Ingredients
For the Scones
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large eggs
- 1 lemon zested
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter cold and grated (2 sticks)
For the Lemon Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons whole milk more as needed
Don't Want to Plan? I Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week's Weekly Meal Plans!Equipment
Farberware Mixing Bowls I love these mixing bowls. You see them in almost all of my videos.
Farberware Measuring Cups There's a good bit of measuring in this one.
Measuring Spoons For the baking powder and the salt.
Zester You'll zest two lemons in this recipe, one for the dough and one for the glaze.
Box grater For grating the cold butter straight into the flour.
Pastry blender I used to use two knives, but once I found a pastry blender, I have never gone back!
Rolling Pin My mama gave me a heavy marble one years ago and I've never used another.
Cookie Baking Sheet To bake the cut triangles on.
Half Sheet Baking/Cooling Rack The scones cool on it, and then they drip dry on it after dipping.
Whisk For getting the glaze completely smooth.
Method Start Cooking
For the Scones
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, and the zest of one lemon. Set it aside to steep for 10 to 15 minutes while you work on the dry ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Grate the cold butter on the large holes of a box grater and add it to the flour mixture. Work it in with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- Pour the cream mixture into the flour and butter and stir gently with a fork until it comes together. It will still look crumbly, and that is exactly right.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Press it together into a ball, then flatten it into a rough rectangle.
- Roll the dough out about 3/4 inch thick, into a rectangle roughly 18 by 10 inches. Trim the edges square with a knife.
- Cut the rectangle into 12 squares, then cut each square in half diagonally to make 24 triangles.
- Transfer the scones to a parchment-lined or ungreased cookie sheet, spaced slightly apart. Bake at 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes, pulling them just before they start to turn golden.
- Move the scones to a wire rack and let them cool completely before glazing.
For the Lemon Glaze
- Whisk the powdered sugar together with the zest and juice of one lemon.
- Add the milk a little at a time, whisking until the glaze is completely smooth and just thin enough to dip.
- One at a time, roll the top of each cooled scone through the glaze, letting the excess drip off, then set it back on the wire rack.
- Let the glaze set completely, about an hour, before serving.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Dip, don't drizzle. You can drizzle the glaze or spoon it on, but dipping gets the most glaze on the scone and gives you that smooth white top. Set them back on the wire rack afterward so the extra drips off instead of pooling.
Glaze amount: 2 cups of powdered sugar makes plenty for all 24. Add the milk slowly — it thins out faster than you expect, and you want it just loose enough to roll a scone through.
Storage: once glazed, these keep several days at room temperature in a covered container.
Sizing: this makes 24 medium scones. For a brunch or tea party with lots of other food on the table, cut them smaller — the big ones don't get eaten as well.
Variation: this started as a lemon rosemary scone. If you want the original, add a tablespoon of finely minced fresh rosemary to the cream mixture and a teaspoon more to the glaze.
Glaze amount: 2 cups of powdered sugar makes plenty for all 24. Add the milk slowly — it thins out faster than you expect, and you want it just loose enough to roll a scone through.
Storage: once glazed, these keep several days at room temperature in a covered container.
Sizing: this makes 24 medium scones. For a brunch or tea party with lots of other food on the table, cut them smaller — the big ones don't get eaten as well.
Variation: this started as a lemon rosemary scone. If you want the original, add a tablespoon of finely minced fresh rosemary to the cream mixture and a teaspoon more to the glaze.
Keep the butter cold. Grating it straight from the fridge is the whole trick, and it works into the flour faster than cubes do — which matters in a warm kitchen. Let the cream steep. Sitting the zest in the cream for 10 to 15 minutes is what puts the lemon flavor into the scone itself instead of only in the icing. Mix with a fork. This is biscuit dough, and it likes a fork. Stop as soon as it comes together. Cool them all the way. A warm scone will melt the glaze right off. Wait until they are completely cool before you dip. Zest two lemons. One goes in the dough and one goes in the glaze, and the flecks in the icing are what make them look like they came from a bakery.
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