My lemon poppy seed scone recipe is packed with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice and finished with a tangy lemon glaze. They're tender, moist, and I show you the technique for getting flaky interiors and crisp, golden edges. Made by hand in just 20 minutes with a few simple ingredients including butter and heavy cream, these scones are the perfect way to start your day and treat yourself to a refreshing and easy indulgence.
Scones have a reputation of being dry and bland, but not these. After multiple tests, starting with my cardamom brown sugar scones I discovered the secret to tender, moist, delicious scones is plenty of heavy cream, butter, and just the right amount of flour, no eggs required. For more citrus flavor try my orange cream scones.
This recipe is easy and made by hand. There are no fancy techniques or hard-to-find ingredients. Serve these scones plain, with an easy lemon glaze, or for a special treat try them with my homemade lemon curd.
Frozen Butter is the Key
For the best results and to ensure a beautiful rise in the oven, I grate frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Because the butter is grated, it's already in small pieces and I don't have to work the dough as much to mix it in. This method reduces the chance that the butter will melt while the dough is mixed.
A short refrigeration right before baking re-chills the butter for the perfect rise in the oven.
Lemon Poppy Seed Scone Ingredients
- Lemon Zest. The lemon zest is the major flavor component for these components. The lemon is zested directly into the sugar to maximize the flavor and the release of the lemon oils. Use fresh lemons with a bright, shiny peel. If the peel is dull looking and shriveled, do not use for zesting. You won't get much zest or flavor from the peel.
- Fresh Lemon Juice. The lemon juice adds that extra lemony flavor to the scone. Don't use bottled juice. It won't have the same flavor and may even taste a little tinny.
Full ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
The basic recipe for the scones is easy to make. You don't need any special tools and since the butter is grated into the flour mixture, you won't need a pastry blender or food processor to mix the butter into the dough.
Lemon and poppy seeds are a classic combination, but if you don't have poppy seeds you can make regular lemon scones. You might miss that poppy seed crunch, but they'll still taste amazing.
Step 1: Zest the lemon onto the sugar and use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar.
Step 2: Place the flour, ginger, poppy seeds, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and whisk to combine.
Step 3: Juice the lemon or lemons until you have two tablespoons of lemon juice.
Step 4: Add the flour and poppy seed mixture to the lemon-sugar mixture and whisk all the ingredients together.
Step 5: Grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mixture. If you're using a box greater it should fit comfortably into the bowl.
Step 6: Toss the butter in with your hands until the butter is coated with flour and dispersed throughout the dry ingredients.
Step 7: Add the heavy cream and stir the dough together using a silicone spatula until moist clumps of dough start to form.
Don't overwork the dough. There will still be some flour not thoroughly mixed in. That is okay, this flour will be mixed in when we shape the dough.
Step 8: Pour the scone dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gather the dough and press it together into a rough-looking rectangle.
Use a bench scraper to fold the dough into a letter fold. Use your hands to press and shape the dough into a rectangle. Repeat this step two more times. After folding and shaping the dough will come together and be a little sticky.
Step 9: Shape it into an 8-inch circle. Use an 8-inch round pan as a guide to shape the dough into an even circle.
Step 10: Cut the circle into 8 pieces with a sharp knife. Please the unbaked scones on a board or tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
At this point, the scones can be frozen. Place the scones in a single layer on a sheet pan, freeze them for an hour, and then place them in a freezer bag. When ready to bake, preheat the oven and take them straight from the freezer to the oven. You may need to add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
Step 11: Place the scones on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Use a large baking sheet (12 x 18-inch) so the scones are not crowded and have plenty of room to rise and spread.
Step 12: Brush each scone with the egg wash.
Step 13: Bake the scones for 15-18 minutes until the scones have doubled in height and the tops are golden brown.
The center of the scones will be at 204F degrees°. Check the temperature by inserting an instant-read thermometer in the center of one scone.
Step 14: Remove the scones from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer the scones to a wire rack to completely cool. If adding a lemon glaze to the scone let the scones cool completely to room temperature.
How to Make a Simple Lemon Glaze
The sweet lemon glaze or lemon icing is easy to make. Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl, add the lemon juice, and stir until the glaze is smooth.
Spoon or drizzle the icing over the lemon scone and add a sprinkle of poppy seeds or fresh lemon zest. Serve them with homemade lemon curd for an extra burst of lemon flavor.
Pro Tips for Making These Scones
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour to ensure the right amount of flour. Too much flour will make the scone dry and too little will make the dough hard to work with.
- Use cold ingredients for this recipe. The cold butter will melt as the scones bake releasing steam and causing the scone to rise. The cold heavy cream will keep the dough cool.
- Fold the dough. After kneading the dough, fold the dough three times to create layers when the scones are baked.
- Don't overwork the dough. Overworking the dough will cause gluten to develop which will result in a chewy scone. If the dough starts shrinking as you are rolling or patting it out, you have overworked it.
If you make these scrumptious scones please leave a rating and a comment below. I would love to hear from you.
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Lemon Poppy Seed Scones with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Scones
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (6 grams) lemon zest about 2 or 3 lemons
- 2 1/2 cups (315 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons (20 grams) poppy seeds
- 8 tablespoons (114 grams) unsalted butter frozen
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) heavy cream cold
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Egg Wash
- 1 large (50 grams) egg
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream or milk
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (120 grams) powdered sugar
- 4-5 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Place the sugar in a large bowl and zest the lemon directly on top of the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the sugar and lemon zest together. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger and poppy seeds to the bowl and whisk the ingredients together for about 30 seconds.
- Use a box grater to grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Use your fingers to toss the butter and flour together. Measure the heavy cream into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add lemon juice and whisk to combine. Add the cream mixture to the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients together until just blended and most of the flour is mixed in. The dough will look shaggy and there will still be some flour not mixed in.
- Pour the dough onto a floured work surface and knead the dough to mix in the remaining flour. Form a square (approximately 8 x 8 inches). Fold the dough in half and use your hands to pat it into an 8 x 8 square. Fold the dough again in half. Shape the dough into an 8-inch circle, about 1-inch high. If you have an 8-inch round cake pan, use that as a template for an 8-inch circle. Cut the dough into 8 wedges.
- Place the wedges on a tray or board and refrigerate for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400°F while the scones are chilling.
Bake the Scones
- Preheat the oven to 400°F while the scones are chilling.
- Whisk together the egg and the cream (or milk). Place the unbaked scones on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the scones with the egg wash.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the internal temperature is 204°F degrees. The scones will have golden brown tops and double in height. Remove the scones from the oven. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack. If adding the lemon glaze let the scones cool to room temperature before adding the glaze.
Make the Lemon Glaze
- Place the powdered sugar and 4 teaspoons of the lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir together with a spoon until the glaze is smooth. At this point the glaze will be thick. If you want a thinner glaze add the remaining lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. Add the glaze to the scones and enjoy.
Storing the Scones
- Room Temperature: Store the scones for up to 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container without the lemon glaze. Once the lemon glaze is added the scones should be consumed right away or refrigerated.Refrigerator: The scones with or without the lemon glaze can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Wrap each scone in plastic wrap so they don't dry out.Freezer: Once the scones have cooled. Wrap each one in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer bag or freezer safe container. Freeze the scones for up to 1 month. When ready to eat, place them in a 300F oven and bake until they are warm all the way through.
simon andrew says
It seems very tasty , I will try at home
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Simon
Thank you. And please let me know how they turn out. I like getting feedback on my recipes. It helps me be a better baker.
Agustina says
Way too much heavy cream. The dough was so wet and basically impossible to work with
SB says
I agree. It was really wet. I had to add some flour to make it an actual scone like dough.
Trina says
This was a great recipe! I followed it exactly as written; my dough was not too wet. I did not add a final sprinkle of sugar or a glaze, so it had a nice biscuit flavor and went well with buttery scrambled eggs and dill. I had a second scone later for a snack with a little lemon curd, which I also enjoyed. I think next time I will add a sweet glaze or a little sugar on top of half the batch so I can have both savory and sweet. Thanks!
Makensi says
Hi Cheryl! I just made these yesterday and they turned out perfect. It was my first attempt at from-scratch scones and you helped me to be impressed by myself. I shared them with some friends and now I'm getting new flavor combo requests 🙂 I look forward to trying out more of your recipes!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Makensi
I am so glad to hear that the recipe worked for you and that you and your friends enjoyed them. That's always a good thing when your friends ask for more. And true confession, when I'm happy with how a recipe worked out I dance around the kitchen.
Thank you so much for visiting the blog and trying this recipe. There are a lot of scone recipes out there so I really appreciate you taking the time to try mine.
Wendy says
The recipe at the bottom of the lemon poppyseed scones calls for ground ginger…is that a typo?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Wendy
No that is not a typo.
Mary A says
I liked being able to mix everything in one bowl. The most difficult part (for me) was grating the frozen butter.🤪 They are in the oven now and smell wonderful. They are golden brown. I can’t wait to try them. Thank you for this recipe.
Donna says
What a great technique! Grating the butter was so much easier than my usual method of rubbing the butter into the flour. And the folding of the dough created pockets for the water in the butter to expand and create a nice rise to the scones. Perfect amount of lemon - very bright.
I do have to admit that when I first mixed the dough, I thought it way too wet. That's when I realized I left out a cup of flour! But I mixed it in, right on the counter and the dough came together beautifully - and forgivingly!
I formed the dough into a 9"x9" square, cut into 9 squares and then into 18 triangles. I froze the shaped scones overnight. The next morning, I removed them from the freezer while the oven was heating, brushed with the egg-wash, and popped them into the hot oven for ~ 15 minutes. Easy, fresh scones in the morning.
Ruth Marx says
Followed the recipe to the letter and the final product is nothing like the pictures. The dough was way too wet and the scones never rose. They also needed to be baked for twice as long as specified to be cooked through.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Ruth
Thanks for trying the recipe and for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear the scones didn’t turn out as expected—I know how disappointing that can be.
The dough does start out pretty wet but should come together as you gently knead and fold it. If it still feels too sticky, a bit of flour on your hands or work surface can help.
Not rising could be due to the baking powder—if it’s not fresh, it can really affect the final bake. As for needing twice the baking time, that’s unusual. It might be that the oven was running cooler than expected.
I appreciate you taking the time to share this. I’ll review the instructions to see if I can clarify anything. If you’d like to troubleshoot more, feel free to reach out—I’d love to help.
Zoe says
Following the recipe to the T, it was way too wet to knead ever and I only use a scale when baking, not faulting measuring cups which can happen. I popped the wet dough into cupcake trays and it generally worked out and crisped up nicely though! Maybe more lemon needs to be squeezed into recipe though, came through but I always want it to be more.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Zoe
Thank you for making these scones and sharing your results! I'm sorry it didn't work for you, but the trick to use the muffin tips is clever. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but not so wet that it can’t be shaped. If you’d like, I’d be happy to help troubleshoot with you. And yes, if you love a stronger lemon flavor, adding a little extra zest is a great idea.