These lemon scones are a simple sweet scone that are buttery and soft on the inside with a slightly crisp exterior! Topped with a tangy lemon glaze, they're the perfect springtime brunch treat!
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What are Scones?
Scones are a flaky English pastry very similar to American biscuits, however they have a slightly different texture and often have additions like fruits or nuts mixed in.
Scones can be either sweet or savory, but I love these sweet lemon scones served with breakfast or brunch!
You might also like these savory cheddar chive scones or these blackberry lavender scones!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these flaky lemon scones!
Pastry Flour - I always use pastry flour or cake flour when making scones so that they have a super light, tender texture. However, all purpose flour will work great if that's all you have!
Butter - I like using frozen grated butter for the flakiest scones!
Egg - Adding egg to scones is what makes them distinct from biscuits. It helps give scones that softer, fluffier texture.
Heavy Cream - Instead of cream you can substitute buttermilk if you have it on hand!
Lemon - Fresh lemon zest adds lemon flavor to the dough.
Lemon Juice - Use fresh lemons for the best flavor, but bottled lemon juice works just as well!
Lemon Extract - This is optional, but you can use ½ teaspoon of lemon extract to add extra lemon flavor to the scones!
Optional: Add in 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds for lemon poppy seed scones!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Serve Scones With
These lemon scones are delicious on their own with the tangy lemon glaze, but you could also serve them with:
How to Make Sweet Scones
Place the butter in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before grating. Use a box grater to carefully grate the butter into small pieces. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until you're ready to use it. [If you don't want to use grated butter, just cut the butter into small chunks and keep chilled until ready to use.]
In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract then set aside.
In a medium bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Then use your fingers to gently massage the lemon zest into the sugar (this is optional, but helps infuse the sugar with even more lemon flavor).
Then to the same bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together.
Add in the frozen grated butter and mix in until it's fully coated in the flour.
Then slowly drizzle the wet ingredients over top, combing as you go. Continue mixing until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky. If too dry, add in more milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently press into an 8 inch round disc. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles. [You could also form the dough into a metal scone pan instead.]
Place the scones a few inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar if desired.
Place the lemon scones in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes before baking to firm up.
While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bake at 400°F for 18-24 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Then slowly drizzle in 2-4 teaspoons of milk or cream until the glaze is a thick, but pourable consistency.
Drizzle the lemon sconces with the lemon glaze and enjoy!
Tips for Flaky Pastries
Use cold ingredients! For most baked goods you want to use room temperature ingredients, but for flaky pastries (like scones, biscuits, or pie crust) the ingredients need to be very cold! Keep any butter, eggs, milk, etc. in the fridge until right before you need to use them!
Chill before baking! Chilling the dough for at least 15-20 minutes before baking helps ensure the butter in the dough is nice and cold and helps the pastries hold their shape. Cold dough + hot oven = perfect flaky pastry!
Don't overwork the dough! You want to mix the ingredients until just combined so that there are still distinct pieces of butter in the dough. This is what gives you those buttery, flaky, air pockets!
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping certain baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature. Some ovens also take longer than the standard "preheat" time to actually come up to the proper temperature.
Recipe FAQ's
These lemon scones are best eaten the same day, but they'll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also reheat scones in the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes.
Yes! After cutting the dough into triangles, place on a baking sheet and flash freeze them for 1 hour. Once firm, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months (I love using vacuum seal bags for this). Remove the lemon scones from the freezer and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let sit at room temperature while the oven preheats. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar before baking. You may need to increase the baking time to 22-25 minutes.
To make mini scones, divide the dough in half and form in to 2 5-inch discs. Cut the disks in to 6 small triangles to yield 12 mini lemon scones (you can also use a mini scone pan). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Lemon Scones
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Scones
- ½ cup unsalted butter, frozen and grated
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 cups pastry flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1-3 teaspoons milk, as needed
Instructions
- Place the butter in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before grating. Use a box grater to carefully grate the butter into small pieces. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until you're ready to use it. [If you don't want to use grated butter, just cut the butter into small chunks and keep chilled until ready to use.]
- In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract then set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Then use your fingers to gently massage the lemon zest into the sugar (this is optional, but helps infuse the sugar with even more lemon flavor).
- Then to the same bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together.
- Add in the frozen grated butter and mix in until it's fully coated in the flour.
- Then slowly drizzle the wet ingredients over top, combing as you go. Continue mixing until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky. If too dry, add in more milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gently press into an 8 inch round disc. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles. [You could also form the dough into a metal scone pan instead.]
- Place the scones a few inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar if desired.
- Place the lemon scones in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes before baking to firm up.
- While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Bake at 400°F for 18-24 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Then slowly drizzle in 2-4 teaspoons of milk or cream until the glaze is a thick, but pourable consistency.
- Drizzle the lemon sconces with the lemon glaze and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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