Lemon Blueberry Scones

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5 from 60 votes

Fresh Lemon Blueberry Scones with a delicious cream cheese glaze

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Chill Time15

Total Time1 5

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: scones

Calories: 365kcal

Author: Hilda Sterner

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