemon Poppy Seed Scone Recipe

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Pumpkin Scones with Chai Glaze

Chocolate Chunk Banana Muffins

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★★★★★

“I really enjoyed making and eating these delicious scones. After cutting in wedges, I put the dough in the freezer for abot 20 minutes before baking and rotated the cookie sheet after 13 minutes of baking.”

– Beverly