Lemon Poppy Seed Scones with Lemon Glaze

Scones are one of those bakes people are strangely intimidated by, but they're forgiving — much more so than pastry. The rules are simple: cold butter, don't overwork the dough, and get them into a hot oven fast.

If you love citrus bakes as much as I do, my lemon blueberry loaf cake and these scones make a very happy weekend pair.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a tray with parchment.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and poppy seeds in a large bowl.
3. Rub the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized bits of butter.
4. Whisk the cream, egg and vanilla, then pour into the flour. Stir with a fork just until it clumps together.
5. Tip onto a floured surface, pat into a 7-inch disc, and cut into 8 wedges. Space them on the tray, brush with cream, and bake for 18–20 minutes until golden.
6. Whisk the glaze ingredients until smooth. Once the scones have cooled 10 minutes, drizzle generously over the top.

Cooking tips

• Freeze the shaped scones for 10 minutes before baking — they hold their shape better and rise taller.
• Grating cold butter on a box grater is the easiest way to distribute it.
• Fresh lemon juice only for the glaze. Bottled tastes flat.

More like this

If you enjoyed this recipe, you'll find more of my favourite breakfast recipes in the archive, or browse the full collection.