Breakfast

Easy Lemon Scones with Poppy Seeds

Homemade fresh baked lemon scones are much better than store bought scones. Make them for breakfast and enjoy with fresh coffee.

To recipe
easy lemon scones with poppy seeds
Recipe insights & TIPS

Tasty homemade lemon scones with poppy seeds and drizzled with a sweet lemon icing over the top. Make these for a lazy Sunday morning and breakfast in bed!

fresh baked lemon scones on a plate

5 REASONS TO MAKE THESE LEMON SCONES!

  • They're easy and take only about 10 minutes to make and be ready for the oven.
  • The lemon flavor is strong and they taste fantastic.
  • This recipe makes a lot and any extras can be frozen for another time.
  • No mixer is needed. You can easily make lemon scones by hand.
  • You'll only need six ingredients and you probably have most of them already in your pantry.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Top tips for working with this scone dough

This kind of dough doesn't like to be over worked. Try to handle it as little as possible, even skipping using a rolling pin. Once the dough has come together it'll still be a little wet and sticky. You can add some extra flour on top to help with this but not too much or you'll make the dough to dry. Once you have the scone dough formed into a ball, gently pat it down with your hand, about an inch thick is a good size to look for.

Cutting out the scones is usually best done with a cookie cutter, but this time I decided to make mini square shapes lemon scones. Form the dough into a rectangle and cut in a grid pattern to create the squares. Placing the scones close together on the baking pan will help the scones rise in the oven a they bake.

lemon scones on a baking pan

FAQ's about making lemon scones

What's the difference between a biscuit and a scone? Biscuits usually have more butter and produce a flakier dough, whereas scones use more liquid like buttermilk or heavy cream as a binder and usually produce a more crumblier and crunchy texture.

How long will these lemon scones last? I would recommend eating them within two days. Keep any leftovers in a sealed container.

Ho do I get my scones to be nice and tall? Place them very close to each other on the baking pan. They will touch as they bake but this keeps the sides soft.

How long should I mix the dough for? As soon as the dough comes together, no more than 30 seconds is long enough to form the dough into a ball.

What can I use if I don't have a cookie cutter? You can use the lid from a mason jar or an upturned glass.  

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Recipe

Delicious and flaky lemon scones drizzled with lemon icing.

Course:
Breakfast
COOKing TIME:
19 minutes
Total TIME:
29 minutes
CUISINE:
American
PREP TIME:
10 minutes
SERVINGS:
24

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • zest of two lemons
  • 1 ¼ tbsp poppy seeds
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 4 ounces cold butter, grated
  • ¼ tsp lemon oil (optional)
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Ingredient Swaps

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper and dust lightly with a little flour.
  2. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, zest and poppy seeds.
  3. Add the buttermilk, grated butter and lemon oil.
  4. Mix gently with your hand or a wooden spoon until a dough forms.
  5. Dust your table lightly with some extra flour and dump the dough onto the flour.
  6. Gently knead the dough into a ball shape and then press it down to make a rectangle shape roughly 12 inches by 8 inches. Try and keep the dough about an inch thick.
  7. Slice the dough into a 6 x 4 pattern and transfer the scones to your prepared pan keeping them close to each other on the pan.
  8. Brush the scones with the milk and sprinkle with sugar.
  9. Bake in the oven until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
  10. Let the scones cool while you make the icing.
  11. Mix the powdered sugar with the lemon juice until smooth.
  12. Drizzle the icing over the scones and serve.
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