Amazing Lemon Blueberry Scones – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

These amazing lemon blueberry scones are loaded with blueberries and drizzled with a tart-sweet lemon glaze. They are flaky, tender and so good!

Don’t stop there! These scones would also be fabulous with raspberries (or huckleberries, if you can get your hands on those precious berries!).

The Best Scone Dough EVER

The base of these lemon blueberry scones is modeled after my all-time favorite scone recipe. It produces the best scones: flaky, tender, and perfect for add-ins.

Baked scones, similar to biscuits and pie crust, involve cutting cold butter into dry ingredients so that the butter forms small pieces. While baking, the little bits of butter melt forming pockets of steam which create the soft flaky layers in the scones.

There are several ways that butter can be cut into the dry ingredients for this scone dough:

1. Grating the cold butter with a box grater.
2. Pulsing the butter and dry ingredients in a food processor.
3. Using a pastry blender for cutting in the butter.

Using a box grater is my method of choice because it is so easy and fast with minimal cleanup. Once the butter is grated into the dry ingredients, toss the dry ingredients with the butter shreds, and that’s it. No extra cutting in required.

Working with Fresh Fruit

Adding fresh fruit to this scone dough is simple. The blueberries are tossed with the dry ingredients before adding the buttermilk and lemon juice.

Once the liquid is added, mix the dough gently to avoid mashing the blueberries. It’s inevitable that a few of them will get crushed in the process, but most of them should stay intact.

The dough is not ever going to be smooth and completely cohesive. Rustic, shaggy corners and blueberries emerging here and there is perfectly ok.

Just remember that a key tip to making the best scones of your life is to not over work the dough! Over mixed scone dough will result in dry, tough, heavy scones.

Forming the Scones

Lightly press and pat the dough into a long rectangle (about 15X3-inches) and cut the scones into triangles using a bench scraper.

Before Baking/After Baking

Before baking, brush the tops of the scones with melted butter and sprinkle with a bit of coarse sugar/turbinado sugar. This gives a delightful buttery, crunchy top crust to the scones. So yummy.

After baking, let the scones cool and then whip up the simple glaze (literally just powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice) and drizzle the scones with the tart and sweet glaze.

Don’t be afraid of the 400 degree F baking temperature. It helps the scones hold their shape while they bake to perfect doneness.

These lemon blueberry scones are truly incredible.

Like, they are definitely some of the best scones I have ever had in my entire life (which is saying a lot, because I love me some scones and have spent a good part of my life eating scones in all their varieties).

Lemon and blueberries are two flavors that were meant to be together. In this case, the blueberries add a fresh pop of flavor to the lemon-infused dough and glaze.

Perfect for breakfast, snack, or dessert, these scones are delicious served at room temperature or lightly warmed up.

Lemon Blueberry Scone Adaptations

• This scone recipe works well as a plain lemon scone. Simply omit the blueberries (start with 3/4 cup buttermilk, adding the extra tablespoons only if needed).
• Change up the fruit: raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries.
• See the note in the recipe about using frozen fruit.
• Swap out the lemon juice and zest for lime or orange (if doing this, keep the blueberries, or use other add-ins: i.e. lime and coconut, orange and cranberry).

These scones are easily one of the best things I’ve made this year. I can’t wait for you to try them!

One Year Ago: Amazing Olive Oil Cake 
Two Years Ago: Amazing Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {Dairy-Free + Egg-Free}
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Blended Oatmeal Cookies
Four Years Ago: Butterscotch Rice Krispie Treats
Five Years Ago: The Best Homemade Glazed Donuts 
Six Years Ago: Amazing Instant Pot Creamy “Baked” Ziti 
Seven Years Ago: Creamy Coconut Milk Steel Cut Oatmeal {Instant Pot or Slow Cooker!} 
Eight Years Ago: French Bread Rolls {Step-by-Step} 
Nine Years Ago: Amazing Cinnamon Chip Scones {Best Basic Scone Recipe}
Ten Years Ago: Amazing Key Lime Cheesecake 

Amazing Lemon Blueberry Scones

Yield: 10 to 12 scones

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Scones:

• 3 ½ cups (497 g) all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup (71 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest (from 1 to 2 lemons)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup (170 g) cold salted butter
• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
• 1 to 1 ¼ cups fresh blueberries (see note for frozen berries and other fruit options)

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• Coarse or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Glaze:

• 1 ¼ cups (143 g) powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well.

• Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients and toss until the butter shreds are evenly coated with the flour mixture. (See note for food processor or pastry blender mixing method.)

• Add the blueberries and toss to combine.

• Add the buttermilk and lemon juice. With a silicone spatula, stir/fold until the mixture starts to come together. Mix gently so the blueberries don’t get mashed (it’s ok if a few of them burst but most of them should stay intact).

• Don’t over mix the scone dough; it’s ok if there are dry spots here and there. Pieces of dough should come together when pressed between your fingers. Add additional buttermilk a tablespoon at a time only if the dough is extremely dry and crumbly.

• Turn the dough out onto a counter dusted with 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Use your hands to bring the dough together into a cohesive mass – just do your best to work with and around the blueberries. Lightly knead/fold the dough once or twice.

• Pat and press the dough into a long rectangle, about 15X3-inches.

• Use a bench scraper or knife to cut the dough into 10 to 12 triangular wedges. Place the scones 1/2-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

• Bake for 15 minutes until very lightly golden on the bottom and sides and no longer doughy in the center. Let cool on the pan or remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

• For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice, adding additional lemon juice, if needed, until the glaze is thick but pourable (add extra powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time if it needs thickening up). Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones.

• Serve the scones lightly warm or at room temperature.

Food Processor or Pastry Blender Method: the butter can be cut into the dry ingredients using a food processor (pulse until the butter forms pea-size pieces, then add the wet ingredients and pulse until the dough starts to come together, remove the blade, add the blueberries and mix by hand to combine). A pastry blender can also be used (combine dry ingredients in large bowl, cut butter into pieces and add to the bowl, use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is in pea-size or slightly smaller pieces, proceed with the recipe). 
Frozen Blueberries: this recipe works best with fresh blueberries. If using frozen fruit, I recommend thawing and patting dry before using in the recipe (even still, the fruit will bleed color throughout the dough more than using fresh fruit). 
Other Fruits: other fresh fruits like raspberries, blackberries, or huckleberries would sub in well for the blueberries.

Serving: 1 scone, Calories: 342kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 336mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 20g