These flaky, tender Blueberry Lemon Scones with Lemon Glaze are bursting with the bright flavors of fresh blueberries and citrus. Make them with either buttermilk or cream, and top with lemon glaze to finish.
1stick(4 ounces) unsalted buttercold and cut into cubes
¾cupfresh blueberries
Zest of 1 lemon
1large eggbeaten
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoonsheavy cream or buttermilkplus more for brushing on top
Lemon Glaze:
½cupconfectioners' sugar
1 ½tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
Instructions
Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add cold butter cubes to the flour mixture and work the butter into the flour mixture, using your fingers or a pastry cutter, until the mixture resembles coarse pea or dime-size crumbs. Be careful not to overwork the mixture or the butter will soften too much and the resulting scones will not be flaky.
Add the blueberries and lemon zest and toss well. Whisk together the egg and heavy cream/buttermilk, and add to the flour mixture, mixing with a fork and then your hands until just combined (don’t overwork it).
Divide the dough in half and pat each portion into a ¾-to-1-inch thick circle. Don’t overwork the dough, as you want the butter inside to stay as cold as possible until the scones head into the oven.
Use a bench/dough scraper or knife to cut 6 wedges (like a pizza) from each round. Flip each cut scone over and place upside down on the parchment lined baking sheet (the bottoms are flatter and will look prettier as the tops of the scones), spacing a couple inches apart. At this point, the scones can be refrigerated or even frozen and baked later. Frozen scones can be baked from a frozen state; just add a little extra baking time, as needed.
Lightly brush on top of the scones (but not the sides) with a little cream or buttermilk. Bake scones for 18 to 22 minutes until lightly golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow the scones to cool on the pan while you prepare the glaze.
Stir together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, add a sprinkle more confectioners’ sugar. Too thick, add a squeeze of lemon juice. When scones are cool, drizzle the glaze over the tops.
Allow the glaze to set briefly and then serve the scones at room temperature.
Video
Notes
In a pinch you can make these scones with regular milk, but I find they are a bit more flavorful if you use buttermilk or heavy cream as the recipes suggests.
Scones made with fresh fruit are usually best the day they are baked. After a day or so, the fresh fruit begins to soften the dough, and the texture isn't quite the same. They're still delicious, but not the same as fresh baked.
Cut each round into 8 wedges instead of 6 to yield 16 smaller scones.