These Lemon Cream Scones are a breakfast and brunch staple. They have a delicate flavor and lovely lemon glaze.
These scones came about when we moved to Alaska many years ago. We had a coffee shop that we would frequent and my son loved their scones. After moving thousands of miles from there, he asked me if I could come up with a recipe like theirs.
As a response, I created these scones and he liked them even better!
To Make These Lemon Scones you will need:
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- granulated sugar
- salt
- cold butter
- lemons
- half and half
- vanilla extract
- powdered sugar
- mixing bowls
- pastry blender
- baking sheet or stone
- parchment paper
- whisk
- cooling rack
Watch me make these Lemon Scones in the video below:
How to Make Lemon Scones
To begin, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir those together.
Slice up some unsalted cold butter. Drop it into the flour mixture. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter, until there are no butter bits larger than a pea.
Zest a lemon with a microplane or fine grater. Add lemon zest into the flour mixture, stir.
Measure out some half & half. Add vanilla extract and stir it together.
Pour this into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a square, about ¾ inch thick and 8 inches on a side. With a knife, cut the square into 9 squares, like a tic-tac-toe board. Cut each of those squares in half diagonally. Place them on a baking sheet or baking stone lined with parchment paper.
Place a little bit of butter on the top of each scone.
Bake the scones for 10 – 12 minutes, or until they are just starting to get a golden color here and there.
Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and prepare the glaze.
How to Make the Lemon Glaze
To glaze the scones, put powdered sugar in a bowl. Juice the lemons into a dish through a small sieve. Add vanilla extract and lemon juice to the powdered sugar.
Whisk smooth, add more juice as needed, until you have it the right consistency. Brush or drizzle the glaze all over the top of all the scones.
Enjoy!
To add to the lemon flavor, you could add lemon zest to the glaze as well.
You can also make an orange scone variety by substituting oranges for the lemons in the recipe.
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Lemon Scones
Ingredients
For the Scones
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 2 Tb all-purpose flour
- 1 Tb baking powder
- 3 Tb granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 1/2 Tb unsalted butter, cold, divided use
- 1 Tb fresh lemon zest
- 1 c half and half
- 1 Tb vanilla extract
For the Glaze:
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 1 Tb lemon juice, more if needed
- 1 Tb vanilla extract
Instructions
- To begin, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir it together.
- Slice up 6 tablespoons of the cold butter. Drop it into the flour mixture. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter, until there are no butter bits larger than a pea.
- Add the lemon zest into the flour mixture, stir.
- Measure out the cold "half & half." Add in the vanilla extract and stir it together. Pour it into the bowl and stir until just combined.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a square, about ¾ inch thick and 8 inches on a side. With a knife, cut the square into 9 squares, like a tic-tac-toe board. Cut each of those squares in half diagonally. Place them on a baking sheet or baking stone that is lined with parchment paper.
- Take the remaining ½ tablespoon of butter and cut it into little bits. Place one bit on the top of each scone.
- Bake the scones for 10 – 12 minutes, or until they are just starting to get a golden color here and there.
- Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and prepare the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- Combine the lemon glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add small amounts of additional lemon juice if needed to make a good brushing or drizzling consistency.
- Brush or drizzle the glaze over the scones.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You can also make an orange scone variety by substituting oranges for the lemons in the recipe.
- To boost the flavor of the glaze, you can also add lemon zest to the glaze as well.
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
I really enjoyed this recipe. I’ve always found it difficult (for some reason) to get the kind of soft Scone that I am looking for. I made the w/ Lemon and then made w/orange. I made the lemon w/unsalted butter, but although they were amazing and soft with great lemon, I need the salt in the recipe. So when making the orange scones I used Salted Butter. Again they were so moist, However, I didn’t like the taste of so much baking powder. I had to come back today to check to see if it meant 1 Tea instead of 1 Tablespoon. But no, it said 1 Tablespoon of baking powder. I may just add more sugar next time to help with that. But I understand the need for Baking Powder:) . But may I say, these are so moist and soooooo Easy! Thank you! so much for your recipes. I recently made a few others, that I’ll comment on in the recipe comment area. Thank you Constance! You bless me. PS: I’m going to try to make some with Chocolate Chips and some with blueberries. I hope they work out.