Do you love tender, flavorful scones with your morning coffee? If so, this lemon blueberry scone recipe is for you! These cream cheese scones baked with fresh or frozen blueberries come out perfectly tender every time.
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If you love lemon blueberry scones, this recipe is definitely for you. Much like my super popular Cream Cheese Cherry Almond Scones, this lemon blueberry scone recipe is made with cream cheese to keep them extra tender.
The advantage of cream cheese scones is that you create an extra tender and flaky scone. Many scone recipes often render an unappealing hard, dry texture. Because this recipe incorporates both cream, butter and cream cheese, you get an ultra-tender, flaky scone every time!
What do I need to make a lemon blueberry scone recipe?
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Butter, very cold or frozen
- Cream cheese, very cold or frozen
- Heavy cream
- Egg
- Lemons, juice and zest for dough and juice of another for the glaze
- Vanilla extract
- Blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Powdered sugar
For exact ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe. Thanks!
How do I make lemon blueberry scones?
Start by combining dry ingredients; flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. A whisk is useful to combine the dry ingredients.
How do I get tender, flaky scones?
For extra tender scones, try shredding your butter. Its very helpful to use extra cold or even frozen butter and cream cheese. This helps when you’re integrating the butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients. This also helps render very tender, flaky scones.
Why add cream cheese to scones?
Adding cream cheese to the scones will help create a very tender, flaky pastry. The fat in the cream cheese creates added moisture, flavor and tenderness to the dough.
What is the best tool for mixing scones?
A pastry blender allows you to mix dry ingredients with the butter and cream cheese without overworking the dough. Using a pastry blender or forks, add the shredded butter and cream cheese to the dry ingredients. Mixture should be crumbly and gravel-like.
Mix together the cream, egg and vanilla in a separate container, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir together gently until all the flour has moistened and you achieve a dough-like consistency. Do your best to NOT overwork the dough. This results in hard scones.
Add lemon juice, lemon zest and blueberries to the dough. Gently fold together. If you’re using frozen blueberries, you don’t need to thaw them. Keep the berries frozen when adding to the dough.
Love anything lemon? Check out my recipes for Lemon Bundt Cake, No Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars and Lemon Bundt Cake for some amazing lemon flavor!
Ingredient Substitutions and Recommendations for cream cheese scones:
- Sugar – to reduce the refined sugar content in these scones you can substitute the granular sugar for a granular monk fruit sweetener, like Whole Earth. For the powdered sugar in the glaze, Swerve powdered sugar substitute is a great alternative.
- Heavy Cream – I definitely recommend using heavy cream for scones, as the fat helps keep them tender and moist. However, if you don’t have cream on hand, you can substitute 1/2 c. milk with 2 tbsp. melted butter, whisked together.
- Blueberries – I used fresh blueberries which work very well in this lemon blueberry scone recipe. If fresh are not available, you can also use frozen berries. For best results, keep the berries frozen when adding them to the dough, as thawed berries are typically mushy and will easily break apart when added to the dough and turn the scones purple. I do not recommend using blueberry pie filling for scones.
For exact ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions be sure to scroll down to the recipe at the bottom of the post. Thanks!
Turn out the dough to a floured surface. Shape the dough into a ball, then gently press into a circle that’s about 1″ in thickness. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into triangles.
Transfer the scone triangles to a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Bake the scones at 400 degrees for 22-24 minutes or until golden brown.
Once scones are done baking, let cool before glazing.
Frequently asked questions about making lemon blueberry scones:
The best ways to making good scones are first; don’t overwork the dough. This helps keep the scones tender, moist and flaky. Overworked dough will render hard, dry scones. Second, use VERY cold or frozen butter and cream cheese. Consider shredding the butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients which will create a tender and flaky scone.
First, make sure you are using an adequate amount of leavening. One tablespoon of baking powder is typically used in scones and will help scones rise when baking. Second, when placing scones on the pan to bake, arrange them close together. This will help them rise up and not out when baking.
Hard, dry scones are typically the result of overworked dough. When adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stir just until the ingredients are moistened and integrated. Simply fold in any berries. Kneading or over-working dough will result in hard, dry scones.
First, make sure your dough isn’t sitting at room temperature for long. Once dough is mixed and cut, put the scones in the oven right away. If dough comes to room temperature, the dough will warm, soften and spread, losing its shape. Additionally, when arranging scones on the pan, arrange them close together so they can rise up and not out.
What do I need to glaze lemon blueberry scones?
For this recipe a simple lemon glaze works perfect for the scones. Start by mixing together powdered sugar with the juice of a 1/2 lemon. This is about 1-2 tablespoons of juice for 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Mix until thick, but smooth. The glaze shouldn’t be watery. If it thickly coats the back of a spoon, it’s the right consistency. Drizzle the lemon glaze over scones that have cooled for about 15-20 minutes after baking.
Check out more of my recipes that are perfect for breakfast and brunch:
- Blueberry Coffee Cake with Sour Cream
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish
- Apple Scones
- Starbucks Pumpkin Scones
- Cherry Almond Scones
- Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf
- Blueberry Overnight Oats
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Blueberry Protein Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
- Blueberry Vanilla Protein Oatmeal
- Blueberry Lemonade from Our Salty Kitchen
If you loved this recipe, check out some of my other lemon and blueberry breakfast recipes:
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Cream Cheese Lemon Blueberry Scones
Equipment
- Silicone Baking Mat The perfect non-stick surface! Ideal for scones, biscuits, cookies and more.
- Pastry Cutter This OXO pastry blender and cutter is fantastic for scones, biscuits and pie crusts!
- Mixing Bowls These stainless steel mixing bowls are an essential cooking tool for every kitchen.
Ingredients
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons cold butter shredded
- 5 Tablespoons cold cream cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest zest from 1 lemon
- 1 1/3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Glaze:
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set pan aside.
- Using a grater, shred the very cold butter into shreds.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add in the shredded butter and cream cheese. Cut in with a pastry cutter or forks until mixture becomes crumbly and gravel-like.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cream, egg and vanilla. Mix together with a whisk or fork and pour into flour mixture. Gently mix together just until all ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries, lemon juice and lemon zest until just combined. Do your best to not overwork the dough.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. (Flour your hands to keep the dough from sticking.) Shape into a ball, then press into a disk about 1" in thickness. Cut the disk into 8 slices. A sharp knife or pizza cutter works well.
- Transfer the scone triangles to the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 22-24 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes before glazing.
- For glaze: mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Mix until thick, but smooth. Drizzle over the scones. Let set for a few additional minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
I assume that the lemon juice and zest are added into the cream mixture before adding to the flour mixture, but those ingredients are missing from the directions. Since my oven runs hot I had to adjust the baking time, but these turned out delicious!
Okay I see it now in the step -by-step part of the article but I printed the recipe and it was a couple weeks before I was able to make them. Those two items are missing from the printed instructions.
Your lemon cream cheese, blueberry scone recipe asks for fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, but in the instructions, there is no mention of when to incorporate those items other than the lemon juice for the icing. Just wanna make sure I get the recipe right. Thank you.
Hi DeAnn – so sorry for omitting where these ingredients are added. Yes, the lemon juice and lemon zest are added along with the blueberries to the scone dough. I’ve updated the recipe to make sure the ingredients are included in the instructions. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. Hope you got to enjoy! Best, Erin
These Cream Cheese Lemon Blueberry Scones look absolutely delicious! The combination of creamy cheese, zesty lemon, and juicy blueberries is sure to create a delightful burst of flavors. Can’t wait to try baking them for a scrumptious breakfast or afternoon treat. Thanks for sharing this tempting recipe!