This Lemon poppy seed scones recipe is bursting with the tartness of fresh lemons, balancing perfectly with a moist, flakey crumb and the delightful crunch of poppy seeds. A fresh lemon glaze takes them over the top!
Preheat the oven to 400 ℉, and either line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, a Silpat mat, or spray with non stick cooking spray.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2 cup flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ⅛ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt
Add in the softened, cubed butter and cut into the flour using your hands or a pastry cutter.PRO TIP: Freeze the butter, the grate it with a box grater. Then, add to the flour mixture and simply toss to coat with the dry ingredients. Makes cutting in butter a breeze!
½ cup butter
Mix in the poppy seeds so that they are evenly distributed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
2 tbsp poppy seeds
Add the egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, milk, and vanilla extract to the well in the dry ingredients.
¼ cup lemon juice, 1 tsp lemon zest, ¼ cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix ingredients together until a dough ball forms.
On a clean work surface, shape the ball of dough into a flat disc about 1" to 1½" thick, and about 9" to 10" wide. Cut into 6 equal wedges.
Transfer dough wedges to the prepared rimmed baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar (optional). Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven.
3 tbsp melted butter, 3 tbsp sugar
Remove and set on a cooling rack. Prepare the Lemon Glaze while cooling.
Lemon Glaze
Mix the powdered sugar with the lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl. Use enough lemon juice so that the icing runs from a spoon in a trickle, then drizzle over the cooled lemon poppy seed scones in zig-zag patterns. Serve!
1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, ½ tsp lemon zest
Notes
If using salted butter, omit salt in the recipe list.
Don't over mix the scone dough, it will toughen up the crumb.
Don't overbake, the scones will continue to cook while cooling on the baking sheet for a few minutes.
Freezing the butter and grating it, then adding to the dry ingredients and tossing to coat the grated butter is a HUGE time saver to cutting in butter the old fashioned way!