Blueberry Scones
These blueberry scones are the best! They're wonderfully tender, studded with fresh blueberries, and lightly sprinkled with crunchy sugar.
Posted by Kathryne Taylor on April 10, 2025
Meet my favorite scone recipe! These delicious scones are craggy and lightly crisp around the edges, and lusciously tender and studded with juicy blueberries inside. Lemon zest and tangy Greek yogurt take the flavor to the next level.
These flavorful blueberry scones are the perfect breakfast treat that’s sweet but not cloying. A light sprinkle of crackly raw sugar on top makes them taste extra special.
Serve them for a special occasion, like Easter or Mother’s Day brunch, or make them as a fun afternoon baking project. I’m excited to offer an option for mini scones, too, which are half the size of bakery scones. They’re so cute.
If you’re looking for a healthy blueberry scone recipe with all the flavor and texture you’d hope for in a scone, this is it. These delightful scones call for just 1/4 cup sugar. They’re more wholesome than most since they can be made with whole wheat flour, which offers a little extra texture (you can also use all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand).
Use white whole wheat flour if you don’t want the scones to taste or look any different from typical scones, as I did for these photos. Greek yogurt offers a little boost of extra protein, which is always welcome. Coincidentally, these scones are egg-free, which makes them a natural alternative to muffins if you’re serving someone with an egg allergy.
Blueberry Scone Tips
If you’re new to making scones, I promise you can do it. You don’t need any special equipment (a pastry cutter is nice, but you can also use a cheese grater).
This post offers thorough instructions in the recipe at the bottom, plus step-by-step photos and a video so you feel confident through every step. Your scones will be ready in about 35 minutes!
Measure your flour correctly.
You can measure your flour using a scale or with measuring cups. If you’re using measuring cups, use the spoon-and-swoop method: fluff the flour with a large spoon, then add spoonfuls to your measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. If you scoop the flour directly into the cups, you could end up with way too much, which will yield a dense scone.
Use fresh baking powder.
Baking powder loses its efficacy over time. It’s the sole leavener in this recipe, so we need it to work! Check the box to make sure it hasn’t expired. Once opened, it usually lasts for 6 to 12 months. If you’re uncertain, pour a teaspoon into a heat-safe bowl and pour in a splash of boiling water—it should bubble up immediately.
Do not overmix.
Overmixing the dough will activate the gluten too much, which can yield tough scones. Check out the picture below—the dough will look crumbly until you gently knead it together.
Use fresh or frozen berries.
I love to use fresh berries when they’re in season, typically from April to October in the United States. Smaller blueberries, like wild blueberries, will be more evenly dispersed throughout the scones, though these turn out great with any size. If you’re using frozen berries, toss them with a teaspoon of flour before using so the juices don’t streak the dough.
Watch How to Make Scones
More Blueberry Treats to Try
Wholesome blueberry treats are my specialty, and here are some of the most popular recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Basic Blueberry Smoothie
- Blueberry Almond Crisp
- Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Simple Blueberry Cake
Please let me know how your scones turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you and hope this becomes your new favorite scone recipe, too.
Blueberry Scones
These blueberry scones are the best! They’re wonderfully tender, studded with fresh blueberries, and lightly sprinkled with crunchy sugar. Recipe yields 8 standard scones or 16 mini scones.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) white whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 large lemon (about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups blueberries (7.5 ounces fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup milk of choice or half-and-half
- Optional: 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (raw sugar) for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk gently until combined.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar (this extracts more flavor from the lemon). Then, pour the mixture into the other dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Slice the butter into ¼-inch thick pieces and gently drop them into the dry ingredients, stirring occasionally so the butter doesn’t stick to itself. If you have a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is pea-sized or smaller. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, grate the butter on the large holes of a cheese grater and stir it into the flour, stirring as you grate so the butter doesn’t clump.
- Add the blueberries and gently stir to combine. (You can use frozen blueberries; no thawing is necessary, but stir in 1 teaspoon additional flour to help prevent their color from streaking into the dough).
- Gently mix in the yogurt and milk. The mixture will look dry, but that’s ok! Dump the dough onto a clean work surface and gently knead in the last of the flour.
- For full-sized scones, form the dough into a circle about an inch deep all around. For mini scones, divide the dough in half and shape each half into rounds about one inch deep all around. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the dough. Use a sharp chef’s knife to slice the round(s) into 8 even wedges. Separate the slices and place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving several inches around each scone.
- For full-sized scones, bake for 21 to 24 minutes or until light brown. For mini scones, bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until light brown. Enjoy them warm, or let them rest to allow the flavors to develop. Leftover scones keep well for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my older recipe called Blueberry Lemon Scones, which I’ve deleted since this one is superior. Here is a PDF of the old recipe.
Change it up: You can omit the lemon zest if you don’t appreciate lemon flavor. Or, try a different variety of citrus, like orange would be lovely. You can substitute other berries, like raspberries or sliced strawberries, or omit the berries altogether for a base scone recipe.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Would these work with gluten free flour?
Hi Lisa, I’m not sure as I haven’t tested it with gluten-free flour. You might have luck with oat flour—I’d substitute 2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon if you want to try it.
I made these with brown rice flour and maybe 1 Tbsp of white flour and they turned out really well!
Hi Anne, thank you for sharing!
I would like to make these blueberry scones, would like to leave out the butter. Is this possible
Hi Judy,
I’m afraid that butter is essential to the recipe. It impacts not just the flavor but the structure of the scone.
I would like to use oat flour would it be a 1 to 1 swap?
Hi Victoria, I haven’t tried substituting oat flour in this recipe. You would need to use 2 3/4 cups oat flour plus one tablespoon, for reasons elaborated on my guide to oat flour.
I cannot wait to make these for Easter brunch!!
Can almond flour be substituted as need low carb
I’m sorry, Jann, I don’t think recipe is a good candidate for almond flour. Someone else reported that the recipe worked with King Arthur’s Keto flour but needed additional moisture.
Can this be made gluten free?
Hi Celines, I haven’t tried, but you might have luck with oat flour—I’d substitute 2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon if you want to try it.
Hi, Love your recipes! Would you be able to make these with a gluten free flour? Not sure if the consistency would work?’
Thank you!
Andrea
Hi Andrea, thank you! There’s a chance they would work well with oat flour (I’d use 2 3/4 cups plus a tablespoon). I haven’t tried yet, but I’m getting a number of questions about GF alternatives so I may try them out soon. Please let me know if you do!
We absolutely love your blueberry muffin recipe and are excited to try the blueberry scones. Have you tried to make them with the vegan buttermilk as suggested with the blueberry muffin recipe? Also, can an all purpose gluten-free flour substitute?
Hi Heather, I haven’t tried those substitutions and the combination of them might be extra tricky. It might work, though. Please report back if you try it.
You used to have gf recipes and I’m noticing they’ve been replaced with whole wheat. Did you heal your gut somehow so you could eat wheat ?
Hi Jeni, I’ve actually always tried to work with whole grain flours since I find they’re better at keeping my blood sugar level stable, but I’ve recently been experimenting with almond flour as well. I’ve never had trouble with digesting wheat flour, but almond flour has its merits, for sure.
Have you substituted any almond flour in this recipe? And if so, how much?
Thanks!
Hi Judy, I haven’t tested almond flour. I think it would require several adjustments since the flour in this recipe absorbs the fat of the butter in a way that almond flour would not.
Can these be made dairy free?
Hi Rhonda, I haven’t tested dairy-free options for this one. It might work with vegan butter, like Miyoko’s Creamery, vegan yogurt and dairy-free milk, but it’s definitely experimental. Please report back if you try it!
Would these work with GF flour? Almond flour? They look delicious and I love the low sugar!
Hi Lorelei, there’s a chance they would work well with oat flour (I’d use 2 3/4 cups plus a tablespoon). I haven’t tried. Almond flour likely wouldn’t substitute as well.
Thanks so much!
This recipe looks lovely. What do you think about using nonfat Greek yogurt and oat milk ? Thanks, Linda
Hi Linda, they should work well enough. The fat in the whole milk imparts a little extra richness and tenderness.
After trial and error, scones turned out slightly fluffy, crunchy, not too sweet and just what I need for a low carb snack. I followed the recipe but my dough was very dry and I could not get it to hold together. I added more milk and yogurt a little at a time until it held together. I used King Arthur keto wheat flour that has psyllium so maybe that’s why I needed more liquid. Overall, this is a recipe I will make again.
Hi Claire, thank you for reporting back! I’m not familiar with that flour, but I’m glad you made it work. King Arthur’s product information suggests the following, so it makes sense that you needed more moisture: For scones, biscuits, and pie crusts, increase the liquid in your recipe by 25%.
I have sprinkled Turbinado sugar on top of your Cranberry Orange Muffons (same basic recipe) but it makes no difference—doesn’t crunch or brown. Just adds sugar to the recipe. Suggestions?
Hi Jollean, the crunch is subtle—not like a crunch topping on a coffee cake. When I suggest it, I think it’s worth the small amount of extra sugar, but we might have different opinions on that. I’d give it another chance!
Do any adjustments need to be made to this recipe for drop scones instead of kneading?
Hi Idana, I’ve not tried making these scones into drop scones. They would need at least some extra stirring to bring the dough together before dropping them. I would stick to the recipe for best results, since I know it works well that way.
Thank you! I added an extra 1/4 cup heavy cream (didn’t have half-and-half) for drop scones, used raisins instead of blueberries and left out the lemon zest. Came out PRETTY tasty! I will make again with original recipe when I have all ingredients on hand.
I would love to make this recipe
Can you verify the flour amount? 4 cups or 240 grams
Hi Brad, the recipe calls for 2 cups flour, which is 240 grams. Did you click on the button to double the recipe? If so, it looks like the plugin is having a hard time doubling the amount in grams along with it.
Hi Kate!
mih
Love all your recipes, but this one for me didn’t work. All the butter in the scones melted onto the pan! The scones tasted good, but not good scone texture like I was expecting. I used cold butter, but maybe I should have froze it first.
Oh well, still love (most) of your recipes! :)
Michael, I’m sorry to hear that! Thank you for letting me know. Did the butter separate from the dough? I used butter from the fridge and never ran into trouble, despite testing the recipe five times!
The dough was very dry to start with. I did use a scale to measure everything out. Then the butter just didn’t seem to incorporate into the “dough”, there were just chunks of it you could see and of course when I baked them, it all ran out onto the pan.
Oh well, not every recipe works for everyone! :) Still love your other recipes!
Michael, thanks for getting back to me! You want little pieces of butter to stay intact—that’s how croissants, scones, and biscuits end up so buttery. The flour should have absorbed the butter, so I’m not sure why the butter ran out of yours. I’m wondering if humidity levels impact the dough and if maybe it needs more milk sometimes. I’m retesting the recipe tomorrow to be sure. :)
I used all-purpose flour and it didn’t hold together until I added extra cream. I messed up because I had already turned it out onto a surface when I added the cream. I had to work it in by hand which caused the blueberries to burst and made the dough blue. It was very messy, but it tasted good in the end.
Hi Lorelei, I’m sorry to hear that! How did you measure your flour? If you scooped the flour into your cups, you could end up with extra, which would make the dough drier than intended.
I measured it by taking spoonfuls out of the flour bag and carefully putting it into the measuring cup- no scooping by the cup.
Thank you so much for this delicious scones
Can we have gone these cup this and cup that recipes for heavens sake you Americans have you not heard of kilos and grams they are more accurate than cups that are arbitrary at best.
Hi John, thank you for the feedback. I have been thinking about starting to include weights in baking recipes. I appreciate your perspective.
I’m sure this is amazing, but I was obsessed with the old recipe and just went to make it this morning. Is there anyway you could send that to me? I have high cholesterol so liked that it had less butter. It was a staple in our house.
Hi Laura, I’d be glad to—check your inbox in a few minutes. :)
Total flop for me.
Hi Kelly, I’m sorry this didn’t work for you. Did you make it as written, or modify? What didn’t turn out? I am happy to troubleshoot.
Does Gluten free flour work for these to accommodate those with wheat allergies?
Hi Mary, I haven’t tested it yet, but I think substituting 2 3/4 cups oat flour plus one tablespoon would work. I intend to experiment with other options for gluten free since there has been lots of interest.
These turned out well in the end. Pastry was very difficult to work with- didn’t hold together well for me. I added a little cold water but struggled to have it stick together. I followed recipe exactly- did half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.
Hi Julie, I’m glad they turned out well! I’m wondering if varying humidity levels mean that the scones sometimes need more moisture. I developed the recipe this winter and I’m retesting it tomorrow.
Hi! first of all I love your recipes. I tried to make the scones with the lemon peel and without a pastry cutter. They did not turn out. They were bitter and there was too much flour at the bottom of the bowl. I guess I couldn’t mix it in well enough I’m not sure?
So today I remade them after getting a pastry cutter and I omitted the lemon zest. They were delicious today. Thank you very much. I would like it if you could give some feedback on the shape of scones. I had a hard time keeping the scone shape when they baked. Also, I love lemon, so I don’t know why the zest was bitter? Maybe a bad lemon? I’m not sure. Thanks again, Kate!
Hi Donna! Thank you for your note—I really appreciate it. I’m glad it worked better with a pastry cutter. I tested the recipe with grated butter and that worked for us, too. Did you use the same bag of flour for both batches? Whole wheat flour can go bad (rancid) over time, which tastes bitter. Otherwise, I’d guess that your lemon zest included the pith, which can taste very bitter. When zesting citrus, you only want to use the colorful outer part. I am not sure why the scones changed shape in the oven. Mine didn’t stay perfectly triangular but they were pretty close, as you see in the pictures. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else that could impact the shape.
Hi Kate!
Super excited to make this recipe. I’m wondering if it would work for me to make the dough the night before and then bake in the morning? Thanks for your help!
Hey Morgan, I hope they turn out great for you! I haven’t tried, but I think that should work since these are leavened with baking powder, not baking soda. Please let me know if you try it! I will say they’re also great the next day, especially if you warm them in the oven, so you could always bake them the day before serving.
Has anyone else noticed that it’s almost impossible to find white whole wheat flour anymore? What’s the next best substitute for white whole wheat flour besides whole wheat?
I have also noticed that, and it’s a real bummer! I haven’t been able to find it at Whole Foods lately. It looks like King Arthur renamed their white whole wheat to “golden wheat flour,” and it might be available at Target.
Hello Kate,
I have a question about the instructions. I used the 2 cups of flour in the first step. Later in the recipe you say to use the rest of the flour when you turn out the dough mixture. How much should I add?
Hi Heather, good question. When I mixed the dough in the bowl, there was some extra flour in the bottom of the bowl when I turned it over. That’s the flour I was referring to—you shouldn’t need to add additional flour.
I normally have great success with the recipes here, but this recipe did not work out well for me. I used King Arthur all purpose flour and Cabot full fat Greek yogurt. I used frozen blueberries tossed with the extra flour as instructed. My dough seemed dry at first but then became a sticky mess. I kept adding flour a bit at a time, but ended up making these scones as drop scones as I was afraid they would be too dense if I continued to add flour. They were very much like muffin tops. Tasty…just not as expected. I wonder if whole wheat would have worked better or if I inadvertently mixed up measurements. Thank you for your recipes, and I hope others have better success :-)
Hi GP, I’m sorry to hear it! I tested the recipe with AP flour. I used Nancy’s whole-milk Greek yogurt. I’m not sure why your scones turned out sticky, unless you inadvertently used less flour than I did, or if a different brand of Greek yogurt could make a big impact. I just compared Cabot’s nutrition information to Nancy’s and Cabot’s has over twice as much fat and less protein, so I wonder if that made a difference. I wish Greek yogurt was more consistent across brands!
Duuuuuudes these are so freaking delicious 5 stars no notes!!! I really love very lightly sweet but satisfyingly carby desserts (ie croissants and the like) so these were PERFECT for me!! The texture!! So tender yet also chewy!! I’m a pretty solid baker but I’ve tried other scones before and failed; these were incredibly easy and came out perfect! I was honestly feeling probably undeservedly smug with myself when I took them out they looked so beautiful! I baked them 20 min and they just had the slightest edge of golden brown. Definitely will be adding this one to the repeat list. Thank you for another home run Kate!
Hi Chrissy, I’m thrilled to hear how much you enjoyed these!
I love this recipe!! … though I haven’t tried the updated version. If memory serves me, it used to use turbinado sugar instead of white sugar in the scone. I would like to continue making it this way but can’t remember the measurements. Was it three TBS of turbinado in the scones and then additional sprinkled on top?
I’ve also wondered about using maple or honey in place of the sugar. Any suggestions there? Thank you so much!! I love your recipes!!
Hi Kelly! I just added a link to the old recipe in the recipe notes if you want to print it, but I think this modified version is way better. Let me know if you try it! It’s tricky to substitute liquid sweetener for the sugar in scones because you don’t want the mixture to be too wet. I’m very happy with the low amount of sugar used in this recipe, but let me know if you experiment with it! I’d love to hear how it turns out.
Thank you so much! I literally just made your current scone recipe yesterday and my family and I are devouring them!
Bless you for sharing your culinary creativity with the rest of us!!!❤️
I just made these and I was so excited because they looked so yummy in the pictures, and I’ve made a lot of your recipes before with a lot of success, but these didn’t turn out very well for me. Everything was fine except when I tasted them they had a very strong bitter aftertaste, which I think might be the baking soda. I looked through the comments and it doesn’t seem like anyone else had that problem, but the baking soda was overpowering for me. I’m wondering if perhaps there was a recipe error and you meant to say 1 tsp baking soda, not 1 tbsp? I left the lemon out because I didn’t have lemons on hand, so maybe that was the problem, too…
Hi Kate, the acid in the lemon does help to neutralize the baking soda, so that definitely could make a difference in the flavor. Baking soda also expires, and if yours is old it can add a bitter aftertaste.
Here at MG Granite our whole team loves blueberry scones and muffins. Those look amazing and yummy. We will be testing the recipie over the weekend!
Delicious! Made this recipe as written first time. Second time I added some vanilla extract. Wonderful both ways. I used to make the old recipe too. This one is much better. Thank you for the wonderful recipes. I really enjoy them.
Shouldn’t steps 5 and 6 be REVERSED? There was no way to get everything combined, and my blueberries popped into a purple mess.
Hi Silvia, I’m sorry to hear that. The recipe is written as I made it many times and you can see how the dough came together for me in the video provided in the post. I think it would be challenging to incorporate the blueberries evenly into the moistened dough, but let me know if you try it.
Sooo delicious! I added about 1/8 cup extra sugar into the mix since I didn’t add any on top. They were so perfect! They turned out much better than when I made them a few years back. It was a sticky purple nightmare lol.
That’s fantastic to hear, Bethany! Thank you for letting me know.
I just made these – SO GOOD!!! This was my first time making scones. I used frozen blueberries, and they melted and mushed into the dough… they were a bit odd shaped but still delicious. I just wanted to ask: would it work with white spelt flour? Thanks so much!!!
Hooray! I’m so glad you enjoyed your first scone recipe. I think it would work with white spelt flour. If you have a scale, I’d measure it by weight and keep the weight consistent with the recipe (use 240 grams flour) for best results. Let me know if you try it! You might like them with fresh berries even better.
Ok thanks, I will try it out
Random question:
Why don’t you include grams with your recipes? I find it so much easier to deal with when it is in grams.
Thanks
Hi Florinia, I’ve been trying to at least include the amount of flour in grams lately. I worry that including weights of every ingredient will make the recipe look unnecessarily long and complicated. It’s a balance, but I’ll take your request into account.
Have you tried substituting honey or maple syrup for the 1/4 of sugar? I’m trying to avoid sugar.
Hi Babe,
I eliminate refined sugar whenever possible, so when you see it in one of my recipes I think it is essential to the texture or flavor of the recipe. My blueberry muffins are naturally sweetened so might be more to your taste.