These blueberry scones are crisp on the outside, moist and buttery in the middle, and bursting with juicy berries. Perfect for breakfast or brunch!
These blueberry scones are everything a good scone should be. They’re moist and tender (no dry scones here!), with crisp, buttery, and golden brown edges. And they don’t skimp on the fruit—you get a sweet, juicy blueberry in every bite.
I love making these blueberry scones when I’m having friends or family over for brunch. These bakery-style treats look and taste impressive next to a steaming pot of coffee or tea, but in reality, they couldn’t be easier to make. This blueberry scone recipe comes together with 10 basic ingredients in under an hour.
Even if you’re a first-time scone maker, you’ll be able to pull off this recipe. In fact, one of our readers, Jean, commented, “These blueberry scones are amazing. This is my first attempt at making scones and the instructions are very clear.” I hope you’ll try it!
How to Make Blueberry Scones
This blueberry scones recipe starts with 10 basic ingredients:
Blueberry Scones Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Cane sugar – For sweetness. I also sprinkle coarse sugar on top of the scones to create a crisp, golden brown crust.
- Baking powder and an egg – To help the scones puff up as they bake.
- Frozen butter – Yes, frozen! It won’t melt until you get the scones in the oven, which makes them tender and flaky. You’ll grate it on the large holes of a box grater before adding it to the dough.
- Buttermilk – For moisture, richness, and a slightly tangy flavor. Heavy cream and full-fat coconut milk work too. If you don’t have any of these options on hand, you can make a buttermilk substitute by mixing a scant 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice. Set it aside for 5 minutes before adding it to the dough.
- Blueberries – Fresh blueberries and frozen blueberries both work well here. Just a heads up that the frozen berries will give the dough a blueish color! They might not look quite as pretty, but they’ll still taste delicious.
- Vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Preparing the Dough
To make these blueberry scones, start by whisking together the dry ingredients—the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Next, grate the frozen butter on the large holes of a box grater. Use your hands to work the butter shreds into the flour until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. You want some of the butter to stay in larger pieces. When they melt in the oven, they’ll give the scones a flaky texture.
Add the blueberries to the flour mixture and toss to distribute.
Then, add the wet ingredients. Whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl, and pour them over the flour mixture.
Use a spatula to mix until a shaggy dough forms. Then, switch to your hands and work in any remaining dry flour.
The dough should be soft, but not sticky. If it feels sticky, work in a little more flour. If it feels dry, work in a bit more buttermilk.
Shaping the Scones
Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly floured surface.
Flatten it into a 7- to 8-inch disk about 1 inch thick.
Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 equal wedges.
Baking the Blueberry Scones
Freeze the scones while you preheat the oven. Place them on a large plate or baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes to chill the butter. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Then, bake the scones. Remove them from the freezer, brush with buttermilk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown, 18 to 27 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool, or enjoy warm from the oven!
Blueberry Scone Recipe Tips
- Use grated frozen butter. Like a good pie crust, the best scones are flaky. They get this delicious texture when small pieces of butter in the dough melt in the oven, creating air pockets. If the butter melts before the scones go into the oven, while you’re working with the dough, these pockets won’t form. For perfect flaky scones, I use the same trick I did to make the flaky biscuits in my blueberry cobbler recipe: frozen grated butter. It’s very cold, and the small shreds don’t require much handling, so they won’t melt until they’re in the oven.
- Freeze the scones before baking. It cools down the butter after you’ve worked it into the dough. Remember, cold butter=light and flaky scones.
- Work in more liquid or flour if necessary. If your scone dough feels too sticky or dry, don’t hesitate to add more flour or liquid, respectively. The exact ratio you’ll need can vary based on factors like the humidity in your kitchen, whether you’re using buttermilk or cream, etc. Just add a little at a time until you have a soft, workable dough.
How to Serve and Store
You have a few options for serving these blueberry scones:
- Plain – They’re delicious on their own!
- With a flavorful spread – Slather them with butter, jam, honey butter, or lemon curd.
- With a glaze – Drizzle them with my 2-ingredient lemon glaze (pictured). For an extra pop of lemon flavor, sprinkle them with lemon zest too.
Store leftover blueberry scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze them for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature, or quickly defrost unglazed blueberry scones in the microwave.
More Favorite Baking Recipes
If you love this recipe, try one of these easy baked goods next:
- Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Blueberry Muffins
- Banana Bread Recipe
- Zucchini Bread
- Or any of these 25 Super Fun Baking Recipes!
Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, frozen
- 1½ cups blueberries
- ½ cup cold buttermilk, plus more for brushing*
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Coarse sugar, for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- On the large holes of a box grater, grate the frozen butter. Add to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Use your hands to work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the blueberries and toss to incorporate.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla, if using. Pour over the flour mixture and use a spatula to mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead with your hands to incorporate any remaining dry flour. The dough should feel soft but not sticky. If it’s sticky, work in a bit more flour. If it’s dry, drizzle in a little more buttermilk. Form the dough into a ball.
- Transfer the dough ball to a lightly floured surface and form it into a 7- to 8-inch disk about 1 inch thick. Slice into 8 equal wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little space around each scone.
- Freeze the scones for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the scones from the freezer and brush with buttermilk. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using. Bake for 18 to 27 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
So delicious! We normally buy lemon blueberry scones from a local bakery but now we can make our own! I did have to add more flour than the 2 cups called for because my batter was very sticky, but I used Einkhorn all-purpose flour so perhaps that was a factor? I added lemon zest to the wet batter and also made the lemon glaze (adding more lemon zest) to drizzle on top and…wow. Definitely a repeat recipe!
Meant to give this five stars and not four!
Gotta say I have trouble with warm desserts. This is so good I used the tart blue berries so it would be much more bitter. I like tart things. The lemon drizzle over it is perfectly balanced. It’s my first time making scones. I’m learning many new recipes online and this is another one I’ll be making again. Thank you.
Thought I was gonna mess it up to but no it turned out perfectly ?
Hi Jasmine, I’m so glad you loved the scones!
Can I use an egg substitute and what can I
Hi Kay, you can replace the egg with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons water. Let the flax mixture thicken for 5 minutes before whisking it with the buttermilk and vanilla.
So good! We had them with dried cranberries, which I forgot to add until the dough was pulled together. Even with the extra manipulation to add the berries, the scones came out tender and delicious. Leftovers slightly warmed in the microwave this morning with a dab of cold butter. Yum.
You show a glaze but I don’t see the recipe for it. Did I miss it?
Hi Debbie, here’s the glaze: https://dailycove.info/lemon-glaze/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
Awesome. Well balanced proportionally compared to most. Absolutely my new go-to now. No guesswork on reducing the amt of sugar, the yogurt too is among the magic that gave it ‘perfect crumb’. Moist. AF! I got to use a fresh high-grade olive oil only just gifted to me from Greece. Luv’d the lemon sugar as it started to transform under my fingertips! Simple. Perfect and delicious. Thank you SO very much.
I’m so glad you loved them so much!
This is my third month doing the recipe of the month club and it’s so fun. These scones are delish. Perfect way to start out a ladies weekend.
So glad you love the Cooking Club (and the scones), Jessica! Thanks for joining in 🙂
These blueberry scones are amazing. This is my first attempt at making scones and the instructions are very clear. I made these for the May 2024 Cooking Club and they are bursting with blueberry and lemon flavor. Thank you for all your recipes. I love all your books as well.
Hi Jean, I’m so glad you love the recipes, and especially the scones!
These are the best scones! They are moist and flaky and perfectly sweet. I loved the blueberry and can’t wait to try other variations. Delicious!
I’m so glad you loved them, Adrienne!
If you’re using fresh blueberries freeze them or just use frozen blueberries. They added too much liquid and made my scones soft and mushy before baking. Frozen blueberries would also keep the butter from melting before popping in the freezer.
That being said, these scones turned out wonderful.
Hi Telly, I’m glad you enjoyed the scones!
These scones were delicious! I used half wheat and half white flower, added the lemon zest but didn’t make the glaze. They were great and perfect for spring! Will be making again and might try the glaze next time 🙂
I’m so glad you loved them, Leslie!
These were delish! I added a lemon drizzle to the top because….blueberries and lemon!, need I say more?
I have to start by saying that I am generally not a lover of scones. That said, I made these for breakfast when we had guests at the cabin Memorial Day weekend. They were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone at the table, including me. (And this was a tough crowd). They were flaky, buttery, moist and bursting with juicy blueberries. There is no doubt that I will be including these in my repertoire.
Hi Ellen, I’m so glad everyone loved them!
I enjoyed making these scones! I have always loved a good scone, so really appreciated this recipe. I added white chocolate chips for fun. The tip to freeze the butter first added a nice crunch on the outside yet still resulted in a soft center – perfect combo!
I’m so glad you loved them!
I made these blueberry scones for Sunday brunch and they were quite a hit. So flaky and tender. It’s been years since I made scones and had forgotten how good they are. They were easy to make (the hardest part was grating the frozen butter!) and came together quickly. I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk cause that’s what I had on hand plus how can you go wrong with cream!?! So yummy. I will no doubt make the scones soon again.
I’m so glad you loved them!
These were very tasty and fairly easy to do! I like baking so would definitely love something like them again for the cooking club:)
Loved how I didn’t have to chill the dough overnight like in my family recipe!
My husband made the scones for Mother’s Day and they were amazing! We used GF flour to accommodate our niece and everyone raved about the recipe. The lemon glaze was delish too!
Hi Lisa, I’m happy to hear they worked with GF flour – can you share what brand you used?
We don’t always have fresh blueberries available.
How would you adapt this recipe with frozen blueberries so it doesn’t make it look like a blue mess?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Ronda, frozen blueberries will stain the batter more (there’s not a way around that) but they’re delicious either way.
The same just happened to me today as I was making them for the first time. The dough was irremediably moist. It was impossible to cut them in 8 elegant slices. I did the chocolate chips’ ones as well at the same time and the result was amazing. Next time I’ll be using only fresh blueberries.
Btw I love your recipes. They are staples in my kitchen. Cheers from Montreal Canada
I used fresh and I still had to add almost a whole cup more of flour to make it remotely workable ?♀️ maybe it’s the humidity. I don’t know
Hi Elizabeth, the humidity could definitely affect the amount of flour you need here. Glad you went ahead and added more!
Or another idea – you could make them with dried fruit.
First, I love love scones and this recipe was really easy and delicious. I really liked the substitution of buttermilk with the milk/lemon juice. I also made the lemon glaze and drizzled over the scones- my husband snagged just as soon as I was done. Would make it again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are so soft and delicious! I had to hold myself back from eating them straight out of the oven!
I’m so glad you loved them!