Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

By Inger Mar 2, 2024 Breads & Muffins, Breakfast, Cooking & Recipes 3 Comments

Scones are fun and tasty as a side, snack or breakfast. And they’re easy to make in different flavors like these classic Lemon Poppy Seed Scones!

I’m making Lemon Poppy Seed Scones today in honor of a recent trip to Captiva. The beautiful Florida island is recovering from the recent hurricane and full of beautiful citrus. And besides seeing lemons all over in Florida—well, they just remind me of sunshine. Which is sooo welcome, in winter or anytime!

This recipe is based on a currant scone recipe that I got from my oldest. She started making scones in college and took them to almost every event she needed to bring food. She even studied in Scotland for a year, so I figured it must pass muster.

What are Scones?

Merriam Webster defines scone as “a rich quick bread cut into usually triangular shapes and cooked on a griddle or baked on a sheet”. Served for teas and breakfasts, they are likely Scottish in origin, but now popular all over the world.

And while originally they were often simply flavored, today there’s no end to the creative scone ideas! See Variations below for some more scone ideas!

Why You’ll Love This!

Classic Flavor. Lemon Poppyseed is a classic flavor combo. In fact my youngest pouted when she learned we’d eaten the last of them and declared it her very favorite scone!

Easy. Unlike their reputation, scones are easy to make. Especially if you have a food processor.

Special. Despite the ease of preparation, scones feel special—in a bread basket, at tea time or for breakfast.

What You’ll Need

Ingredient Notes

Flour. All purpose flour comprises the bulk of the scone.
Granulated sugar. This sweetens the scone.
Baking powder. Baking powder helps the scones rise.
Butter. This adds richness, tenderness and helps the scone rise. It is also used in the icing if you decide to glaze these.
Eggs. This adds richness, tenderness and helps the scone rise. Most of the egg goes into the scones but you save a bit of beaten egg to brush on the outside to facilitate browning.
Milk or cream. This hydrates the dry ingredients and adds tenderness.
Poppy seeds. That’s what makes these “poppy seed” scones!
Lemon. The zest flavors the scone and the juice goes into the glaze if using.
Powdered sugar or coarse sugar. For the glaze or topping.

Special Tools

A microplane is the best tool for getting the fine zest you need for these.
You can mix these by hand but a food processor will make it easier.

Step by Step Directions

Combine flour, baking powder, lemon zest, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a fork or in the food processor, until butter pieces are tiny and flour-coated. Mix in poppy seeds.

In a separate bowl, beat two eggs. Remove about 2 teaspoons of beaten egg and set aside to use later as an egg wash.

Whisk the milk into the eggs, then stir or pulse the egg-milk mixture into the dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Add additional liquid or flour if needed.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead once or twice until dough holds together. Pat into a 6 x 6-inch square about ¾ inch thick. Cut the square into 4 smaller squares, then cut on the diagonal to form triangles.

Spray a cookie sheet with a non-stick baking spray and place scones on the sheet. Beat the reserved 2 teaspoons of egg with a teaspoon or two of water and brush the tops of the scones with the this. Top with coarse sugar if using.

Bake at 400°F for 12-15 minutes or until golden, then cool on a wire rack. If glazing, mix together glaze ingredients then drizzle onto cooled scones.

How to Serve

Scones are a tasty and versatile treat! As a rule of thumb, I’d serve them anywhere I’d serve muffins. And because scones are a bit more elegant, maybe a few more places too.

When I think of where to serve scones, breakfast is always the first occasion that comes to mind. Yes, skip the toast and make things a little more special. Go hearty by adding some eggs, a quiche like Sun Dried Tomato and Spinach Quiche or some Shrimp and Asparagus Crepes. Or go simple with just coffee and a side of fruit.

Now I love serving a varied “bread” basket at dinner. Fill it with the usual sliced bread and rolls, then toss in some scones for variety. Betcha the scones disappear first! Or do a simple dinner with scones and a salad like Greek Spinach Salad, Herb-Roasted Carrots & Parsnips, or Strawberry Spinach Salad.

Finally, give a nod to their British ancestry and sit down to a scone with tea! It’s a perfect snack or reward on a busy day!

Variations

Besides the already mentioned options???, I also make Tasty Apple Scones, Maple Pecan Cherry Scones and Honey Lavender Scones. It’s easy to change up your flavors, so feel free to experiment! What fun new flavor(s) would you like to try?

And don’t forget that savory scones can also be delightful, like these Smoked Salmon Dill Scones .

To Top with Glaze or Sugar

I always struggle with the decision to glaze my scones or simply top them with coarse sugar. And it’s not even an issue of the work involved, but two other factors. First, there is a fair amount of extra sugar and calories if you use the glaze, so coarse sugar is usually my first choice.

But it’s not that simple. Because sometimes the glaze seems better for one flavor while for another it’s sugar.

Since these Lemon Poppy Seed Scones followed my orange scones, where I loved the glaze, I used one again. But since lemon is so much more intense than orange, I decided I’d be doing sugar in the future. But I’m including the glaze recipe as an option because, well, variety is the spice of life. And I know the glaze lovers would miss it!

Leftovers

Since scones get a lot of their appeal from their fresh, flaky quality, try to finish them within a day or two. If the last couple are feeling a little tired, reheating in the oven can help to bring them back.

And If you need more time, scones can be frozen, well-sealed. For best quality, freeze them as soon as they cool down after baking, not two days later.

Tips & FAQs

If you don’t make the glaze you use just the zest from the lemon. In that case, you can pop the zested lemon in a zip loc bag and freeze to thaw and juice later.

What is the best way to zest citrus?

Citrus zest is golden (literally and figuratively) in baking! That’s because it’s super flavorful–but doesn’t make your dough too wet.

Sadly, I used to think I hated it. My conversion came when I realized that if you got mostly fine shavings of the colorful exterior peel and avoided the bitter white pith, the flavor was amazing.

And the secret to the best fine zesting? Use a microplane, which will deliver beautiful, flavorful zest with ease.