These amazing scones are moist, crumbly, and absolutely delicious! Even if you're not a scone person, you'll love these tender Lemon Blueberry Scones with a lemony cream cheese glaze. Serve these delicious scones for brunch or breakfast with clotted cream and jam.
Last night we joined some of our friends at Anita and Bob's beautiful log home for coffee and dessert. Anita and Bob were preparing to head back to California for the winter and were in the process of emptying their fridge.
Anita divvied up the items, and I ended up with a small jug of buttermilk, a block of cream cheese, and some lemons. I was challenged to use the items to create a new recipe. This delicious lemon and blueberry scones recipe was the result!
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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
- Lemon blueberry scones are easier to prepare then you'd think with this easy recipe!
- Scones freeze well, which means you can enjoy a few now and save some for later.
- You can swap out the blueberries for huckleberries (my favorite) or other berries, for example, mulberries!
🛒 What Goes into This Recipe
🔖 Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
- Flour: You'll need some all-purpose flour.
- Buttermilk: If you don't have buttermilk, you can make some by adding ¾ teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a ¾ cup of whole milk.
- Limoncello: I used limoncello because I had some on hand. If you don't, simply substitute with lemon juice.
- Salted Butter: If you would rather use unsalted butter be sure to add ½ teaspoon salt.
- Blueberries: As you may notice by the pictures in this post, I used a mixture of huckleberries and blueberries. Frozen or fresh blueberries or huckleberries can be used.
- Lemon Juice: You'll need fresh lemon juice and zest instead of bottled. You can also substitute with orange juice and zest.
- Cream Cheese: You'll need cream cheese both for the scones and to prepare the cream cheese lemon cheese glaze.
* A full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
🍋 How to Make Lemon Blueberry Scones
Step 1: Before you start, place butter in the freezer for at least one hour, or until frozen solid. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and lemon zest into a large bowl, mix to combine.
Step 2: Using a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to work the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Stir blueberries/huckleberries and cubed cream cheese into dry ingredients.
Step 3: In small bowl, whisk ½ cup buttermilk, limoncello, and egg together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour wet ingredients into the center.
Step 4: Using a fork, gently work the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until the dough comes together. If necessary, add 1 tablespoon of buttermilk at a time to bind the dough together. The dough will be pretty crumbly. Do not overmix.
Step 5: Turn the dough out a lightly floured surface, then gently press and push the dough into an 8" disc.
Step 6: Using a pastry cutter, divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Slice the dough in ½, then ¼, then ⅛. Do this by lowering the pastry cutter down to make the slices, then slide it outwards instead of lifting it up.
Step 7: Gently transfer the blueberry scones onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This helps the scones from spreading too much. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400℉.
Step 8: Bake scones for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Place scones on a rack until completely cool.
Cream Cheese Lemon Glaze
While the oven is heating, prepare the cream cheese glaze.
Step 1: Using a small food processor, mix the softened cream cheese with half and half and limoncello. Add confectioner's sugar last. Mix thoroughly to make a smooth glaze.
Step 2: Transfer the glaze into a small Ziploc bag and poke a tiny hole into one of the corners of the bag. Squeeze the glaze down into the corner and drizzle glaze over the cooled scones.
Now, it's time to have some friends over and enjoy your tender scones with a nice cup of tea! You may also want to try this amazing beaver tail recipe from Bella @ xoxobella.com! Beaver tails are a Canadian dessert, shaped like a beaver tail, and taste like a doughnut. How fun is that?
🤷🏻♀️ FAQs
Scones are slightly sweet since they usually contain a small amount of sugar. The texture is supposed to be crumbly on the outside and moist on the inside, especially when they contain fruit. American Scones are usually sweeter than the scones in the UK.
Scones come in many flavors, some with vanilla, and others with lemon juice. The fruit and spices used also affect the flavor.
You have all kinds of options when it comes to making scones. Here are some of them:
• Fresh or dried fruit: berries, figs, dried apricots, craisins, raisins, or currants.
• Nuts: almonds, walnuts, and pecans are great options.
• Flavoring: Vanilla extract, lemon juice, or orange juice.
• Chocolate chips or chunks.
Resting the dough in the fridge while the oven is heating up is highly recommended. This keeps the butter from melting prior to baking the scones.
Scones can be both frozen before baking and after. For better results, freeze the scones before they are baked and defrost the scones for 30 minutes or so before baking them according to the recipe instructions.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- To make huckleberry scones, follow the same recipe, replacing the blueberries with huckleberries.
- Treat the scone dough very gently. Overworking the dough will cause the scones to be tough.
- Keep all your ingredients cold until needed. The colder the better. This prevents the butter from melting before baking. When the butter melts in the oven, it creates flaky, delicious scones.
- Most scone recipes call for brushing the tops of the scones with half and half or cream before baking. I tried the recipe by brushing the tops and without and got the same results.
- If using a convection oven, reduce the baking temperature to 375 degrees F.
- Serve the scones as soon as they're ready. Fresh scones taste the best. Store leftover scones in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat scones in a microwave for 15-30 seconds or for 10 minutes at 325 degrees in a toaster oven.
If you enjoyed this lemon blueberry scones recipe, be sure to check out this yummy lemon blackberry cake from Jennifer at KitchenSerf.com!
🥮 Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter (frozen)
- 2¼ cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1¼ cups blueberries (or huckleberries)
- 2 ounces cream cheese (cubed)
Wet Ingredients:
- ½-¾ cup buttermilk (or heavy cream)
- 1 tablespoon limoncello (or lemon juice)
- 1 large egg (beaten)
Glaze
- 2 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1½ teaspoon half and half
- 1½ teaspoon limoncello (or lemon juice)
- ½ cup confectioner's sugar
Instructions
Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Before you start, place butter in the freezer for at least one hour, or until frozen solid. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and lemon zest into a large bowl, mix to combine.
- Using a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to work the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Stir blueberries/huckleberries and cubed cream cheese into dry ingredients.
- In small bowl, whisk ½ cup buttermilk, limoncello, and egg together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour wet ingredients into the center.
- Using a fork, gently work the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until the dough comes together. If necessary, add 1 tablespoon of buttermilk at a time to bind the dough together. The dough will be pretty crumbly. Do not overmix.
- Cover the workspace with a light sprinkle of flour, then turn the dough out onto the work surface. Gently press and push the dough into an 8" disc.
- Using a pastry cutter, divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Slice the dough in ½, then ¼, then ⅛. Do this by lowering the pastry cutter down to make the slices, then slide it outwards instead of lifting it up.
- Gently transfer the blueberry scones onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This helps the scones from spreading too much. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Cook scones for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Place scones on a rack until completely cool.
Cream Cheese Lemon Glaze
- Using a small food processor, mix the softened cream cheese with half and half and limoncello. Add confectioner's sugar last. Mix thoroughly to make a smooth glaze.
- Transfer the glaze into a small Ziploc bag and poke a tiny hole into one of the corners of the bag. Squeeze the glaze down into the corner and drizzle glaze over the cooled scones.
Notes
- To make huckleberry scones, follow the same recipe, replacing the blueberries with huckleberries.
- Treat the scone dough very gently. Overworking the dough will cause the scones to be tough.
- Keep all your ingredients cold until needed. The colder the better. This prevents the butter from melting before baking. When the butter melts in the oven, it creates flaky, delicious scones.
- Most scone recipes call for brushing the tops of the scones with half and half or cream before baking. I tried the recipe by brushing the tops and without and got the same results.
- If using a convection oven, reduce the baking temperature to 375 degrees F.
- Serve the scones as soon as they're ready. Fresh scones taste the best. Store leftover scones in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat scones in a microwave for 15-30 seconds or for 10 minutes at 325 degrees in a toaster oven.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on 11/13/2019. It was updated on 2/18/21 by increasing the sugar from ⅓ cup to ½ cup.
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Kelly, I appreciate the review! But how do you feel about my fig scones? 😬
Kelly Methey says
These scones are delicious!! I love them. This is a great recipe! Thanks, Hilda!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Connie. Maybe one day you'll get to try them with huckleberries in my kitchen!❤️