Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones!! We’re honestly a little obsessed with these at our house. Perfectly golden and crisp on the outside and soft, buttery and crumbly on the inside. They’re full of hints of lemon, fresh blueberries and just the right amount of sweetness with the simple lemon glaze on top. And of course – all vegan! The best treat to help you enjoy your morning coffee. Who couldn’t use one of these on a Monday?
This recipe was inspired by and adapted from my Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf recipe. Something about baking with lemon and lemon zest is just so heavenly and fresh tasting, it’s the perfect summer flavor.
I love the flavor so much in fact I am willing to put in the enormous effort required to zest two fully packed tablespoons worth of lemon zest with my really dull, really cheap grater from college. It’s not for the faint of heart, trust me.
I know what you’re thinking…Nicolette, just buy a new one! And I hear you. I do. I think about it every time I’m working for a good lemon zest but working up a sweat getting it makes me feel like I earned the scones.
A work out and a delicious treat all in one!
Tips for baking the perfect vegan scone
Now, I am not going to pretend to be an expert vegan baker, but I have been baking vegan for a while now and I have learned some things along the way that are important to know before you get started.
Vegan yogurt makes for a very good replacement for heavy cream.
A lot of traditional baking recipes call for the use of heavy cream or buttermilk. It’s thicker, high in fat and rich tasting.
A popular vegan alternative to this is almond milk mixed with lemon juice. The lemon juice is supposed to activate with the milk and curdle it to thicken it – resembling buttermilk.
I personally never found this to work well. Plant-based milks are just too watery.
Unsweetened vegan yogurt is the perfect thickness and has enough fat to work as a substitute.
Canned coconut milk would be my second option, but sometimes coconut milk is too rich and can overpower the flavor.
Frozen or very cold (vegan) butter is a must.
You want your butter to be as cold as possible so that way it does not melt when preparing the dough.
If it melts when you are mixing your dough or gets too warm, you will not get the flakey layers you want!
I have made this recipe with grated butter and butter that is cut into very small cubes. I did not find one way to be better than the other.
As long as it does not melt when you are working with the dough, it won’t matter. You just want it to be incorporated and evenly distributed.
And finally…No over mixing!
I know this is a very common baking tip, but if you don’t bake often you might be thinking what is considered over mixing!?
For scones in particular, you hardly want to mix at all. You want to carefully fold the ingredients together until JUST combined. I’d say about 6- 8 folds.
The dough will look pretty shaggy and will not look as perfectly incorporated as cake batter. Clumps are good here – even encouraged!
If you over mix the dough, you will likely end up with tough scones and you run the risk of melting the butter meaning flat, sad scones. It’s not worth it!
Once you have a shaggy dough, turn it out onto a large surface with an additional half cup of flour and work it a little with your hands into a circle that is about 1 inch high.
Cut into 8 pieces like you would a pizza and add to a baking sheet. You want them to be spread out enough so they can crisp up a bit on the outside!
Next brush with vegan yogurt mixed with a little water and pop it in the freezer while the oven preheats! I learned this trick from Sally’s Baking Addiction (she is not a vegan baker but she is a genius)!
This will help the scones from spreading too much while baking and give them a good rise. It will also help ensure your butter is COLD.
Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the tops are nice and golden!
The Lemon Poppy Seed Glaze
And finally, optional, but delicious: the lemon poppy seed glaze. It’s super simple – just powdered sugar, lemon juice, and poppy seeds – but it really does add a nice sweetness to the top! Just wait until they cool a bit or it will just run off the sides and make them soft on the top! You don’t want to ruin that crispy top!
I can’t wait for you to try these scones. This is one of those recipes that definitely does not taste vegan and is the perfect transition recipe for families!
If you give this recipe a try, please don’t forget to take a picture and share it with me on social media. And as always, you can pin it for later.
More Vegan Baking Recipes
- Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
- Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Happy baking!
Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
Ingredients
Scones
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour - divided
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup cane sugar - organic for vegan friendly sugar
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup blueberries
- ½ cup frozen vegan butter - grated or cubed (I used Earth Balance brand)
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup vegan yogurt - unsweetened
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Poppy Seed Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar - organic for vegan friendly sugar
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- To a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup of the all purpose flour (reserve the other ½ cup for later), whole wheat flour, cane sugar, poppy seeds, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix until combined.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the lemon juice, vegan yogurt, lemon zest vanilla extract, and grated or cubed frozen butter into the center of the bowl.
- Using a spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. About 6-8 folds. Lastly fold in the blueberries. Do not over mix this. Clumps are good and you want the butter to stay cold.
- Once combined, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Here is where you will add the remaining ½ cup of flour to help you work the dough into a round circle that is about 1" high. Rolling pin is not needed. Again don't work it too much, you want the butter to stay cold.
- Cut the circle into 8 triangles, like you would cut a pizza.
- Spread the scones out on a large baking sheet. You want to give them space to rise and crisp up on the edges. Brush the tops of the scones with a little vegan yogurt mixed with water (about 1 tablespoon yogurt and 2 teaspoons water).
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, Fahrenheit. While oven preheats, put the scones in the freezer for 10 minutes. This will help them keep their shape during baking.
- Once the oven has preheated, bake for 22-25 minutes or until tops and edges are golden brown.
- Transfer scones to a cooling rack. Once cool, drizzle the scones with the lemon poppy seed glaze.
- Enjoy! Best served fresh but will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
Recipe Notes
- Using frozen vegan butter is a must.
- Read the post for vegan scone baking tips to help you get the best results!
- I used Kite Hill unsweetened vegan yogurt.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The Nutritional Information provided for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the facts listed is not and cannot be guaranteed.
Is there a way to make them not vegan with regular butter and heavy cream? If so is the same measurements as the Vegan items?
Hi Melissa, I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure. I bet it would work fine!
What do you think about using Forager’s plain cashew yogurt? I haven’t used cashew yogurt much but bought some to try recently.
Hi, Monica! I think that yogurt should work. Please let me know if you try and have good results! 🙂
This recipe is amazing!! So delicious. Scones always sounded a little too fancy but somehow this quarantine has us all trying new things and this recipe should definitely be one of them. Who knew scones were so easy and quick to make? This recipe is beyond delicious and ticks all the boxes for lemony, blueberry, poppy seed breakfast/dessert magic! YUM! This will impress even the pickiest of eaters!
Wow, thank you!