I never used to be the biggest lover of scones, often finding them too dense, dry or hard. But then I realised I just hadn’t had a good scone – particularly one that is light as air, buttery and super tender.
I’m happy to enjoy a plain scone lathered with jam and cream; however, if you want to jazz it up a little bit, these scones include fresh (or frozen!) blueberries, a touch of lemon zest and some sour cream for intense tenderness.
Also, they’re relatively quick and simple to make and can be frozen – so you can have fresh scones at a moment’s notice!
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Scones with Sour Cream
For the best scones, make sure that your ingredients (particularly your butter, sour cream and eggs) are as cold as possible – very similar to making pie crust or puff pastry.
With that in mind, these scones come together quite quickly.
Start by adding some sugar to a large mixing bowl along with a touch of lemon zest. Use your fingers to massage the zest into the sugar until it resembles wet sand.
This brings out the oils in the zest and really enhances the lemon flavour.
To the lemon sugar, add some flour, some baking powder, bi-carb soda and a pinch of salt. Whisk all of this together until well combined.
Then, add some cold cubed butter to the flour and use your fingertips to coat it in the flour and smash it into small pieces. Keep smashing the butter until the largest pieces are not bigger than walnut halves.
Once you’ve reached this stage, add some blueberries to the flour mixture and stir until they’re completely coated in the flour.
Now, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries here. Note that if you’re using frozen blueberries, there is no need to defrost them ahead of time. Just toss them in frozen.
In a separate bowl, whisk together an egg, some sour cream and a bit of whole milk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the sour cream mixture into it.
Using a wooden spoon or a flexible spatula, stir everything together until just combined – be careful not to overmix, this will make tough scones! Dust your work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it.
Use your hands to pat the dough into a disk and then cut the disk into quarters. Stack each of the quarters on top of each other and press down to pat into a disc once more.
Go ahead and repeat this step once more.
Now, pat the dough into a 2cm (3/4in) circle, adding more flour if you need to, to prevent sticking. Then, use a sharp knife to cut the scones into 8 wedges. Then, add the scones to a parchment-lined baking sheet and move them to the freezer.
If you’re baking right away, go ahead and freeze the scones for about 10 minutes, just to ensure that they’re ice cold before going in the oven.
If not, leave them on the tray until they’re frozen solid before transferring to an airtight container. When you want to bake, just follow the rest of the recipe as written, just add a few more minutes to the final bake time.
When you’re ready to bake, beat an egg with a little bit of water until no streaks remain. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash over the scones. Move to the oven and bake until the scones are golden brown and puffed, about 15-20 minutes.
Move the scones to a wire rack to cool and in the meantime, go ahead and make a quick glaze. This is optional, but it really adds something extra to the scones.
Add some icing sugar to a mixing bowl along with a touch of lemon zest. Add some lemon juice and whisk until you have a thick but pourable glaze – adding more lemon juice if needed.
Go ahead and drizzle the glaze over the scones and serve! They are absolutely perfect with a cup of tea.
Lemon Blueberry Sour Cream Scones
Ingredients
- 50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon zest divided
- 250 g (2 cups) plain/all-purpose flour plus more for rolling out
- 12 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
- 3 g (½ tsp) baking soda/bi-carb soda
- Pinch salt
- 75 g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter chilled & cut into 1cm (½in) cubes
- 150 g (1 cup) blueberries fresh or frozen (see note 1)
- 2 eggs fridge cold, divided
- 100 g (½ cup) sour cream chilled
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) whole milk
- 100 g (1 cup) icing/confectioners sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Add the sugar and 2 tsp of the lemon zest to a large mixing bowl. Use your fingers to massage the zest into the sugar to release the oils until the sugar resembles wet sand and smells very fragrant.
- To the sugar, add the flour, baking powder, baking/bi-carb soda and salt. Whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Add the butter and, using your fingertips, pinch the butter into the flour. Continue working in the butter until the largest pieces are the size of walnut halves.
- Add the blueberries to the flour mixture and fold until they are completely coated in flour.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 of the eggs with the sour cream and milk. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the sour cream mixture into it. Use a flexible spatula or wooden spoon to fold the wet ingredients together until just combined.
- Dust a clean work surface with flour and turn out the scone dough. Pat the dough into a roughly 4cm (1½in) thick disc. Cut the dough into quarters and stack the quarters on top of each other. Pat the dough into a disc again and repeat 1 more time.
- Pat the dough into 2cm (¾in) thick circle, adding more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 equal triangles. Gently transfer the triangles to a parchment-lined baking tray and move to the freezer for 10 minutes (see note 2).
- Add the remaining egg to a small bowl with 1 tbsp of water. Beat until no streaks remain. Brush the top of the scones with the egg wash. Move to the oven and bake until they're puffed and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and move to a wire rack to cool.
- While the scones are cooling, make the glaze. Add the icing sugar to a small mixing bowl along with the remaining 1tsp of lemon zest. Pour in the lemon juice and whisk to combine, adding more lemon juice, if necessary, to make a thick but pourable glaze. Before serving, drizzle the scones with the glaze.
Notes
- If using frozen blueberries, there is no need to defrost them prior to baking. Just add them to the scones frozen.
- The scones, unbaked, can be frozen at this point. Put the baking trays, uncovered, in the freezer until the scones are frozen solid. Transfer to an airtight container and keep frozen for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, bake directly from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes onto the total baking time.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
These sour cream scones with lemon and blueberry are so delicious and tender – and also so, so easy!
Are you after a great recipe for blueberry scones? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
