I love this Lemon Scone recipe so much I just had to share it with you all. I’m a huge fan of scones and tea. The perfect combination. Scones are just so delicious and such a fun way to play with flavors. This recipe is one of my favorites, but I also love these Lemon Lavender Scones and these Lavender White Chocolate Scones. They are just so tasty and not too difficult to make.
Scones are the perfect breakfast bake or great for tea time. I love to mix it up and make a savory batch and a sweet batch for events. It’s so much fun to mix it up. All of my scones have the same/similar base to each other, so it makes it super easy to make them once and easily make them again.
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Lemon Scones Recipe
This recipe is perfect for beginner to advanced bakers. It’s not too difficult to make and doesn’t take fancy equipment to make. So, whether you are a pro or not, you’ll be good with this recipe! And it’s sure to impress.
The best part about this recipe is the lemon sugar flavor. In order to get the biggest lemon sugar flavor, you want to blend the granulated sugar and lemon rind together. Not just the lemon zest, but also some of the pith as well. Blending it will release the lemon flavor and make your baked goods have extra flavor.
Ingredients
I always suggest using exactly what a recipe calls for, especially if you want it to taste and come out correctly. You can try substitutes not mentioned, however, I can’t guarantee their outcome. If you’re looking for gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. it might be best to find a blog with that type of recipe. I am someone with a LOT of dietary restrictions and I can tell you, substituting is not always so easy. You are of course, more than welcome to try it, just a word of warning.
Here are a few notes about these ingredients:
- Flour: Use the spooning method to scoop your flour. You can fluff your flour first by using a spoon and scooping it up and fluffing it a bit. Then use a spoon to scoop your flour into your measuring spoon. It gives a more accurate measurement than directly scooping or packing it.
- Unsalted Butter: Why unsalted butter? Because in baking, unsalted is preferred so you can be in control of the amount added in. salted butter can vary in content, and this way you control it. It won’t be too salty or not salty enough. You can easily swap this for vegan baking butter.
- Cold Butter: Not only do you want unsalted butter, but you want very cold butter. Cold butter is grated with a cheese grater (or can be cut up into small pieces) and then is folded into the batter. This makes sure that little pieces of butter are intact in the bake. This is common in many pastry recipes.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream can be used in this recipe. But you can’t swap this for other dairy items. The thickness and moisture will change.
- Salt: I prefer a fine grain sea salt or kosher salt for baking inside the dough or batter. But for a topping to the dish, a flakey salt is great.
Shape of Scones
Traditionally American scones are triangles.
- You take the lemon scone dough on a floured surface and shape it into a ball. Then taking a floured rolling pin you’ll roll it out to be about 1” thick.
- Then I take a floured pizza cutter (can also use a sharp knife) and cut it like a pizza. Making little triangle pieces from the dough.
- Place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with a little heavy cream and sprinkle on coarse sugar.
- Once baked, cool on a cooling rack with a baking sheet underneath (USA Pan sells this set that fits perfectly). Then drizzle on the icing.
However, scones don’t have to be triangles. You can also make them into shapes with a cookie or biscuit cutter. I love making circle biscuits or even using a cookie cutter for a heart shape or even numbers for a birthday celebration. Just adjust your bake time and keep an eye on them in the oven as the time can vary with different amounts of dough. And be sure to flour your cutter well.
American Scone Recipe
This recipe is for American scones. All of my scone recipes are the American version. American scones and British scones are fairly different. Let’s talk a bit about the difference. American scones are usually made with more butter and sugar making them denser and sweeter. More like a dessert in a way. While British scones are usually fluffier and like American biscuits. They usually don’t have add-ins or different flavors (or at least not as many as American ones). Instead, British scones are served with butter, cream, jams, etc.
While you can eat American scones that way, most are made with lots of flavors and even glazes so you don’t need to eat anything with them. Some might be served with butter to help with the dryness that can occur with scones. Also, a silly difference, but most American scones are shaped into triangles and shorter (denser) and British scones are usually circles and taller (fluffier).
Lemon Sugar
The lemon sugar is created by blending granulated sugar and lemon skin and pith. This helps to release more lemon flavor and makes for a more flavorful bake. Oftentimes lemon flavor can get lost in baked goods. You might see people add lemon extract instead of natural lemon just to get that extra flavor. I personally like this method. But if you want even more lemon flavor, adding some fresh lemon juice to your icing can also add some delicious flavor, making a lemon glaze.
For this lemon sugar recipe I blended ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 lemon skinned, skin and pith until the lemon pieces were about the same size as the sugar granulars.
Equipment Needed to Bake Scones
Although you don’t need a stand mixer or anything super fancy, this recipe does require a little bit of equipment to make the scones. Below I’ll go over each of the pieces you need and anything you can use instead if you don’t have these tools.
Scones
- Blender or food processor
- Large baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Large mixing bowl
- Small/medium mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Wooden spoon
- Cheese grater (can use a knife if you don’t have a grater)
- Small cutting board
- Clean work surface to roll dough (if you don’t have marble, wood, etc. surface, you can use a clean baking sheet – line with parchment paper if you wish)
- Rolling pin (use a large tall cup if needed)
- Pizza cutter, biscuit cutter, or knife
- Pastry brush (or paper towel)
- Cooling rack
Icing
- Medium bowl
- Cooling rack (can be the same from above)
- Baking sheet (can be the same from above)
- Whisk
- Platter/plate
How to Make Scone Dough
- In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon sugar. Mix with a whisk.
- Grate your butter (or cut into small cubes) and add it into the bowl. Stir until the mixture is a little chunky, not smooth.
- In a medium-sized bowl pour in ½ cup + 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream, lemon juice, and egg, whisk until smooth.
- Add egg and cream mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until the dough just comes together, you don't want to over mix.
Other Recipes to Try
Love this Recipe?
Did you make this recipe and just love it? Awesome! If you have a quick minute and could leave a star rating and comment below, I would appreciate the support and knowing your feedback! And if you’re over on Instagram, be sure to tag me in your photos!
Ingredients
Lemon Sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 lemon skinned, skin and pith
Scones
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- lemon sugar
- 6 tablespoon butter cold
- ⅔ cup heavy cream divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice about ½ lemon
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar optional if you don’t do the icing
Icing, Optional
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 2 tablespoon milk or milk alternative
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Toppings, Optional
- Edible flowers
- Lemon slices
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Lemon Sugar
- Take sugar and lemon skin/pith and place into a blender or food processor. Blend for 20-30 seconds until lemon is cut into tiny pieces and incorporated. You can leave in the blender for up to 30 minutes.
Scones
- Preheat the oven to 425° F, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly dust with flour.
- In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon sugar. Mix with a whisk.
- Grate your butter (or cut into small cubes) and add it into the bowl. Stir until the mixture is a little chunky, not smooth.
- In a medium sized bowl pour in ½ cup + 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream, lemon juice, and egg, whisk until smooth.
- Add egg and cream mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until the dough just comes together, you don't want to over mix.
- Roll dough out on a floured surface about ¾"- 1" thick.
- Use a round biscuit cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. Or you can roll the dough into a circle and cut your dough into triangles as you would a pizza with a pizza cutter to make 8 scones.
- Place scones on a prepared sheet separated 1-2 inches. Brush the scones with a little heavy cream. And sprinkle a little of the course sugar on top of each.
- Bake for about 15-17 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes.
- Place scones on a cooling rack and let cool.
Icing
- Using a medium sized bowl whisk powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together. If it’s still too thick you can add in a few extra drops of milk.
- Pour icing on top of scones. Add on any toppings you’d like.
- Serve and enjoy.
Cortney says
These are delish! I must have! Can’t wait to make these again!
Amanda Wilens says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed them!