Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

Breakfast + Scones
April 21, 2021
Breakfast + Scones
April 21, 2021

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

  • Prep time: 15 min
  • Cook time: 30 min
  • Total time: 45 min

Start your day off on a sweet note with these super moist lemon poppy seed scones. They’re topped with a zingy lemon icing and loaded up with poppyseeds. You’ll love these pretty lemons scones for all your spring occasions. 

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Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

Start your day off on a sweet note with these super moist lemon poppy seed scones. They’re topped with a zingy lemon icing and loaded up with poppyseeds. You’ll love these pretty lemons scones for all your spring occasions.

lemon poppyseed scones with lemon icingLemon Poppy Seed Scones

I’ve been on a big lemon poppyseed kick lately. Lemon poppy seed quick bread, lemon poppy seed pancakes, lemon poppy seed cake…I LOVE IT. Lemon poppy seed is probably my favorite light flavor combination for spring. It tastes like sunshine, is fancy enough for a cake, but rustic enough for a no-fuss muffin, and perfectly bright and tangy. This spring we just had to make lemon poppyseed scones. These super moist and buttery lemon scones are loaded up with poppy seeds and finished off with a tangy lemon glaze that will knock everyone’s socks off.

lemon poppyseed scones with lemon glaze

What makes these lemon poppy seed scones SO good?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had (and made) my fair share of dry, crumbly, flavorless scones. And that can burn you. There have been multi-year long stretches where I have sworn off scones. Dark times, my friends, dark times. But after having a single bite of these moist-as-can-be, lovely lemon poppy seed scones, I can say I’ll never write off scones again. In fact, I’ll be baking these scones for ever spring occasion.

Today that occasion is that it’s Thursday. Heh.

These lemon poppy seed scones would be perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day brunch, a baby shower, or afternoon tea. I promise every single person will be asking you for the recipe.

lemon scones with poppyseeds and lemon icing

Cream vs Sour Cream Scones

When testing this recipe we did a bunch of different variations as we always do. We ended up ditching eggs and yolks, upping the sugar (because…duh), refrigerating our flour to keep the dough super cold, and adding in some vanilla extract. All were no brainers.

The one choice that was hard to decide was between sour cream (we used Greek yogurt actually, but they serve the same purpose in this case) and heavy cream. We loved the tangy moist flavor the sour cream gave, but we missed the silky texture the heavy cream produced.

Our solution? Do both! We used half cream and half greek yogurt in these lemon poppy seed scones so that you’ll get that tang AND that texture.

lemon poppyseed scones on a baking sheet

What do you need to make lemon poppy seed scones

One of my favorite things about scones is that they are relatively no fuss. You’ll only need 9 simple ingredients to whip up these lovely lemon scones. They’re also pretty low tech–no stand mixer required! I prefer to make scones with a pastry cutter and a wooden spoon or my hands, but you can make these in a food processor if you have one!

Here’s your shopping list:

  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Lemons
  • Greek Yogurt
  • Heavy Cream
  • All Purpose Flour
  • Baking Powder
  • Salt
  • Poppy Seeds

lemon poppyseed scones with lemon frosting

How to make lemony poppy seed scones that aren’t dry

There is NOTHING worse than a dry scones in my opinion. I have baked so many flavorless, dry, cakey, dense, rock hard, disappointing scones. Despite their simple recipe and ingredient list, they’re a notoriously slippery baked good to get right. But when you do get them right…well damn, they’re good. And these lemon poppyseed scones are perfectly moist and tender with a sharp lemon flavor. Here are our tricks for perfect scones every time:

  1. Use frozen butter
  2. Use a combination of yogurt and heavy cream
  3. Do not overwork your dough
  4. Do not over bake your scones

Happy scone baking, my loves! Enjoy every lemon poppy seed-y bite!

XXX

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Lemon Poppyseed Scones

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 3.7 from 3 reviews

Start your day off on a sweet note with these super moist lemon poppyseed scones. They’re topped with a zingy lemon icing and loaded up with poppyseeds.

Start your day off on a sweet note with these super moist lemon poppyseed scones. They’re topped with a zingy lemon icing and loaded up with poppyseeds.

  • Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 scones
  • Category: breakfast
  • Method: oven
  • Cuisine: american
  • Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 scones
  • Category: breakfast
  • Method: oven
  • Cuisine: american
Units:

Ingredients

  • zest of 1 lemon (about 1 Tablespoons lemon zest)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
  • 6 tablespoons Greek yogurt*
  • 68 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons poppyseeds

for the lemon icing

  • juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tablespoons)
  • 1 to 2 Tablespoon milk or cream
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    2. In large mixing bowl, rub together the sugar and the lemon zest with your fingers. This will allow the lemon oil from the zest to release and infuse the sugar with lemon flavor. Your sugar will start to clump together and a bit and should smell lemon-y.
    3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the lemon sugar. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Keeping all your ingredients cold will help to produce a fluffy, thick, and buttery scone. Using a pastry cutter cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. If the butter is feeling melted or warm, stick the mixing bowl in the freezer for a couple of minutes to keep the butter cold.
    4. In a separate bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, 6 tablespoons of the heavy cream, and the vanilla extract. Add the mixture to the the dry ingredients and stir until combined. The dough shouldn’t be wet, but should stick together so you can easily form a disk. If the dough is too dry or crumbly add in a tablespoon of cream at a time until the dough comes together.
    5. Last, add the poppyseeds, turning the dough a few times to evenly distribute the seeds. Do not overwork your dough.
    6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a 9 inch circle with your hands. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but try to keep it consistent in terms of thickness.
    7. Using a sharp knife cut the circle into 8 wedges, placing them about 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet.
    8. Place a small amount of cream in a bowl and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the scones. Bake at 400°F for about 25-30 minutes or until the scones are just starting to brown at the edges and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
    9. While the scones cool, make the lemon icing. Combine the lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon of cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl and use a whisk to combine. If the frosting is too dry, add the remaining Tablespoon of cream.
    10. Once the scones are cool, spoon the lemon icing over each scone and sprinkle with poppyseeds. Enjoy with some butter and tea! Scones will keep well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to a month!

Notes

  1. If you don’t have Greek yogurt on hand, you can use sour cream too!
  2. If you would prefer smaller scones, you can divide the dough into two 5 inch circles and cut into 8 pieces each!
  3. If you do not have poppyseeds you can omit them and make these as simple lemon scones

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  1. This recipe has really thorough instructions and my scones turned out great! I divided the dough into two disks and made smaller scones with an adjusted bake time. I refrigerated one disk and baked them two days later – they were still delicious!






  2. Whenever I try to print your recipes, the picture always disappears. How can I make it print WITH the picture?