Blackberry Lemon Scones

My blackberry scones recipe combines fresh blackberries with lots of lemon zest and sour cream. They turn out perfectly flaky, tender, and delicious!

If you love blackberries, you will love these scones! We use fresh berries, which soften, turn extra juicy, and burst into the scones.

Thanks to a simple list of ingredients, these blackberry scones turn out so light and flaky. You’ll have these scones in the oven in about 15 minutes, and you don’t need any special equipment to make them.

Key Ingredients

• Blackberries: I love fresh blackberries for this recipe. Other berries like chopped strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are lovely, too. I use blueberries for these blueberry scones.
• Lemon: The lemon added to our scones is optional, but I do really love the blackberry lemon combo. Orange zest is lovely too, like in our cranberry orange scones.
• Flour: I stick to all-purpose flour for my scones. It consistently yields light and flaky results. For gluten-free scones, use your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour (like Bob’s Red Mill).
• Baking Powder: This is crucial for lift and lightness, and you’ll use a generous tablespoon. To avoid any metallic aftertaste, always opt for aluminum-free baking powder. I also rely on baking powder for our strawberry shortcake recipe.
• Butter: The secret to truly flaky scones is very cold butter. As it melts in the oven, it creates steam, resulting in a soft and tender texture.
• Sour Cream: I’m usually partial to heavy cream for scones, but in this recipe, I use sour cream. Sour cream scones turn out light and tender with a lovely tangy flavor.
• Sugar: For the dough, I use plain granulated sugar. Before baking, an optional but lovely touch is a sprinkle of coarse sugar over the tops.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Blackberry Scones

Tip 1: Keep everything cold. I always use chilled butter and sour cream straight from the fridge for these scones. To make them, you will work the cold butter into the dry ingredients, which melt and puff in the oven, creating that flaky, tender scone texture.

You can work the butter into the dry ingredients 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.

Tip 2: Don’t overwork the dough. When working with scone dough, the less you handle it, the better. Too much mixing will make the scones tough.

When the flour and butter resemble floury pebbles, I gently mix in sour cream and eggs with a fork until well combined. Then, I add the berries, allowing some to get smashed into the dough for extra flavor.

Tip 3: Embrace the ragged edges. The simplest way to cut these blackberry scones is to make a circle and then cut into 8 triangles. 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. 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).

More Scone Recipes

• My Best Scone Recipe – the inspiration for this blackberry version.
• Easy Blueberry Scones
• Cranberry Orange Scones
• Spiced Pumpkin Scones