Blueberry Scones

Meet your new favorite blueberry scones. Fresh blueberries, a hint of bright lemon zest, and a melt-in-your-mouth crumb that keeps you coming back for more.

These blueberry scones are rich, tender, and always moist! The fresh blueberries are folded in at the end so that they don’t squish, and you end up with pockets of blueberries bursting with flavor! Like slices of this delicious blueberry pie recipe or lemon blueberry cookies, but in scone form!

Much like these chocolate chip scones and cinnamon scones, my blueberry scones have the texture of the British scones of my youth! Served with some clotted cream and blueberry coulis, and you’ve got yourself a perfect tea-time snack!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Lemon: Zest into the sugar so the oils can bloom and intensify before the dough comes together. Avoid the white pith entirely, which is bitter and will muddy the flavor. For more lemon flavor, check out these lemon scones!
• Sugar: Rubbed together with lemon zest, which I always do to maximize lemon flavor throughout the dough. The longer it sits before you continue, the more pronounced the result.
• All-Purpose Flour
• Kosher Salt
• Baking Powder: The primary leavener that gives these scones their lift. Make sure yours is fresh so the scones rise properly in the oven.
• Unsalted Butter: Must go in cold and cubed. Working cold butter completely into the dry ingredients is the most critical step in this recipe: it reduces the amount of liquid you need, which in turn limits gluten development and keeps the crumb tender. Salted butter can be used in a pinch; just reduce the added kosher salt slightly.
• Vanilla Extract
• Eggs
• Heavy Cream: Does double duty in this recipe: it goes into the dough for richness, and a small amount is reserved for brushing the tops before baking to lock in moisture and give the crust its golden finish. Do not substitute milk or half-and-half, as the lower fat content will affect both texture and color.
• Fresh Blueberries: Smaller berries work best because they distribute more evenly and are less likely to burst, which can make the dough wet. Frozen blueberries can be used straight from the freezer without thawing.
• Turbinado Sugar: Scattered over the cream-brushed tops just before baking. It gives the crust a crackled, sugary crunch that is my favorite part of these scones.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on These Blueberry Scones

• Add a Glaze. Drizzle a simple glaze over the cooled scones using milk, powdered sugar, salt, and a splash of vanilla extract, similar to my donut glaze recipe, or use the cream cheese glaze from these carrot cake scones for a sweeter, bakery-style finish.
• Add some chocolate. Take inspiration from these raspberry white chocolate scones (coming soon!) and add some more flavor! Dark, milk, or white chocolate would be divine with the blueberries.
• Change the fruit: You can use fresh or dried fruit here! Check out my apple scones for a dried fruit variation, or use raisins, cranberries, or dried cherries. These strawberry scones are also a great option for fresh fruit.

Professional Tips

• Cut the butter in completely. You are looking for a texture that resembles wet sand with no visible chunks of butter remaining, just like when making classic strawberry shortcake with whipped cream.
• Let the lemon sugar sit. Even five minutes makes a difference, and if you can prep it before measuring your other ingredients, you will get a noticeably brighter lemon flavor throughout the dough.
• Chill the shaped scones before baking. A fully chilled dough going into the oven is what gives you that rise and definition. Two hours in the refrigerator or a quick 30 to 40 minutes in the freezer both work.

How to Make Blueberry Scones

This is a straightforward recipe with one step that deserves your full attention: keeping the butter cold throughout mixing and cutting the dough.

Step 1: Zest. Zest the lemon directly into the sugar and stir briefly to combine, then set it aside.

The oils from the zest will begin infusing into the sugar immediately, and the longer it sits, the more fragrant and pronounced that lemon flavor will be in the finished scone.

Step 2: Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the flour, lemon sugar, salt, and baking powder to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly on low just to distribute everything evenly, then add the cold cubed butter. Mix on low until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture resembles wet sand, with no visible butter chunks remaining.

Step 3: Combine the wet ingredients. While the mixer works on the butter, combine the vanilla, eggs, and cream.

An immersion blender is my go-to because it emulsifies everything thoroughly in about ten seconds. A whisk works fine too, just make sure the eggs are fully incorporated before you add the mixture to the flour.

Step 4: Add the wet ingredients and bring the dough together. With the mixer running on low, slowly pour in the cream mixture and mix just until almost incorporated. There will still be some dry streaks, and that is fine. Turn the mixture out onto a clean, dry surface and knead it gently until no dry spots remain. Treat it kindly here: overworking the dough at this stage is the most common reason scones turn out tough.

Step 5: Fold in the blueberries. Once the dough is cohesive, scatter the blueberries over the top and fold them in gently. Smaller blueberries are ideal because they distribute more evenly and are less likely to burst and streak the dough purple during folding. A few folds are all you need.

Step 6: Shape and cut the scones. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Using a bench scraper, cut the rectangle into 4-inch strips, then cut each strip into squares, and then cut each square diagonally in half to form triangles. Transfer the triangles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press any remaining scraps together into a square or rectangle, then cut additional scones from them as well.

If your scraps look a little rough after pressing, that is fine. Just press them firmly enough to hold together and cut cleanly. They will bake up just as well.

Step 7: Chill the shaped scones completely. Before baking, the scones need to be fully chilled. Slide the baking sheet into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, until the scones are firm. At this point, you can also wrap the tray tightly and freeze the scones to bake directly from frozen later.

Step 8: Preheat your oven and prep the scones. Preheat your oven to 325°F and brush each scone with a thin, even layer of heavy cream, then sprinkle turbinado sugar generously over the top.

Step 9: Bake until golden and set. Bake for about 15 minutes, starting to check at 12. The scones are done when the edges are golden brown, the tops look puffed, and the centers push back slightly when you press them very gently with a fingertip. If they feel soft and give without resistance, give them another two minutes.

They will firm up a little more as they cool, so do not overbake, waiting for them to feel totally solid. That gentle spring-back is exactly what you want to see.

Step 10: Cool and serve. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet or transfer them to a wire rack. They are excellent, warm, with the blueberries still jammy and the interior still tender, but they also hold well at room temperature for a few hours if you need to bake ahead.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

These blueberry scones are the perfect way to brighten up any morning! If you are looking for more breakfast bakes, browse all my breakfast recipes. Might I suggest this moist banana bread recipe!