Scones are a wonderful breakfast pastry. Their heavy-bodied texture helps you feel full, without being overly sweet. They are also perfect with coffee or tea. These blackberry lemon scones with lemon glaze, are a great addition to your breakfast or brunch lineup!
Making Blackberry Lemon Scones From Scratch
Blackberries are a favorite of mine, and whenever they go on sale, I try to buy as many as possible. This delicious recipe is a great way to incorporate blackberries. As a girl, my family would visit Oregon and we would spend days picking wild blackberries. This recipe brings back those wonderful memories.
Blackberry recipes are some of my favorites, especially in the summer.
What Makes Scones to Heavy
Scones are heavier because they are made similarly to biscuits. Without yeast, the texture is more condensed. This makes them great for drinking with black coffee or tea as the sweetness and heaviness of the scone offset the bitterness of the coffee.
Scones are leavened with baking powder, which makes them much quicker to bake than other morning pastries. The best scones are: buttery and flaky, crumbly on the edges, and soft in the middle.
How to Make Great Scones
As with making pies or biscuits, your ingredients need to be cold. The chunks of butter in the recipe cannot melt or it will hinder the texture of your scones. It’s best to use a food processor when making scones as it prevents your warm hands from touching the dough. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter or even a large fork.
Handling the dough too much will make your scones tough. Also, the more you handle it, the more the berries will break apart, making the dough a purple color. Whole berries are wonderful in this recipe as you get a nice bite of fresh berry with the sweet and buttery scone. Some berries will break up as you handle the dough, but that’s ok, just do your best to keep them together.
If you feel you have handled your scones too much, place the scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. This will relax the gluten in the scones which will allow them to rise higher and come out softer. The butter in the scones will also chill, allowing the scones to come out flakier.
Can You Substitute Different Berries?
This recipe is adjustable, and you can choose to substitute the blackberries for any other berry you would like: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, even huckleberries! Make this with whatever berry is in season and it will be sure to be a delight.
Can You Use Different Citrus?
This recipe is great because you can make substitutions based on the flavors you like. Substituting for different citruses is definitely an option. I chose lemon because I think it pairs well with blackberries, but orange or grapefruit with different berry combinations could also work!
Tips on Making a Great Glaze
The lemon glaze is one of the best additions to the scone recipe. The sweet and tart combination helps to balance out the heaviness of the baked good. Simple glazes offer the best result. The glaze only consists of confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice!
Freezing Your Scones
Scones of all kinds are great for freezing for future enjoyment. Thes best part, you can freeze scones before or after baking, that way if you can decide which way works best for you. I like to freeze them before baking so I can have freshly baked scones on demand!
Freezing Before Baking – Place the pre-baked scones in the freezer on a flat sheet for 1 hour. Once they have been frozen enough to not stick to one another, you can stack them or wrap them to create more room in your freezer. If you want, bake the scones frozen, adding a few more minutes to the cook time. Or, allow the scones to thaw overnight and cook for the regular time.
Freezing After Baking – After your scones have cooked and cooled, place them in a freezer-friendly container for up to 6 months (although mine never last that long!). To thaw, place in the refrigerator overnight, then heat in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. If desired, top with homemade icing.
Want More Spring and Summer Recipes?
- Strawberry Jam Recipe
- Mango Strawberry Jam Recipe
- Lavender Tea Bread with Lemon Glaze
- Easy Artisan Bread
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Blueberry Lemon Scones with Lemon Glaze
Enjoy this delicious summer pastry! Make homemade scones with freshly picked blackberries and tart Meyer lemons. The lemon glaze really adds extra flavor to the heaviness of the scones.
Ingredients
Scones
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour separated
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp fresh lemon zest zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cup unsalted butter chilled and cubed
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 egg large
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries if using frozen do not allow to thaw
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
Egg Wash
- 1 egg large
- 2 tsp water
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet, and set it to the side.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients, including 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
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In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, and one egg. Set aside.
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In your large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, add cubed or grated chilled butter and, using a pastry cutter or a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture until pea-sized lumps of butter form.
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In a separate bowl, coat your fresh or frozen blackberries in 1/4 cup of flour.
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Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Too much mixing will result in tough scones.
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With a baking spatula, gently fold in the blackberries, do not break up or overmix the dough.
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On a lightly floured work surface, place the dough and form into an 8 inch round shape. Cut into 8 pieces.
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Place on parchment papered surface or silicone lined surface.
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Mix together the one remaining egg and water, create an egg wash and lightly coat the outside of each scone. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
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While the scones are baking, make the glaze by mixing together the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. If you want it to be thicker add more sugar to get the desired consistency.
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Once the scones have been baked, allow them to cool a bit before drizzling with glaze. Serve warm or cooled.
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