By beckysue from Baking the Goods.

Raspberry Lemon Scones by Baking The Goods.

A few weeks back, my 7 and 10 year old neighbor buddies and I were supposed to get together and bake Raspberry Lemon Scones. I was really looking forward to it and I have a feeling those girls were just as excited as me. But, ya know, Covid-19 hit and instead of gathering in my kitchen to bake Raspberry Lemon Scones together, we have daily chats from across the street, that mostly consist of how we’ve kept busy and what we’d like to bake together when this is all over. 

Last weekend, my sweet neighbor turned 11. My heart aches for all of the kiddos that are stuck inside instead of out celebrating these important milestones with their friends and extended families. Even as adults it’s hard to wrap your mind around all that has happened, and continues to happen day after day. But kids seem to have this resilient ability to adapt. From what I’ve seen through the eyes of my friends and neighbors, the kids are alright.

Who knows, maybe all of this could end up being a much bigger and more important life lesson than anything they could have learned school over the course of a few months. This outbreak is bringing families together in ways that have gone by the wayside. I see posts of kids helping out in the kitchen, making their parents breakfast in bed, and hopefully soon, baking these Raspberry Lemon Scones. 

In recent years, I’ve noticed an uptick of kids interested in cooking and baking. I don’t remember any of my friends being remotely interested in cooking as kids. To me, and I think my generation on the whole, cooking was a chore. But now, kids are super into it! So many of my friend’s kids are baking my recipes and sharing photos and it’s been the most heartwarming feeling. I believe kids are highly capable in the kitchen when you give them the freedom to try on their own. The cleanup afterward is another story, but that’s always the way it is. 

Since my neighbor girls and I weren’t able to bake these Raspberry Lemon Scones together this time, I figured what better 11th birthday gift than a box full of Raspberry Lemon Scones. So I got after it and started developing this simple recipe for Raspberry Lemon Scones in honor of a special someone’s big 11.

Berry scones can be tricky as the berries are tender, moist and tend to bleed into the dough if you aren’t extra careful. But I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve to make your Raspberry Lemon Scones baking experience as smooth as possible. First, I freeze the fresh raspberries so there is less of a chance of them turning to mush instantly when mixed in with the dough.  Alternatively, you could use frozen berries, which are just as good in this scenario.

The real key is to not over-mix the scone dough. Once the Raspberry Lemon Scones dough just comes together, you stop mixing and gently fold in the frozen berries. To shape the Raspberry Lemon Scones, it’s just a matter of gathering and patting the dough disks together, no kneading needed. Once they’re shaped into the disks, I like the freeze them for at least 20 minutes before slicing them into wedges. This not only helps the raspberries from bleeding out into the Raspberry Lemon Scones but it also helps them keep their shape when they bake. 

The zesty lemon and tart sweetness of the raspberries give these Raspberry Lemon Scones a bright springy flavor that we all need more of in our lives these days. They’ve got just the right amount of crumbly crust to tender interior, drizzled with a lightly lemon scented glaze. Pretty much the perfect comfort for these strange times when the sun is starting to shine but our world feels dark. 

These Raspberry Lemon Scones come together quick, with minimal effort. So they are a great recipe to make with kids. But you should know going in, things will get messy. There is no way around it. But isn’t that half the fun anyway.  I hope you are all finding solace in the kitchen these days. I encourage you to brighten your day with a batch of these Raspberry Lemon Scones. You might even get lost in the craft of baking and forget about the global pandemic for a brief and blissful moment. 

FYI, I am a huge advocate of the humble scone. I’ve got loads more on the recipe page in the scone section if you need some more scone inspiration. Here are a few of my favorites:
Blood Orange Rosemary Poppy Seed Scones Apple Cheddar and Thyme Scones Coconut Cream Scones Maple Walnut Scones
These Raspberry Lemon Scones only require a handful of simple ingredients and you don’t even need a mixer to mix up these beauties. The light sunny flavors of lemon and raspberry shine bright in these buttery babes.

I like to whisk the lemon zest right in with the dry ingredients. The flour absorbs the oils and keeps the zest from clumping together.

To mix the eggs, vanilla, milk and lemon juice, you just simple whisk them together before mixing them in with the dry ingredients.

If you have a pastry blender, you can use it to cut the butter in with the dry ingredients until pea sized chunks form. If not, use a fork, two butter knives or smoosh it between your fingers to mix it up.

When adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, you want to add a little at a time and gently fold them together so you don’t overwhelm the dough.

Then you will very gently fold the frozen raspberries into Raspberry Lemon Scones, careful not to break them up too much to help prevent streaking.

The raspberries are very delicate, so use a soft touch when incorporating the berries.

Use the gather and pat method rather than kneading the Raspberry Lemon Scones dough.

As carefully as you can, gather the Raspberry Lemon Scones dough into 2 disks, roughly the same size. Then transfer to a lined baking sheet and freeze them for 20-ish minutes before slicing into wedges.

Once the Raspberry Lemon Scones dough disks have chilled out in the freezer long enough to firm up, use a sharp knife to slice each disk into 6 wedges. You can store them back in the freezer this way until you are ready to bake.

Once sliced and chilled, these cute little Raspberry Lemon Scone wedges are ready to hit that heat!

It’s best to transfer the Raspberry Lemon Scones to a cooling rack right when they come out of the oven to prevent them sogginess. How yummy does all that jammy raspberry goodness look though?! Yum!

The glaze for these Raspberry Lemon Scones is a simple mix of sifted powdered sugar and lemon juice. That is it!

Just whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until it runs off the whisk in a smooth ribbon like this!

Then you just drizzle that glaze right on to the Raspberry Lemon Scones for a tangy, sweet finish!

Waiting for the lemon icing to set on these Raspberry Lemon Scones is the hardest part!

Hurry up and set already, lemon icing!

These Raspberry Lemon Scones are delightful anytime of day. But I find myself wanting to serve them as an afternoon snack with some sparkling lemonade.

I suggest enjoying these Raspberry Lemon Scones two at a time with a side of sparkling lemonade.

But, if you only reach for one Raspberry Lemon Scone to start, keep the rest close by.

These Raspberry Lemon Scones really do brighten the day.


Raspberry Lemon Scones




The zesty lemon and tart sweetness of the raspberries give these Raspberry Lemon Scones a bright fresh flavor. They’ve got just the right amount of crumbly crust to tender interior, drizzled with a lightly lemon scented glaze.


RASPBERRY LEMON SCONES 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 large lemons (- zested and juiced) 1/2 cup unsalted butter (- cold & cut into 1/4" cubes) 1/2 cup buttermilk or heavy cream 2 large eggs (- at room temperature) 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries LEMON GLAZE 1 cup powdered sugar (- sifted) 1 large lemon (- zested and juiced)
If using fresh raspberries, scatter them on a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 20-30 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

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

Add the cold butter, cut into 1/4″ cubes. Use either a pastry blender, the two butter knife method or squish the butter between your fingers to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until butter pieces are the size of peas or large pearls. 

Whisk the buttermilk or heavy cream, eggs, 2 tablespoons of the juice from the lemon and the vanilla together in a small bowl. 

Then add two-thirds to the dry ingredients. Gently mix the dough just until it comes together, before adding remaining milk mixture; it should be a little rough and scrappy. Scrape the dough from sides and bottom of the bowl using a spatula and mix again to incorporate any floury scraps. Do not over-mix, there should be visible chunks of butter and flour.

Add the frozen raspberries, as gently as possible, then use a spatula to carefully fold them into the dough. Try not to break them up too much, so the color doesn’t bleed into the dough. This will also help them from becoming soggy.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, it should come out of the bowl in mostly one piece. Gather and pat it a few times to get the dough to come together. Don’t knead the dough, you want it to be rough because this will give the scones depth in texture.

Gently form dough into one 7”-8” disk for larger scones or two 3”-4” disks for smaller scones, about 1” thick. Gather the dough and pat it together, no need to knead. Because the berries are so delicate, I like to freeze the dough disks before slicing into them. Transfer the disks to a lined baking sheet and allow the dough disks to firm up in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Then use a sharp knife to cut each disk into 6 pie-shaped wedges and return to the freezer to chill more while the oven preheats.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Once the oven is warm, place scones on baking sheets lined with Silpat mats or parchment paper, leaving 1”- 1.5” between the scones. 

Bake in the middle of the oven, 30 to 35 minutes for large scones or 25 to 30 minutes for small scones. Rotate the pan(s) front to back and rotate racks, halfway through the baking time. The scones are ready when they turn a warm golden color. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool and prevent sogginess. 

Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and whisk until smooth. The glaze should run off of the whisk in a thick flowing ribbon. If the glaze is too thin, slowly whisk in more powdered sugar. If the glaze is too thick, slowly add more lemon juice or water.

Once the scones have cooled slightly, drizzle the glaze over the scones. Allow the glaze to set up for 15-20 minutes before serving.

*Freezing the or chilling the scones before baking helps the dough relax for a more tender interior and allows the butter to firm back up for a more crumbly exterior. 

*Pre-baked scones can be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours or frozen 2-3 months.

*Bake frozen scones straight from the freezer, no need to defrost. You may need to bake a few additional minutes.

*Feel free to sub in any other berry in place of raspberries. 





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