Fresh Lemon-Blueberry Scones
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This lemon-blueberry scone recipe yields a flaky, buttery, sugar-crusted, and berry-loaded scone. Buttermilk makes the crumb especially tender, and a hint of fresh lemon zest so nicely complements the berries, adding a touch of brightness, too.
You might recall my obsession with Tartine? When you live hundreds of miles from this magical bakery, it’s good to have a few of their tricks up your sleeve. This lemon-blueberry scone recipe is a great place to start.
The key to making a good scone is similar to making a good pie crust or a good biscuit:
- Use cold butter.
- Handle the dough minimally.
Keeping the butter cold creates a flakiness in the finished pastry. Handling the dough with a light touch ensures the crumb will be tender.
There are a few ways to “cut” cold butter into dry ingredients:
- A pastry cutter: This hand-held, u-shaped tool works well if you have a sturdy one with solid (as opposed to wire) “blades”. I find pastry cutters to be a little tricky initially — they slip and slide — but once you make a few cuts, they beautifully “cut” the butter into the dry ingredients.
- The back of a fork: The back of a fork works similarly to a pastry cutter, but will require a little more elbow grease.
- Food processor: Ten 1-second pulses in the food processor will quickly cut butter into dry ingredients, as in this pie dough recipe. Finish the scone dough by hand, however: once the butter is cut into the dry ingredients, transfer it to a bowl and add the buttermilk and blueberries; combine using a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Box grater: If you freeze the butter before using it, you can run it down a box grater to create fine shreds, which will incorporate easily into your dry ingredients.
Three More Tips for Excellent Scones
- Use buttermilk: Buttermilk tenderizes gluten, which promotes a tenderness in the final product. It also offers a nice tang.
- Add citrus zest: Fresh lemon or orange zest makes all the difference in a pastry, offering a touch of brightness as well as a nice complement to the sweet fruit.
- Use the tea towel trick to shape: To prevent overworking the dough, mix it with a spatula until you have a shaggy dough; then transfer to a large tea towel and twist it into a beggar’s purse to bring it together.
PS: I use this same base recipe to make Buttermilk Currant Scones and Cranberry-Orange “Snow” Scones.
More Lemon-Blueberry Recipes
- Lemon-Blueberry Dutch Baby
- Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
- Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
- Lemon-Blueberry Quick Bread
How to Make Blueberry Scones
First, gather your ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, butter, berries, buttermilk, and a lemon.
Next, mix the dough just until it comes together (video guidance above and in recipe card):
Turn it out onto a floured work surface and shape into a rectangle or square about 1.5 inches thick:
Cut as you wish: rectangles, squares, triangles or rounds, using a biscuit cutter:
Transfer to a parchment lined sheet pan, and brush with butter and sprinkle with turbinado (or other sugar).
Bake at 425ºF for 20 minutes or until evenly golden:
Transfer to a cooling rack for 5 minutes before serving with butter or jam on the side.
Use this recipe as a guide. These currant scones and cranberry scones are favorites as well:
If you don’t feel like dealing with scraps and re-rolling the dough, simply cut it into triangles:
Fresh Lemon-Blueberry Scones
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 large scones
Description
Adapted from Tartine’s recipe for currant scones.
UPDATE 5/12/2023: I recently updated my method, which is highlighted in bold in the recipe below. If you prefer the old method, see the notes below the recipe. In sum I now:
- Grate the butter using a box grater.
- Use 1/4 cup more blueberries.
- Use the same tea towel method I use for my pie dough to bring the dough together.
- Cut the dough into 6 large triangles as opposed to smaller circles.
As always, for best results, use a digital scale to measure.
To freeze: After you place the scones on a sheet pan, transfer them to the freezer. Freeze until solid; then transfer the scones to an airtight container or bag. When you are ready to bake, there’s no need to thaw them. Bake as directed below straight from the freezer. The scones shouldn’t take much longer to bake from frozen, but keep an eye on them at the 20-minute mark.
To make your own buttermilk:
- Place 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
- Fill cup with milk (2% or whole is best) until it reaches the 1-cup line.
- Let stand for five minutes. Use as directed.
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoons (5 g) baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- 1.25 teaspoons (6 g) salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup (113 g) cold, unsalted or salted butter (I use salted)
- 1 to 1.25 cups (150 g to 195 g) fresh blueberries (I use 1.25 cups)
- 3/4 cup (190 g) buttermilk, plus more as needed
For finishing:
- 1.5 tablespoons melted butter
- sugar for sprinkling: turbinado is especially pretty but granulated is fine, too
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Grate the stick of butter using a box grater, then scatter the shreds over the dry ingredients.
- Toss the butter with the dry ingredients and, using your hands, squeeze it gently to disperse it throughout the flour.
- Add the buttermilk and the blueberries, and mix gently with a spatula until you don’t see any dry patches in the dough — be patient here. The dough will still be shaggy and will not be a cohesive mass but when pinched, it should hold together. If the mixture seems dry, add a tablespoon more buttermilk (or more as needed). At this point, I now do what I do when I make pie dough: turn the crumbly dough out into the center of a large tea towel, grab the sides and twist the mass into a beggar’s purse, squeezing gently to help it form a disk. Open the tea towel and gently pat the dough as needed to help it come together.
- Dust your work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Pat the dough into a 7-inch round circle. Brush the top with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar. Use a bench scraper to cut the scones into 6 or 8 triangles (I prefer the larger size of the 6 scones, but they are on the large side, so do 8 if you prefer smaller scones.) Transfer the scones to the prepared sheet pan.
- Bake until the tops of the scones are lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool briefly, then serve with butter on the side.
Notes
Old Method: Step 4 on
- Add the buttermilk and the blueberries, and mix gently with a spatula until the dough holds together. If the mixture seems dry, add a tablespoon more buttermilk (or more as needed). Knead gently if necessary.
- Using your hands, pat the dough into a rectangle about 1½ inches thick. Using a 2.5-inch biscuit cutter or any round cutter, cut each disk into about 8 circles. Gather the scraps together and repeat.
- Transfer scones to prepared sheet pan. (I like to chill my scones for 20 minutes at this point before baking them; you also can freeze the scones at this point — see notes above.) Brush the top with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar. Note: You also can simply cut these into triangles or rectangles, which is easier.
- Previously I would place another sheet pan beneath the sheet pan holding the scones because often the bottom of my scones would burn, but I have since updated my sheet pans, and I am not having those issues. Something to keep in mind if you find your scones to be too brown on the bottom.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
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190 Comments on “Fresh Lemon-Blueberry Scones”
Hands Down .. this is a fabulous recipe! Made it once and now am making my second batch. The blueberries give a yumminess and enough moisture to make these scones not feel dry. The lemon zest pushes the flavour to the top. This recipe does not disappoint!!!! Thx for sharing. (And the tip on using frozen butter with a grater was brilliant!)
Great to hear, Ann! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of this 🙂 🙂 🙂
Just made these on a whim this morning and barely grabbed one before they were eaten up! Wonderful recipe, spot on!
Great to hear, Becca! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Good morning Ali, Gary Vineyard here..bbqstud@cox.net. I’ve been making your pots de creme since you first published it and it’s ALWAYS a favorite. My question is I ran across a recipe for Meyers lemon Pots De Creme but the recipe bakes in a water bath in the oven. Do you think that making it your way, (stove top) would work? LMK as my Meyers are falling off the tree. Thanks again and long time no hear from you. Stay healthy.
Gary
Gary, hi! And yes, I do think the method will work. Go for it 🎉
Hi Alexandra, me again – I’ve just asked a question under another recipe.
I’m planning on making these for family members but I’ve never made scones before (shocking as a Brit), I want to omit the blueberries, should I make any additional changes to the recipe or proceed as normal?
Thanks!
I forgot to add, what is the best way to keep these fresh?
I’m possibly making these the day before (the morning of if I can) – or could I make the dough the day before and bake the morning of? If so how would I go about this?
Thanks.
You can make the dough the day before and keep it in a flat disc. Tuck it into a ziplock bag and keep it in the fridge. When you are ready to bake, brush the top with butter, sprinkle with sugar, cut, and bake.
Otherwise, store the baked and cooled scones in a large ziplock bag at room temperature. Reheat at 350F for 10-15 minutes before serving them.
Hi! No need to make changes. I love this currant scone recipe, too, which is basically the same as this one but with currants… but if you’re looking to make plain scones, just omit the berries/currants: https://alexandracooks.com/2012/11/13/tartines-currant-scones-lemon-cream/
Absolutely delicious! I had too many fresh blueberries on hand and some buttermilk to use up. I followed your recipe exactly, with amazing results. Not too sweet, and the lemon zest makes them taste so fresh. Too hot to use oven today so I baked half in the convection toaster oven and froze the rest to bake later. Will make these again!
Great to hear, Gail! Thanks so much for writing and sharing these notes… so smart to use your toaster oven 🙂
I am NOT a baker and these turned out BEAUTIFUL and tasted AMAZING! I have never made a scone before. I followed the instructions step-by-step and cut my scones in triangles. I only had one issue and that was the bottoms of my scones were more brown than I’d like. I did not read your last note that said to double up on the cookie sheet as I need new sheets as well. Can you recommend a good cookie sheet for baking? Thank you!
Great to hear, Vicki! Thanks so much for writing. These Nordic Ware sheet pans are great.
great!
These were the fluffiest, lightest most delicious scones I have ever made. They are not too sweet , just perfectly crunchy on the outside , light and airy on the inside . I didn’t have buttermilk , so used your suggested lemon juice/ milk mixture , no problem . The dough came together so nicely. Grating the frozen butter is genious, it stayed nice and cold ! Will go at the top of my scone recipes , thank you !
Wonderful to hear this, Cindy! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of this. So glad the milk-lemon juice trick worked out well for you 🙂
Tasty and easy! I was not patient like the recipe instructed when incorporating the last two ingredients, so I ended up adding too much extra liquid, making them a little cakey and also have to bake longer and get too brown. Don’t be like me. Even with that mistake, they were delicious. I used dairy-free butter (county crock) and did a mix of cashew yogurt, soymilk and lemon for the buttermilk. I also added a bit of vanilla. Don’t skip the lemon.
Scones delivered just what the recipe said they would. They were delicious. They are not very sweet …so you might want to go heavier on the sugar topping. Great recipe.
Once again Ali, thanks for sharing this delightful recipe!! Delicious and easy to follow
Great to hear, Florence! Thanks for writing 🙂
Hi Ali, Just wondering about the oven temp. In the beginning of the recipe you say to bake at 400 for 20 minutes and if I jump to the recipe it says 425 for 20-25 minutes. Since brown bottoms might be an issue, can you clarify that for me? I did put another baking pan underneath at 400 and crossing my fingers that this was the right choice. They sound wonderful and can’t wait for them to come out of the oven.
Hi! Apologies for the confusion here! I do use 425ºF. I will edit the recipe shortly. How did they turn out?
My regular recipe calls for heavy cream. I made a mistake and bought buttermilk. So I found your recipe. These are a big hit. My new go to
Great to hear, Jackie! Thanks for writing 🙂