Blueberry Lemon Scones are bursting with blueberries and a touch of lemon flavor to make this my favorite scone I have made! Be sure to try my White Chocolate Raspberry Scone or Caramel Apple Pecan Scone for other delightful scones!
Blueberry Lemon Scones
I am definitely on a scone kick! And, since I figured out some tricks to make a no-fail scone with the perfect crumb and golden-brown top, I am adding ingredients to make a variety of scones. Blueberries have always been a favorite fruit of mine, and I love using them in sweet recipes, like my Blueberry Crisp. And, if you look at my blueberry recipes, I see a theme of blueberry and lemon recipes galore! It made perfect sense to add a Blueberry Lemon Scone to my list of blueberry lemon recipes.
Ingredients
Blueberries: I used frozen blueberries in this recipe. Be sure to coat the frozen blueberries with flour and store them in the freezer until you incorporate them into the dough at the last minute.
Butter: The secret to the scone’s success is using cold, grated butter. Use the fine side of the grater and grate over a plate. Be sure to spray the grater with non-stick spray before grating. Then transfer the butter to the freezer, where it only needs a few minutes to firm up. The frozen butter stays cold until baking time, which will keep the scones from spreading out and losing that flaky and moist texture.
Heavy Cream: You will notice I use heavy cream in both the dough and brush over the top of the dough. Using cream adds more moisture and flavor to the scones.
Lemon extract– can also use lemon zest or fresh lemon juice. See this post for detailed substitutions, look under “Lemon Extract”.
Turbinado Sugar: Turbinado Sugar is a sugar that would fall between white sugar and light brown sugar in both color and flavor. It has a yellowish-brown color and with some molasses content left in the turbinado sugar (which gives it the color), it will provide a slight butterscotch flavor. If you don’t have turbinado sugar, you could use granulated sugar.
Why Freeze the Dough
You will notice that once the dough has been pressed out, it needs to be chilled in the freezer for at least half an hour, up to an hour. The dough should be chilled completely and hold its shape. Freezing the dough relaxes the gluten in the flour, which makes the scones rise higher. Freezing also chills the fat which gives the scones their signature flaky texture. So, it is an important step that should not be skipped.
Can I Make Blueberry Lemon Scones Ahead of Time?
Sure! If you decide not to bake the scones after the dough has been chilled in the freezer, just leave it in there! After 60 minutes of chilling time, put the dough in a sealable freezer bag and store it for up to a month! Then, just bake as directed, from the freezer, with maybe a few minutes added to the bake time.
How to Store Scones
Once baked, scones are best stored at room temperature and covered. They will last up to 2-3 days. To reheat the room-temperature scones, just bake them, covered with aluminum foil, in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350°F. Scones can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
More Scone Recipes
Blueberry Lemon Scones
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup frozen blueberries, sprinkled with flour
- 2½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ cup (113 g) cold butter, grated
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ½-⅔ cup (113 g-152 g) heavy cream
Topping
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream, brushed on
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Sprinkle the frozen blueberries with flour and put them back in the freezer until you incorporate them into the mixture.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's okay for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon extract, and heavy cream.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and hold together.
- Gently incorporate the frozen blueberries, folding the dough 3-4 times.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sprinkle a bit of flour atop the parchment or pan.
- Scrape the dough onto the floured parchment or pan and make a circle. The circle should be about 1-inch thick with an 8-inch diameter.
- Place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, uncovered.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- After chilling, using a knife or bench scraper that you have run under cold water and dried, slice each circle into 6-8 wedges.
- Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a bit; there should be about a ½-inch space between them, at their outer edges.
- Brush chilled scones with heavy cream, making sure to cover all exposed edges. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake the scones in the upper part of your oven for 18-23 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown. When you pull one away from the others, it should look baked all the way through. (If there is wet batter but the scones are golden brown, feel free to cover with foil and continue baking.)
- Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Can we use lemon juice instead of essence??? Can we bake it without scone pan?
If you look under “Douhg Ingredients” I address this. 🙂
These Blueberry Lemon Scones are flipping amazing! They are light, soft but dense and wonderfully flaky just like Scones should be. And they are so much fun to make. I have made these at least 5 times. After cooling I wrap them individually with plastic wrap, put them in a freezer bag and freeze them. And when you thaw them they taste like you just made them. They freeze so well. Next, making the White Chocolate Raspberry Scones. Can’t wait! Enjoy
Made these for brunch and everyone said they were the best they’d ever had. Cut into 8 and they were still VERY large and took over 30 minute to bake fully. Will probably make them smaller next time. This is a real winner.
Can I use fresh blueberries instead? Thanks!
I am in the middle of making this. The dough is in the freezer for about 30 minutes and after being interrupted I realized I didn’t add the baking powder. What will this do? So angry at myself
I’ve made these lemon blueberry
scones many times and they are always a hit with my guests. I add the extra zest of two lemons and the juice of one. Yummy! Today, I adapted the recipe to orange and cranberry scones. Again, I added the zest and juice of one large orange. Hope they turn out like I want them to.
Looks like eight to me. 😊
I will try this recipe because I love scones. TY
Hi Amanda,
Can these be made bite size adjusting the baking time?
Can these be made using a cup for cup replacement gluten free flour?
I have a coffee clan over every Sunday morning and these are their favorite! Better than Panera’s.