Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
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This lemon poppy seed scone recipe is everything you want in a bakery-style treat, but made easy for baking at home. The scones are soft and tender, made with heavy cream for a rich crumb and filled with fresh lemon zest for a bright citrus flavor. A simple tart lemon glaze melts into every nook and cranny. If you’re baking for a weekend brunch or afternoon tea, these lemon poppy seed scones come together quickly and taste irresistible.
Table of Contents
- Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- In Photos: How To Make Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- More Breakfast Recipes
Lemon and poppy seed scones will brighten any morning! They are loaded with fresh lemon flavor and crunchy poppy seeds. Ridiculously simple to make and sure to become a new favorite.
Scones can get a bad reputation as being dry and heavy, which is why we are making cream scones. American-style scones often use butter, which can make them denser. By leaving out the butter and using cream, the final scones have a soft, slightly more cake-like texture.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These lemon poppy seed scones are tender and flaky on the inside with a hint of crunch from the poppy seeds.
- The scones are made with heavy cream, which makes them indulgent without being heavy.
- Fresh lemon (both zest and juice) brings a bright flavor to both the scones and glaze.
- Scones are fancy enough for entertaining, but also simple enough for a quiet breakfast at home.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you’re cooking.
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides structure.
- Poppy seeds: They add a little crunch and a slightly nutty flavor.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is used in the scones; it adds flavor and moisture. Powdered sugar (not shown) is used in the tart lemon icing.
- Salt: Kosher salt helps to balance all the flavors.
- Baking powder: Helps give the lemon poppy seed scones some lift.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch adds softness and tenderness to the baked scones.
- Heavy cream: Use whipping cream or heavy whipping cream. You want a cream with 30-36% fat, we are making scones without butter, so we need the fat from the cream.
- Egg: Helps bind the homemade scone dough.
- Vanilla: Adds a layer of flavor.
- Lemons: Fresh lemons are used for lemon zest and lemon juice. It provides the bright citrus flavor.
- Turbinado sugar (not shown): Optional, but it adds a little extra texture.
In Photos: How To Make Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
Step 1: Whisk Dry Ingredients
In a bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, kosher salt, poppy seeds, and sugar. Place the bowl in the freezer.
Step 2: Mix Wet Ingredients
Mix together the heavy cream, large egg, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a spouted measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in the refrigerator.
Step 3: Combine
Remove the bowl of dry ingredients from the freezer, and remove the heavy cream mixture from the refrigerator. Give it another stir to ensure everything is evenly combined. Slowly drizzle the cream mixture over the dry ingredients while gently mixing with a fork. You want a wet dough with no dry flour at the bottom of the bowl, but not as wet as muffin batter.
Step 4: Portion & Chill
Divide the dough into two equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, gently shape each piece of dough into a rough 5×7-inch rectangle.
Transfer both rectangles to the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for one hour.
Step 5: Preheat & Prep For Baking
20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the dough from the freezer (or refrigerator) and, with a sharp knife, cut each rectangle into 6 equal squares.
Place the squares back on the baking pan about 1-2 inches apart. Brush the tops of each scone with heavy cream, then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Step 6: Bake
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are just browning and no wet dough remains in the center. Allow the scones to cool for about 15 minutes before glazing.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Make room in your refrigerator or freezer prior to starting the recipe. The scones do need time to chill prior to baking.
- Try to keep the lemon poppy seed scone ingredients as cold as possible. Cold dough hitting the oven is how we get tall, flaky scones.
- Don’t overwork the dough; it can lead to tough scones.
- Zest the fresh lemons before juicing them!
More Breakfast Recipes
Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 345g
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 24g
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, 50g
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream, 295mL, plus 2-3 additional tablespoons
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 45mL
- 1 large lemon*, zest only
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling over the top of the scones before baking**
Tart Lemon Glaze***
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 120g
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 15mL
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste****
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 15-30mL
Instructions
To Make The Scones:
- In a bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking power, kosher salt, poppy seeds and sugar. Place the bowl in the freezer.
- Mix together the heavy cream, large egg, vanilla, lemon zest (from one large lemon, but save aside 1 teaspoon for the glaze) and lemon juice in a spouted measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in the refrigerator.
- Prepare a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the bowl of dry ingredients from the freezer and remove the heavy cream mixture from the refrigerator and give it another stir to ensure everything is evenly combined. Slowly drizzle the cream mixture over the dry ingredients while gently mixing with a fork. You want a wet dough with no dry flour at the bottom of the bowl, but you don’t want something as wet as muffin batter. Avoid overworking the dough, which will result in tough scones. Once all the cream is mixed in, use your hands to gently gather the dough into a ball; if the shape holds you are good. If the mixture is too dry to hold together, add a little heavy cream, a teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, gently shape each piece of dough into a rough 5×7 inch rectangle.
- Transfer both rectangles to the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for one hour. (You can also cover and refrigerate the dough overnight and bake the next morning).
- 20 minutes prior to baking the scones, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the dough from the freezer (or refrigerator) and with a sharp knife cut each rectangle into 6 equal squares.
- Place the squares back on the baking pan about 1-2 inches apart. Brush the tops of each scone with heavy cream (1 – 2 tablespoons), then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just browning at the edges and no wet dough remains in the center.
- Allow the scones to cool about 15 minutes before glazing.
To Make The Lemon Glaze:
- Add the powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, the lemon zest and vanilla. Stir together, the glaze will be thick like a paste. Add additional lemon juice, a teaspoon at a time, until a thick, but pourable glaze forms (similar to the consistency of cool honey).
Notes
- Use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream that is 30-36% fat.
- *Save about 1 teaspoon of the zest aside to use in the glaze.
- **A coarse sanding sugar such as Turbinado, Demerara or raw sugar work well. If you don’t have any of those, you can also use granulated sugar.
- ***If you like a thick layer of glaze, feel free to double the glaze ingredients.
- ****vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract both work
