Lemon Poppyseed Scones – Dense, tart, and sweet lemon scones are sprinkled with poppyseeds to give them a very slight crunch and topped with a sweet icing to take them over the top!
Spring is so close, I can almost smell it – or should I say see it. The pollen is killing us in Atlanta. My husband and I both have dark colored cars so they look yellow right about now.
Because it’s basically spring, I am baking up tons of sweet treats to welcome in the season. I made these lavender lemon bars not too long ago because spring needs lemon treats just like summer needs grilled treats or the winter holidays need cookies.
And for that reason, I’ve got another yummy lemon treat- Lemon Poppyseed Scones. This one brings me back to my first lemon pound cake, which was loaded with poppyseeds. It was such a hit, mostly because of its moist center and crunchy texture from the poppyseeds. So I just had to make them into scones to see if they would be just as incredible.
And man were they ever! Just check them out for yourself!
How are scones made?
Scones are made very simply, actually. They can be made in under 30 minutes because the ingredients list is short and the bake time is only 20 minutes. The main ingredients in any scone are:
- flour
- baking powder
- sugar
- butter
- salt
- buttermilk
- egg
Not only is this list short, you probably have all the ingredients at home right now! The buttermilk may be tricky, so if you don’t have any, there are so many substitutes that you can use, which I’ve outlined in the tips below.
To made these scones into lemon poppyseed scones, we add in lemon zest, lemon juice, and poppyseeds. Other than that, the recipe is pretty similar to a classic scones – add cold butter to dry ingredients and then gently fold in the wet ingredients.
Then, you form a disk of dough and cut out 8 wedges to make 8 scones. Bake, cool, and then cover with lemon icing and you’ve got yourself some tasty, springtime-friendly lemon poppyseed scones!
Tip & Tricks
Scones are a pretty fuss-free baked good. But regardless, with any recipe, there are always a few tips that I can share to make sure this recipe comes out perfectly:
- It is so so so important that you use cold butter in these scones – and all scones, for that matter. The texture of the scones depends on it! To make the cold butter easier to mix into the dough, you can shred cold butter on a cheese grater and then toss together with a fork.
- Buttermilk is another MUST ingredient for this recipe. The moisture that the buttermilk adds to these scones is undeniable. However, I know buttermilk is not available everywhere so here is an amazing article from Epicurious to give you a bunch of great buttermilk substitutes to choose from.
This recipe is gonna knock your socks off – I promise you! I sent off these scones to a friend’s office with some other cookies and the scones were the hands-down favorite. Everyone raved about them. Each recipe I make is like a child of mine – I can’t pick a favorite. But when others tell me how much they love it, it really helps me see how especially wonderful it is 🙂
Lemon Poppyseed Scones
Ingredients
For the scones:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons poppyseeds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons butter chilled, unsalted
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
For the icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk)
Instructions
For the scones:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Add flour, sugar, poppyseeds, lemon peel, and salt to a large bowl and whisk together to combine. Cube the butter and add to the flour mixture. Using your hands, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is the size of large crumbs.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg and lemon juice together. Make a well in the flour-butter mixture. Add egg and buttermilk. Fold the flour-butter mixture into the center to mix in the liquid ingredients. Gently mix together until ball forms.
- Turn ball of dough onto floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into an 8-inch round. Cut round into 8 wedges, similar to slicing a pizza.
- Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in-between each scone. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 20-22 minutes.
- Remove scones from oven and let cool. Once completely cooled, dip tops of scones into icing and let the icing harden before serving.
For the icing:
- Put powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice and heavy cream and whisk together until smooth.
Notes
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Iced Pumpkin Scones
Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake
Lavender Lemon Bars
Wondering if you used the baking powder in this? I forgot it because it wasn’t in the instructions. Scones still tasted good! Just more dense then I suppose they might have been?? Great flavor!!! Thanks for the recipe!
I did the same thing! They’re in the oven now so we’ll know soon if it’s much of an issue or not.
Just put these in the oven and they smell so yummy! Planning to bring these to the lake to share, but I’m a little worried they will get eaten before we get there.
Yum! I love that thin slice of lemon on top! Adds some nice bright freshness to the scones! They look delicious. Thanks so much for sharing :).
I made these this morning and everyone loved them! I can’t believe how easy there were to make and it was a great way to ring in spring.
I love all things lemon, so I know I would adore these scones. These would be lovely with coffee in the morning!
I love the combination of lemon and poppy seeds. And I must say the texture of these look gorgeous !! Thanks for sharing
I never had scones but I LOVE lemon everything. I have always been intimating in making them but you broke it down very simple and easy to follow. Thank you for that can’t wait to try it!
Lemon poppyseed is my favorite flavor of anything baked! These are gonna be our weekend brunch project!!
Lemon and poppy seeds are a winning flavor combination! They’re so fresh and crunchy, the perfect match to go with a nice cup of tea. The icing on top makes it even better, I can’t wait to try them! 🙂
Nothing like a good scone in the morning! I am so glad you used buttermilk – it makes baked goods SO moist and fluffy doesn’t it!? Lemon poppyseed is such a great flavor combo!
I’ve never seen a poppy seed scone before and these look really good! I love any baked good I can make in 30 minutes or less 🙂
Love scones and I’ve made lemon poppy seed ones. They are so bright and cheerful! Yours look great and very “spring-y”.
This would pair so well with a blonde roast coffee! I love lemon and poppyseed together!
my mom is coming to visit next month and she loves scones. I’ll def make these for her when she gets here – can’t wait!
I adore all things lemon and I must say that this is my favorite scone! Your scones look so delicious and the texture is perfect!
Wow these look delicious! I love the smell of lemon in baked goods. Great photos!
Great idea, poppyseeds scones! 🙂
I would love to try this! I don’t think I’ve ever had poppyseed scones before.
Oh my! These scones look and sound so delicious!
These scones look so delicious! I recently made Lemon Poppyseed Donuts and loved them so I could imagine how great this tastes!
Wow those look delicious and refreshing even though I am not scone type of gal. Love how visually your recipes look on your site.
Wow, I didn’t know how easy these were to make. Yum, they look great.
When I was a kid, my Nana used to make a lemon poppyseed loaf. This totally reminds me of that!