My perfectly flaky blackberry scones are super simple to make. They’re made with fresh blackberries, lots of lemon zest, and sour cream, which makes them incredibly delicious. This is one of my favorite scone recipes!
I love these light and flaky scones. I truly cannot wait until you give them a try! They are lightly sweetened, tender, and so incredibly delicious.
If you’re not a baker, scones are a fantastic recipe for you to try. You’ll have these blackberry lemon scones in the oven in about 15 minutes, and you don’t need any special equipment. If you only have dried fruit, try these cranberry orange scones instead.
How to Make the Best Blackberry Scones
I want my scones to be light, flaky, and delicious, not heavy and flat. Here are my top tips for scone success:
- Keep everything cold. I always use chilled butter and sour cream straight from the fridge.
- Don’t overwork the dough. The less I handle it, the better. Too much mixing will make the scones tough.
- Embrace the ragged edges. When you cut your scones, some edges might look rough. I leave them alone because those flaky bits will puff up beautifully in the oven, making my scones light and airy. I take the same approach when making homemade biscuits.
To make my favorite blackberry scones, I begin by whisking together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Then, I cut in my cold butter. You can do this in several ways. I use a pastry blender to cut the butter into small bits, but you can also use a box grater to grate very cold (preferably frozen) butter into the bowl or even pulse it in a food processor.
When the flour and butter look like floury pebbles, I gently swirl in sour cream and eggs with a fork until combined. Then, I add the berries, allowing some to get smashed into the dough for extra flavor.
I cut the dough into triangles, but if you want round scones, use a pastry cutter (just be careful not to twist the cutter when you remove it from the dough, which prevents the edges from puffing up as much).
Bake your scones in a 400°F oven until they’re puffed up and golden brown. Let them cool for a few minutes before serving. They’re so good!
Blackberry Lemon Scones
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These blackberry scones are easy and come together quickly. We love using fresh blackberries, but thawed, frozen blackberries will also work. Use the coldest butter and sour cream possible for the best texture, and try not to overwork the scone batter.
You Will Need
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (66g) sugar, plus more for scone tops
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (114g) very cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup (113g) sour cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
6 ounces (170g) fresh blackberries
Directions
1Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicon baking mat.
2Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3Use a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal with a few small crumbles of butter the size of peas. (You can also grate frozen butter into the flour or use a food processor).
4Whisk sour cream, egg, and lemon zest in a small bowl until blended, then add to the flour and butter mixture.
5Use a rubber spatula to mix until a crumbly dough forms. Gently stir in the blackberries, allowing some to get smashed into the dough.
6Transfer the dough and all dry, floury bits to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough 3 to 5 times until it just comes together.
7Form into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 triangles, or use a biscuit cutter.
8Place the scones on the baking sheet and lightly sprinkle the tops with sugar.
9Bake until light golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, then cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Scones are best eaten fresh. If you do have leftovers, your best bet for keeping them fresh is to freeze them. Freeze baked and cooled scones until hard, then transfer to resealable plastic bags. Freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat, bake in a 350°F oven until warmed. It shouldn’t take long.
- Freezing scone dough: You can also freeze unbaked scone dough. Place the scones in the freezer until firm, then transfer them to resealable plastic bags. They can be kept for up to one month. Bake from the freezer. (They may take a few extra minutes).
- We created this recipe for Betty Crocker on Feb 27, 2012, but we have permission to share it with you!
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Totally impressed with this gem of a recipe! I didn’t have a fresh lemon, so I substituted using orange zest. I also made a lemon glaze for the top (using a little bottled lemon juice and icing sugar) this added a nice zing when fresh out of the oven. A definite keeper! Thank you for sharing!
Delicious! I’ve never made scones from scratch, and this was simple and they turned out great! I don’t want to store these long term. I made them for a family gathering tomorrow. Can I just put them in an airtight container and leave on the counter?
Absolutely! Sounds like you have delicious homemade scones to enjoy! Yes, storing them in an airtight container on the counter overnight is perfectly fine. If you won’t be enjoying them within a day or two, freezing is a great option to keep them fresh for longer. They’ll last up to a month in the freezer!
So, this is just a copy of the Betty Crocker Recipe. All the way down to the picture of the scone.
Hi Reba, That’s because we created this recipe with Betty Crocker many years ago and provided them the permission to share it on their website. There should be a mention of us on that page, but with site redesigns over the years, it may have been lost. Hope that clears it up for you.
Your beautiful scones appear to have a drizzle or sugar topping. Can you share what that is? Thanks
Hi Jay, We don’t add a drizzle of anything, but we do sprinkle a little sugar on top of the scones before baking them.
This is my first time making scones. These are delicious! Very easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
My very first try at scones! (I’m 64!) They were DELICIOUS! Will be making scones often from now on!
My family and I love cheese. We try not to eat it too often, but when we do, we like to enjoy quality cheese! I have never considered buying a new cheese grater until now. Thank you for the article!
I’m allergic the Sour Cream. What can I substitute for the Sour Cream?
Hi Maya, Would a yogurt be okay? You can try a thick, plain yogurt. You might even be able to sub in a dairy-free yogurt.
I made these and they were delicious!! Moist and flavorful!!
The best scones I ever made! My family loves them. They will not last long enough to have to store them. Thank you for this recipe. It will be used often. Looking forward to trying blueberries.
I’ve made these scones several times. I like the the dough mixture, and quite honestly just made a double batch and the butter was not cold. I used a cup of goat yogurt , instead of the sour cream, plus craisins and macademias pushed into the top of each scone. They are award winning. I put my second batch, cut and uncooked in the freezer for later this week.
Wow! You are my kind of cooks! Love, love, love scones, and these are terrific! Went to Ireland a few years ago and every day I had tea and scones. (YUM) Hands down the absolutely best ones I found were in Belleek. I wrote, and they very graciously sent me the recipe . . . which included a mug of flour, a knob of butter a heaping spoonful of sugar, etc. Well you get the idea. after lots of back and forth . . .they were very patient. I finally got something that worked, and these Blackberry Lemon Scones are also terrific!!! Thanks for all your hard work, Your devoted fan, Pauline P.S. Also love these with the lemon and fresh rosemary in place of the blackberries, a very comforting scone, if you know what I mean :- )
Wow! You are my kind of cooks! Love, love, love scones, and these are terrific! Went to Ireland a few years ago and every day I had tea and scones. Hands down the absolutely best ones were in Belleek. I wrote, and they very graciously sent me the recipe . . . which included a mug of flour, a knob of butter a heaping spoonful of sugar, etc. Well you get the idea. after lots of back and forth . . .they were very patient. i finally got something that worked, and these too are terrific!!! Thanks for all your hard work, Your devoted fan, Pauline P.S. Also love these with the lemon and fresh rosemary, a very comforting scone, if you know what I mean :- )
Wow, what a wonderful recipe, and the instructions/tips were incredibly helpful. I found a great deal on blackberries at the market today, and hadn’t ever tried a scone made with them- so glad I came across this site! After cutting my butter into small cubes, I popped it in the freezer for about 10 minutes while I got the rest of the ingredients together, which I think helped. I liked these so much that I made a second batch with a combo of fresh blueberries and diced, dried apricots with some vanilla extract in place of the lemon juice… A nice variation! I am freezing half of the dough to have on hand later, and look forward to seeing how they bake up from frozen. Thank you again for the fabulous recipe!