Lemon Blueberry Scones

With the zest of 2 lemons, these blueberry lemon scones are citrusy with lots of berries. This is a simple drop scone recipe. No fancy shaping required!

It’s not an exaggeration when I say I bake scones every other week and sometimes more. On the off weeks, I can just reach for the stash in my freezer.

My 7-year-old loves either lemon or cinnamon scones. He doesn’t like when I add fruit to the mix, but sometimes I just can’t resist.

That’s especially true during berry season when I bake these lemon blueberry scones. The funny part is that most of the time I use frozen berries even if it’s peak season.

What is a Scone?

Scones are very similar to biscuits in terms of ingredients and how you make them. Originally hailing from Scotland, scones are served for tea in Britain.

I think of scones as being a bit more dense than biscuits which tend to be fluffier in the middle. In the US, biscuits are usually served for breakfast or as a dinner roll.

And even though I wouldn’t exactly call a scone sweet, I do think they are sweeter than a biscuit. Also, I wouldn’t bake fruit into biscuits. 

Fresh Berries or Frozen Berries for Scones

This blueberry scone recipe works with fresh or frozen berries. I make a blueberry smoothie every morning, so it’s pretty much a guarantee that I will have berries in the freezer.

If I can find them, I prefer wild blueberries for baking because they are smaller than standard ones. Also, they have more skin than pulp, so they are less watery and the juices won’t stain the dough as much.

Lately at the grocery, I have been seeing bags of wild blueberries in the frozen fruit case.

The Ingredients

This is what you need for these blueberry scones:

• Flour: All-purpose flour gives you a tender crumb that results in scones with a crumbly texture, which is how they should turn out.
• Baking powder: You need this leavening agent to give your scones some lift.
• Sugar: The scones are lightly sweetened with granulated sugar.
• Salt: For sweet and savory recipes, salt brings out the overall flavor.
• Lemon zest: I zest 2 lemons, so the scones are very citrusy.
• Butter: Make sure the butter is chilled, so you can easily cut it into the dry ingredients. Don’t let it sit out at room temperature and soften.
• Egg: I whisk the egg with the rest of the wet ingredients before pouring them into the flour mixture.
• Milk: Typically, I use skim milk or oat milk because that’s generally what I have in my fridge and not heavy cream. Whole or reduced fat milk would be fine too.
• Vanilla extract: The vanilla is subtle but necessary even though these scones are all about blueberries and lemon. 
• Blueberries: As I mentioned, I like wild blueberries for baking because they are smaller, but you can use regular ones. And fresh blueberries or frozen are ok, too.

How To Make Lemon Blueberry Scones

First, I preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line each baking sheet with parchment paper.

Then I combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl: all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest.

After that, I cut the butter into the dry ingredients.

How To Cut In Butter

The phrase cutting in butter can be a bit confusing. All you are trying to do is combine the chilled butter with the dry ingredients.

In order to do this, you can use a fork or a pastry blender (also known as a pastry cutter) to push the cold cubed butter into the flour. What you want to end up with are pea-sized clumps or big coarse crumbs throughout the flour.

You can also rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips. Since it’s important that the butter is cold, I prefer a fork. By using your hands, you risk warming up the butter.

The reason you want the butter to be chilled is that in the oven, cold butter in the dough releases steam and helps the scones rise and get their signature layered crumb.

Making the Dough

With the butter cut into the flour, I whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla extract. Then I pour the liquid into the flour mixture.

To combine the ingredients, I stir them together until the dough starts to turn into clumps. Before it is fully mixed, I toss the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour and then add them to the dough. Finally, I finish patting it all together.

Shaping the Scones: Try Easy Drop Scones!

Call me lazy, but my days of using a biscuit cutter for scones or cutting them into wedges are long gone. I don’t even bother slicing them into triangles.

My preference is to use a cookie scoop that’s equivalent to nearly a quarter cup, and I drop them right on the sheet pan.

Scones should come out lumpy and irregular, so embrace that with drop scone method.

With the scones on the sheet pans, I brush the tops with milk and sprinkle them with sanding sugar. It’s optional, but I like that crunch and slight sparkle to finish the scones. I don’t bother making a lemon glaze. I find it too sweet, and I prefer the citrus flavor coming from the zest.

When the scones bake, they will turn lightly golden brown.

How To Store Scones

Scones are best the day you bake them. You can store them for a day or two after and revive them in a 300-degree oven for a few minutes.

And yes, you can freeze scones. Just thaw them in a 300 degree oven for 5-10 minutes.

More Scone Recipes

Lemon Drop Scones
Cinnamon Maple Scones
Strawberry Almond Scones

More Blueberry Recipes

Vegan Blueberry Chia Muffins
Vegan Blueberry Crumble Ice Cream
Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes
Blueberry Lime Pie

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