These Lemon Buttermilk Scones are light and fluffy are bursting with lemon flavor, then drizzled with the most incredible tangy lemon glaze.
These scones are heavenly, buttery fluffy scones. However, there’s not a lot of butter in them, but the buttermilk makes them so perfectly crumbly and light. When you make scones you want to make sure you don’t over knead the dough, all you need to do is knead it 4 or 5 times, a gentle touch is all they need.
Don’t be scared of scones, making them or eating them. This easy recipe includes lots of fresh bright lemon and a bit of buttermilk to ensure they’re perfectly cooked and delectably tender. They’re such a filling little breakfast that won’t leave you feeling sugar buzzed or carb sluggish for the rest of the day. This hand held treat is so loaded with flavor and wonderful texture that I’m sure you’ll be craving this recipe for years to come.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!
Scones
- Flour – Regular all purpose works just fine for this recipe.
- Sugar – We want just plain white granulated to achieve our crisp, clean sweet flavor.
- Salt – It’s super important to ensure all of our baking is properly seasoned.
- Lemon – We want the zest from approximately 2 lemons.
- Egg – 1 yolk is all that we need.
- Buttermilk – This will ensure our scones are super tender and have great volume.
- Vanilla – Vanilla extract will really set this whole recipe off, it’s like a secret weapon flavor enhancer.
- Butter – Unsalted as we want to control the sodium content of our dish.
Lemon glaze
- Icing sugar – This finely ground sugar dissolves easily and is perfect for icing and glazes. Don’t be tempted by the granulated used earlier, it will give your glaze a gritty texture.
- Lemon juice – Just a bit more of the fresh stuff for us lemon fiends.
- Salt – We’ll want to season our glaze ever so slightly.
- Milk – Used sparingly to thin out the glaze if need be.
- Corn syrup – This ingredient will add some syrupy sweetness and great consistency.
How To Make Lemon Buttermilk Scones
- Preheat the oven: To 400 F degrees.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients, separately: In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Whisk to combine everything. In a small bowl whisk the egg yolk, buttermilk and vanilla extract together.
- Form the dough: Add the butter to the flour bowl, and using a pastry blender, cut in the butter to make small pea sized pieces. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the dough pulls together. Lightly flour a work surface and dust your hands with flour.
- Prepare scones for the oven: Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead it gently about 5 time. Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk that’s about 3/4 of an inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter. Cut the disk into 8 wedges of equal size. Place the wedges onto a baking sheet.
- Bake the scones: Bake them for about 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack.
- Make the lemon glaze: To make the lemon glaze, add the confectioners’ sugar to a bowl. Add the corn syrup, milk, lemon juice, pinch of salt and start whisking until smooth. Add more milk until the glaze is runny but still thick.
- Finish the scones: While the scones are cooling drizzle them generously with the glaze then garnish with more lemon zest.
Want To Make Sugared Lemon Slices?
It’s easy and I highly recommend them! Take your scone, rip a piece off, drizzle some more glaze over them, put a sugared lemon slice over the scone piece then pop it in your mouth. I’m just saying, it’s heavenly!!
- Cut 2 lemons into thin slices. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 1 3/4 cups water in a large skillet over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Place the lemon slices in the skillet in a single layer, and simmer very gently, not letting the mixture come to a boil. Turn the lemon slices occasionally and cook for about 30-45 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and lay the lemon slices on a sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow them to cool for 1-2 hours.
Some Tips
- The key to flaky scones is cold butter. Try placing the butter into the freezer for 5 minutes before cubing. And be sure not to over mix with your hands otherwise it will melt too much.
- To ensure you’re using a good lightened amount of flour without sifting, scoop up a cup full of flour and gently shake it back out into your bag. Then gently re-scoop the air sifted flour and level gently with your finger. You’ll find it makes quite a difference!
- If regular milk is all you have on hand keep in mind that you can make your own quasi buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice per cup of milk.
Storing Leftover Scones
Since these scones contain dairy, store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. These can also be easily frozen! Freeze for up to 3 months. Wrap them in plastic wrap individually then place them in a ziploc bag. The spread will not freeze well but it will last in the fridge for 3 – 4 days.
Storing Lemon Glaze
The glaze can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
More Delicious Breakfast Treats To Try:
- Banana Buzz Scones
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Apple Cinnamon Scones
- Classic Pancakes
- Easy Waffles
- Banana Fritters
- Pancake Muffins
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Lemon Buttermilk Scones
Ingredients
For Scones
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar granulated
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon lemon zest from about 2 lemons
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon butter unsalted
For Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar same as icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup light
- 1 tablespoon milk plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.
- In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Whisk to combine everything.
- In a small bowl whisk the egg yolk, buttermilk and vanilla extract together.
- Add the butter to the flour bowl, and using a pastry blender, cut in the butter to make small pea sized pieces.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the dough pulls together. Lightly flour a work surface and dust your hands with flour.
- Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead it gently about 5 time. Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk that’s about 3/4 of an inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter.
- Cut the disk into 8 wedges of equal size. Place the wedges onto a baking sheet.
- Bake them for about 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack.
- To make the lemon glaze, add the confectioners’ sugar to a bowl. Add the corn syrup, milk, lemon juice, pinch of salt and start whisking until smooth. Add more milk until the glaze is runny but still thick.
- While the scones are cooling drizzle them generously with the glaze then garnish with more lemon zest.
Recipe Notes
- To make the sugared lemon slices that you see in the photos:
- Cut 2 lemons into thin slices. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 1 3/4 cups water in a large skillet over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Place the lemon slices in the skillet in a single layer, and simmer very gently, not letting the mixture come to a boil. Turn the lemon slices occasionally and cook for about 30-45 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and lay the lemon slices on a sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow them to cool for 1-2 hours.
- Since these scones contain dairy, store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. These can also be easily frozen! Freeze for up to 3 months. Wrap them in plastic wrap individually then place them in a ziploc bag. The spread will not freeze well but it will last in the fridge for 3 – 4 days.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
These are so yummy!!! Just made them for Thanksgiving morning. Beautiful too.
I’ve just made this recipe and it’s in the oven. For some reason I followed the instructions to the letter but my dough was so wet I couldn’t knead it without adding another cup of flour. Could it be that it should be 3 cups of flour to one cup buttermilk? My other scone recipe that I usually use calls for three cups flour and one cup milk. Thanks!
It could be your environment, if you’re in a humid environment, you might need a bit more flour added.
I agree with Kate. The amount of buttermilk is too much. I followed her advice and only used 2/3 cup of buttermilk. It was not humid when I made these scones.
I made these this morning and OMG what an amazing recipe!! In my household we all love lemon and these were a huge hit!!!
These look amazing. I’m just curious about why you went with baking powder instead of baking soda with a recipe that’s so acidic?
Baking powder does actually react with acid! It contains baking soda and a 2nd dry acid such as cream of tartar. Using just baking soda in this recipe where it calls for a lot of leavener, 1 tbsp, you can end up with an unpleasant aftertaste.
This recipe is fantastic! Even though I am self isolating at home, I had all the ingredients.