I’ve been a little obsessed with scones, lately. I wanted to find the definitive scone. The scone to best all scones. The one scone to rule them all. What I discovered is that I just seem to like all scones, and most of all the one I’m eating! This week it’s my Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones.

Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones

Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones are tender and moist and just a bit crumbly. Very scone-like. They’re loaded with dried blueberries and the slight lemony flavor of the scone is intensified by the lemon in the glaze. It’s those blueberries that steal the show. though. There’s just something about dried blueberries. They’re like soft, squishy little flavor bombs.

About Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones:

Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones are not as cake-like as my Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones (I love and miss you guys! I promise I’ll make you again soon!!) or as creamy and soft as my Mardi Gras Scones. (There is a surprise – there is cream cheese in those.) Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones lean a little more toward the traditional side of scones than either of those recipes.

I do have a bit of a secret when I make scones. Or scones other than the Mardi Gras Scones with the cream cheese. I like to use cream or at the very least 1/2 and 1/2. I just think it makes them taste rich without going overboard on the butter.

The other secrets shouldn’t be secret at all; they’re just common knowledge. Keep the butter cold, handle the scones as little as possible, and preferably mix by hand.

I recently got a scone pan and I love that it helps make beautiful (or as beautiful as a scone can be, lol) bakery-style scones, but it isn’t necessary to use any special equipment.

Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones

How to Vary the Scones:

This particular recipe can be varied in so many ways; over the years it’s become one of my basic scone recipes to spin different flavors depending on what I have on hand.

Use just about any dried fruit or berry and it will make a stellar scone. I do prefer dried fruit in these particular scones, partly because the batter is so heavy.

• Delicate fruit, especially, for instance, raspberries or blackberries can easily be crushed during the making. It’s not such a bad thing but I find they are not as attractive when that happens.
• Dried fruit also gives more flavor possibilities. While you may not want to add, for instance, fresh mango, apple, or pineapple (among any others that have a wet texture) to a scone, the dried fruit changes that game!

While these scones, with the lemon zest in the scone and the in the glaze complement the blueberries so well, there is no need to stop there.

• Consider if another citrus zest might work. Of course, lime or orange (and all their relatives) come to mind immediately, but if you’re feeling creative why not grapefruit? Maybe mandarins or pomelos.
• If you happen to vary the fruit and the citrus, the flavor possibilities multiply!

Maybe you don’t have any citrus fruit on hand?

• Why not use vanilla or another extract? I just love the flavors of raspberry with almond extract. Be careful with almond extract; it is strong and you only need to use a smidge.
• I have been enjoying baking with some of the edible essential oils lately, too, and they would be wonderful in both the scones and the glaze.

Maybe you’d like “add-ins” in your scones?

• Baking chips, chocolate, either dark, traditional, or milk chocolate along with white chocolate come to mind immediately. I am always taken aback when I buy baking chips – it seems like there is always a new flavor so no need to limit yourself.
• Then there are the heath bits and toffee bits but maybe other candy bars could be chopped up and added in.
• Don’t forget nuts if you lean that way. I feel the softer nuts like pecan or macadamia nuts work particularly well.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Saving money on Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones:

First of all, making your own baked goods will almost always save money in the long run, and scones are a perfect example. One of the nice things about scones is that the ingredients are inexpensive, especially if you shop well, and the only hardware you need is a bowl and a baking sheet.

General Baking Items:

It seems as if my standard advice for saving on any baking items is to stock up during your grocery holiday sales. Cream and butter are some of the priciest baking items, often up to half off during the holiday sales.

Aldi or Lidl if you have one nearby, has great pricing on baking items year-round, as does your buyer’s club. A few things to keep in mind:

• At your buyer’s club, you may need to buy in larger quantities.
• Your buyer’s club can’t touch Aldi’s price on cream.
• Grocery store holiday sales pricing on butter is usually better than either your buyers clubs or the discount stores.
• Stock up on butter and freeze when it’s at a great price and be aware that cream, due to its high fat content, keeps for weeks, unopened, past the “buy by” date.

Lemons:

• Lemons are often at a great price at the discount stores like Aldi and Lidl, but you’ll usually need to buy them by the bag. Check the bag carefully to make sure they are all sound and that the quality is there.
• When shopping for lemons, don’t pay too much attention to variations in color (as long as it isn’t dried and browning) but pick up several to get an idea of the weight. Choose the heaviest; those will likely be the ones with the most juice.

Dried Fruit:

• I do like Costco for the dried berries; they’re dirt cheap and in heavy, resealable bags. If that’s not an option, your discount store will have great pricing and these days usually have a wide variety.
• If buying at your grocery store, the best sales on dried fruit are around Thanksgiving and Christmas or before Easter.

General Savings:

• If you’d like to see what may be on sale at your grocery before any of the major food holidays, check out this link Win at the Grocers. It will take you to a post that gives a little general information on leveraging holiday food sales, but most importantly, towards the bottom of the page has clickable links for the major “food” holidays.
• Each holiday has its own breakdown of what are the best items to watch out for during the holiday sales, what to stock up on, and what to leave behind.

Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones

Dried Blueberry & Lemon Scones

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

A quick, easy basic scone recipe with the winning flavors of blueberry and lemon.

• Author: mollie kirby
• Total Time: under 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 scones 1x
• Category: Breakfast or Brunch
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Scones:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced (1/2 the zest used in the scones, the remainder plus 1/4 cup of the juice is used in the glaze, below.)
• 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut in chunks
• 1 cup dried blueberries
• 1 cup cream (you may need a little more or less)

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice, along with 1/2 the zest of one lemon
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Scones:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add half the lemon zest and mix through. Using hands, 2 forks, or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs with some larger pieces. You’ll know it’s right when you can squeeze a portion of it in your hand and it sticks together.

Add blueberries, then make a well in the center and pour in the cream, holding back a tablespoon or two. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. You may need a little less or more cream to make the scones come together so add the remainder and a little more if needed.

Gently press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches high. Cut in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut each square in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape.

Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet (or into a scone pan, pressing lightly to fill pan). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until light golden brown. Let the scones cool before applying the glaze.

Glaze:

Melt butter in a medium-sized bowl. Add the rest of the lemon zest, then whisk in the confectioner’s sugar until dissolved. Drizzle over scones and let sit for several minutes to let the glaze dry.

Notes

I often zest lemons when a recipe doesn’t call for the zest and keep it in the freezer. When I make these scones I like to pull some out and use a full tablespoon of zest in the batter and another tablespoon in the glaze.

________________________________

I’ll be bringing Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones to Fiesta Friday #222, hosted this week by Antonia @ Zoale.com

If you like the Dried Blueberry Lemon Scones, you might also like: