Blueberry & Lemon Scones

Blueberry & Lemon Scones, studded with juicy fruit & flavoured with zingy lemon zest, are a not-too-sweet, easy to make treat. Use fresh or frozen blueberries in these American-style scones.

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To most Brits, a scone is something you slice through the middle and spread with butter. Shortly followed by having an argument about whether the cream should go on next, followed by the jam, or vice versa.

But go American-style, and you can forget all that. Rather cake-like, these scones don’t need adornments such as cream and jam. Just eat them as they are.

Blueberry & Lemon Scones

As for flavourings in the scone itself, while you’re unlikely to get anything other than a few sultanas in a traditional British one, American scones can be just about any flavour you like.

A classic is the blueberry scone which I love to pair with a hit of zingy lemon.

I always have at least one bag of frozen blueberries in the house. I love them in smoothies, with Homemade Yogurt or in porridge. And there’s no ‘going off’ or wastage with the frozen version either. But use fresh blueberries if that’s what you have.

The blueberries release their juices as they cook to make these scones lovely and moist.

I add lemon flavour by including some zest in the dough and also lightly drizzle with lemon icing once the scones are cold.

With British scones, the dough is rolled out and the scones stamped out with round pastry cutters. As far as I can tell, American scones are almost always cut with a knife; usually into triangles, sometimes other shapes.

For my Blueberry & Lemon Scones, the dough is spread into a circle on a sheet of baking parchment or greaseproof paper. It then goes into the freezer for around 30 minutes. Weird as that sounds, it’s said to help the scones rise once they’re in the hot oven.

This chilling also has the advantage of making the sticky circle of dough easier to cut, and the resulting triangles easier to pick up and separate.

The scones will take around 18-25 minutes to bake to an enticing golden brown.

Update May 2021: You can also bake the whle circle of dough without cutting it. It’s then easy to cut into triangles when completely cold. This gives a different, slightly more cake-like texture.

SERVING & STORING BLUEBERRY & LEMON SCONES

You’ll need to leave the Blueberry & Lemon Scones to cool before adding that drizzle of tangy lemon icing.

But if you want to eat them warm again, just microwave for a few seconds. This will heat them from the inside without melting the drizzle.

Like most scones, these are best eaten in a day or so. But they do freeze well.

Perfect as a dessert or with a cup of tea or coffee.

Have you made Blueberry & Lemon Scones? Leave a comment and let me know how it went!

For your next bake, try these incredible Raspberry & Coconut Scones

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Blueberry & Lemon Scones

Blueberry & Lemon Scones, studded with juicy fruit & flavoured with zingy lemon zest, are a not-too-sweet, easy to make treat. Use fresh or frozen berries.

Course Dessert, Snack, Cake

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Chill Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 6

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 170 g plain flour plus extra for dusting
• 40 g sugar plus extra for sprinkling
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 60 g butter cold
• 60-80 ml yogurt, milk or buttermilk or a combination of these
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 160 g blueberrries frozen or fresh
• 1 lemon zest only

For the lemon drizzle

• 2 heaped tbsp icing sugar sifted
• 2-4 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. Grate in the butter (dip it in the flour occasionally if it gets sticky).

   Lightly rub it into the flour with your fingertips. It doesn't need to be completely combined with the flour, so don't worry if a few larger pieces of butter remain.

3. In a jug, whisk together 60ml of the yogurt, milk or buttermilk plus the egg and vanilla extract.

4. Stir the blueberries and lemon zest into the flour and sugar mixture.

5. Pour the contents of the jug into the bowl and fold everything together. If it seems very stiff, add a little more of the yogurt, milk or buttermilk.

6. Put a piece of baking parchment or greaseproof paper on a board or tray and sprinkle over a little flour.

   Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto the paper. Using a knife or spatula, spread it out into a circle approximately 15 cm in diameter.

7. Brush with yogurt, milk or buttermilk then sprinkle with a little sugar.

8. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

   Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6

9. Remove from the freezer and cut the dough into 6 equal triangles. Carefully separate the pieces and place so they're not touching.

10. Transfer the sheet of paper to a baking tray and put in the oven.

    Bake until risen, golden and cooked all the way through & a skewer or cocktail stick comes out clean (18-25 minutes: check after 15 minutes & turn the oven down if they're browning too quickly).

11. Transfer the scones, on their paper, to a cooling rack.

    Wait until they're completely cold before adding the lemon drizzle.

Lemon drizzle

1. Put the sifted icing sugar in a small bowl. Add the lemon juice a teaspoon at a time, stirring, until you get the consistency you like.

   Drizzle over the scones off the end of the spoon and leave to set for a few minutes.

Recipe Notes

Eat the scones within 2 days or freeze.

Reheat in a microwave for 30-40 seconds.