Lemon Poppyseed Scones

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These easy lemon poppyseed scones are perfect for a spring or summer brunch! They're packed with bright lemon flavor and are ready in half an hour.

Lemon poppyseed scones on a white serving platter.

We're making the best lemon scones from scratch today - perfect for Mother's Day, Easter, or a casual brunch!

Start with a basic scones recipe, throw in plenty of lemon juice and lemon zest, and add a scoop of poppyseeds for color and texture.

Bake them up, drizzle with a quick lemon glaze, and you're in business!

Lemon poppyseed scones stacked on a piece of brown parchment paper.

Ingredients you'll need

Cold unsalted butter - It's important to start with very cold butter for this scone recipe. Cold butter melts when it hits the oven and leaves small pockets in its wake, which gives us a light, crumbly, airy scone.
All purpose flour - For best results, measure your flour by weight with a kitchen scale.
Baking Powder - To help the scones rise.
Salt - A tiny bit of salt in our scone dough helps the flavors pop.
Sugar - To complement the lemon with a hint of sweetness.
Poppy Seeds - For color and texture.
Lemons - We'll use the zest and juice of a few lemons here. Fresh lemon juice gives a bright, delicious acidity.
Lemon extract - A few teaspoons of concentrated lemon extract is what gives these scones their distinct lemon flavor. In our recipe testing, we found that lemon juice and lemon zest alone just wasn't enough to get the strong flavor we wanted, so don't skip the lemon extract if you can help it!
Milk - To bring our scone dough together.

Scone ingredients, measured into individual prep bowls on a white table.

A quick primer on scones vs biscuits

Scones and biscuits are very similar. So what's the difference? At Life As A Strawberry, we default to this view:

Biscuits flake. Scones crumble.

A great biscuit will have layers you can peel apart one by one; a scone is perfect for breaking into small pieces and dunking in your tea or coffee. A scone is a little bit drier than a biscuit, and a little more dense.

We'll shred our butter here (instead of cubing it like we do in our biscuit recipes) to help these scones achieve that perfect, crumbly texture. These smaller butter pieces give a more uniform, less flaky final dough. We'll also use a touch less milk here compared to our biscuit recipes for a slightly tighter, more dense crumb.

Hands shredding a stick of cold butter with a box grater.

How to make lemon poppyseed scones

First up: Shred your cold butter.

Start with a stick of very cold butter, then carefully shred it using the large holes of a box grater.

Place the shredded butter into the fridge or freezer while you prep the rest of your ingredients to keep it extra cold. You can also use a food processor fitted with a shredding attachment to shred the butter if you don't want to do it by hand!

Mixing dry ingredients together in a large glass mixing bowl.

Next, mix the dry ingredients together.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, poppy seeds, and salt in a large bowl.

Then, add the shredded cold butter to the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Finally, stir in some milk to finish the dough!

Add milk a bit at a time and stir until the dough just starts to come together. It should still be a little bit crumbly!

Note: For best results, make sure to measure your flour by weight with a kitchen scale. If you measure the flour by volume (with cups) you may need to add a little bit more milk to get your dough to the perfect consistency!

Woman's hands shaping scone dough on a wood cutting board.

Shape and bake your scones

Tip the scone dough onto a lightly floured cutting board and use clean hands to pat it together. Work quickly here - you want those butter shreds to stay nice and cold!

Fold the dough over on itself a few times to build those nice, crumbly layers, and then pat it into a circle.

Cutting scones into shape with a large knife.

Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough into eight equal pieces.

I like to cut the dough in half from side to side and again from top to bottom, then cut each of those triangles in half to form evenly sized scones.

Unbaked scones on a wooden cutting board.

When your scones are cut, transfer them to a prepared baking sheet.

Leave the scones together in a circle to keep them soft along the inside edges, or separate them out across the baking sheet if you like them crispier! (See below for notes on adjusting the size and shape of your scones)

Lemon scones on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Riffs and Substitutions

These lemon poppy seed scones are fairly forgiving: mix up the flavors to make them your own! A few of our favorite swaps:

Swap the poppy seeds for chopped walnuts, pecans, or pistachios. Not a fan of the extra texture? Omit the poppyseeds entirely for a plain lemon scone recipe.
Add your favorite mix-ins for extra flavor. These easy scones make a perfect blank canvas. Add a bit of grated fresh ginger to the dough or toss in a handful of fresh berries. If you're making these scones for Christmas or other winter holidays, they're also excellent with some dried cranberries sprinkled in.
Use buttermilk instead of milk for extra depth of flavor.

How to bake scones in different shapes

This dough is a great base recipe that works in a variety of shapes.

Shape the dough into a large square and cut into thirds from top-to-bottom and side-to-side to form 9 square scones.

For mini scones, form the dough into 2-3 smaller rounds and cut into small wedges (you'll need to reduce the cooking time, so keep an eye on it).

Add an extra splash of milk to make the dough a little bit looser for drop scones (just drop a spoonful of batter directly onto your baking sheet - no rolling or cutting necessary!)

Love this recipe? Try our easy cinnamon scones next →

Overhead view of lemon scones on a piece of brown parchment paper.

A few scone FAQs

Can I use lemon juice instead of extract or lemon zest?

We tested these scones with a TON of different lemon options - and this combo gives you the best flavor! Lemon juice alone doesn't do it here - the lemon extract is REALLY important if you want that prominent lemon flavor.

Can I make these lemon scones vegan?

Yes! Use cold coconut oil instead of butter (cut it into the dough with a pastry blender instead of shredding it, it'll be easier) and use coconut milk or almond milk instead of dairy milk - very similar to our easy vegan biscuits.

What's the best way to store scones?

Store scones in an airtight container on the counter for 1-2 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months.

Can I freeze these scones?

Yes! These scones hold their flavor for up to 3 months in an airtight container in the freezer (past that, the texture is still good, but they aren't as lemon-y anymore). Defrost scones on the counter for a few hours or pop them in a 300°F oven until warmed through.

Lemon Poppyseed Scones

Ingredients you'll need