Lemon Lavender Scones are an elegant, bright addition to any spring brunch or breakfast table! Warm and fragrant lavender is lightly infused throughout the scones, with a burst of lemon, and they’re topped with a sweet sugar icing.
That’s right everybody: Lemon Lavender Scones!
Lemon!
And Lavender!
IN SCONES!
Are you ready for this elegant combination?
If you know what’s good for you, you definitely should be. And if not, you better get ready. And fast.
I have a sneaking suspicion that these easy, elegant scones are going to be your go-to brunch recipe for every summer weekend from here-on-out.
In fact, we’re all going to be looking for excuses to have brunch because Lemon Lavender Scones must make their weekly appearance.
THE PERFECT TIME FOR LEMON LAVENDER SCONES
Speaking of brunches… is there anything better than a scone with coffee at a lazy weekend brunch? Or even at a brunch where you’re expected to put on some nicer clothes and are sipping mimosas.
Like, I don’t know, a bridal shower brunch?! I swear every friend I’ve ever had got married this past year. Which means a whole lot of bridal showers. My gal pals, my brunch buddies, they’re all gettin’ hitched!
And eventually the bridal showers will turn into baby showers, and that means a whole lot more scones to be had. Anyone else feel like they’ve been to ALL the showers lately?
Now, what’s a single girl to do with all this love and marriage around?! Bring Lemon Lavender Scones to each and every occasion, that’s what!
While scones are the perfect addition to brunch – and these ones are so easy to make! – they don’t need to be secluded to this singular event. I’m a huge fan of having scones with tea in the afternoon (maybe I have some UK vibes in me?).
And dare I say…dessert? I’m thinking Lemon Lavender Scones, with a scoop of ice cream – how about lavender ice cream? Or honey? Then toss in some fresh blueberries, and a drizzle of honey with fresh mint leaves on top? Holy cow, I think we just perfected a light, spring-summer dessert.
BAKING WITH LAVENDER
Until now, lavender played a purely help-me-calm-the-heck-down type role in my life. It was the essential oil I’d diffuse after a long day when I needed some relaxation, the one I’d drop in my bubble bath, the one I’d slather on my wrists when I couldn’t sleep.
But my friends !!! Lavender flowers are SO lovely to bake with.
And they’re especially delicious in scones.
Haven’t baked with lavender before? Never fear, Lemon Lavender Scones are the perfect place to start. They’re easy to make, and the lavender flavor is subtle throughout, making them the best kind of beginner scone and lavender recipe out there.
Baking with lavender makes the scones (or whatever baked good) lightly floral. It adds such a unique, comforting flavor, without being overpowering.
Now I know, where do you actually find lavender flowers? Amazon, of course. I went ahead and bought this lavender – can’t argue with high quality, organic lavender straight from the fields of France (not sponsored, but it is an affiliate link). Do be warned, because it’s au natural, you may need to pick out an extra branch here or there before mixing it into your scones.
I’ve also seen lavender in the bulk spice section at my local Whole Foods (yay for bulk sections!). Check out your grocery store, you could be surprised!
TIPS FOR MAKING SCONES
So you’re looking at a scone recipe and wondering how you’re going to come out with scones that are light, and fluffy, and have layers and layers. Am I right?
These are real fears, and I hear you. I’m happy to report back that these scones are quite easy to make, and as long as you don’t have too much of a heavy hand when kneading, you’ll be met with layers inside your light, fluffy scones.
That being said here are my top tips for making perfect scones:
- Use cold butter – you can even stick it in the freezer after you cube up the butter to keep it chilled. Think pie dough – you don’t want the butter to melt into the flour until it’s baking.
- Don’t over-knead – it’s tempting to think of scone dough like bread and want to knead, knead, knead, but don’t! You’ll end up with a tough mess of scones. Instead, lightly press the dough together and gently form it into shape. Light hands, light hands.
- Mixing the milk with the lemon juice creates a “buttermilk” – giving the scones extra flavor and moistness (yes, sorry I said moistness).
In the end – give it a try and I promise you won’t be disappointed. Lemon Lavender Scones deliver a bright punch of lemon with warm, fragrant lavender. The pairing is dynamite.
Top the scones off with a drizzle of icing because OF COURSE there has to be a drizzle of icing. I mean, I guess you could leave it off… but really, why, oh why would you?
Now go, my sweet dear foodie friends, go impress everyone at your next brunch with a batch of elegant Lemon Lavender Scones.
I’d also love to hear if you’ve baked (or cooked!) with lavender before – leave me a comment and give me your favorite lavender recipe I should try next!
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!
Lemon Lavender Scones
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest ~3 lemons
- 3/4 cup milk + more for brushing
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons lavender flowers
- 1 stick 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
ICING:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 – 1 1/2 Tablespoons milk sub with lemon juice for extra lemon flavor – but don’t use both
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest, rubbing between your clean fingers until a coarse sand-like mixture forms (this helps infuse the lemon flavor!).
- In a separate bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. This will form a “buttermilk” like consistency. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lavender. Add the lemon-sugar mixture and stir to combine. Cut in the cold butter until a pea-sized mixture forms. Gently stir in milk with a wooden spoon until just combined (do not over mix).
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently until formed together (again – do not over knead, gently push the dough together). Form the dough into an 8 x 5 inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle down the middle, lengthwise, and then cut the other side (short side) into thirds (you will have 6 squares). Cut each square in half to form two triangles. This will result in 12 small triangles.
- Place the scones on the baking sheet with plenty of space in between each one (they will expand when they bake). Brush the tops and sides of the scones evenly with a bit of additional milk to add color as they bake. Bake the scones for 19-22 minutes until bottoms and tops are slightly golden brown. Remove and let cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing (optional but recommended :)), stir together powdered sugar, milk (or lemon juice if substituting it), and lemon zest until combined. Drizzle on cooled scones.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in June 2018; the photos were updated in August 2019. No changes were made to the recipe.
Liz
Mmmmm lemon and lavender – that combo sounds just magical! I absolutely adore scones, but for some reason I haven’t made them in quite a while. That certainly needs to change ASAP!
Becca
Agree! For some reason I don’t get around to making them often but they’re so good! That’s definitely changing now!
Katie Y
Recipe is great however when do you add the lemon sugar to the mix? The first time I made it I forgot to add the lemon sugar and just used it for the icing on top. I am making them again and added lavender flowers to the lemon sugar and planning on adding it the same time I add the lavender.
Becca
Katie – I am so sorry I left that key step out of the directions! I updated the recipe – I add the sugar mixture to the flour right before I cut in the butter. I’m glad to hear you’re making them again! 🙂 Enjoy!
Jody Noel
Can you double the recipe? Sometimes when baking you can’t double. Have you tried it with this recipe?
Becca
Hi Jody! I haven’t tried doubling this recipe myself, I’d just recommend being careful to not overwork the dough still. You could also cut the dough into smaller triangles if you’re looking for a smaller bite to feed a crowd (and likely reduce baking time if you do make them smaller!). Let me know how it turns out!
Jody
I doubled the recipe and they came out wonderful. The only thing I had a hard time with was blending the butter. It took longer, should’ve used food processor.
Highly recommend making scones ?
Becca
Yay! So glad it worked out! 🙂
Shelly
These were so pretty and delicious!
I shared with friends so that I wouldn’t devour them all.
Becca
I’m so happy to hear, Shelly! I’m glad your friends were able to enjoy them, too! 🙂
Theresa
Hi Becca,
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I made them today for the first time and they came out great! Definitely will make these again. I started growing lavender for tea and aromatherapy but this was the first time I baked with it.
Becca
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed them, Theresa! I LOVE that you used your own lavender!
Ana
Replaced butter for vegan butter based on almond oil and milk with almond milk! Turned out amazing!!!!
Becca
Ana, I am so glad to hear they were amazing with vegan butter and almond milk! Helpful tip for others making the recipe, too, thank you for sharing! <3
Brittney
Hi! I clicked on the link you provided for the lavender flowers. I’m wondering, if you used those exact ones, did you have to pick out the lavender buds from the other little bits and pieces of the plant? Someone commented on Amazon that the lavender they normally buy doesn’t have that stuff in it and it was almost impossible to bake with these because of the “debris”. Do you just throw it all in the scone? Thanks!
Becca
Hi Brittney! Great question. I do use the lavender linked in the post. There are some larger “stick-like” pieces that I remove when baking with it, but it hasn’t ever been much of a problem for me. Are you on Instagram? I’d be happy to show you what it’s like. Send me a DM if you are and I’ll send over a video. Otherwise, happy to send one via email if it’d be helpful.
Jeff
Nice. With safer at home, I have been doing a lot of baking with my children and we started 3:00 tea. Experimenting with different flavors for scones, we found this. As a side note, Lavender is very easy to grow and can be grown indoors or outdoors. A few years ago I stared infusing my sugar with lavender from my deck pots.
Becca
I love 3:00 tea! That’s such a fun idea with your kids, I’m so glad these Lemon Lavender Scones were part of it – and homemade lavender – YES!
Adeline B.
These where AMAZING! I added some extra vanilla to the glaze along with a drop of Lavender essential oil. They where so light a crispy!
Becca
Yum, yum, yum! That sounds amazing. I’m so glad you enjoyed, Adeline. Thanks for commenting!
Amber
Loved your recipe. This was my first attempt at making scones. Very similar to my homemade biscuit recipe (as in technique). They’re all gone! I had to share with my neighbors so my husband and I wouldn’t eat them all, and they all said they were amazing!
Becca
Hi Amber – it’s definitely a similar technique, I’m so glad you gave it a try for the first time! And so so happy to hear everyone loved them! 🙂 It’s such a fun flavor. Thank you for commenting, and trying out the recipe!
Veronica
Can I halve the recipe? I want to try to make less of it to see if I like it cause I’m not used to lavender being in a scone but still want to try because I love the flavor.
Becca
Hi Veronica – I haven’t halved the recipe myself but I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to. I’d love to hear what you think once you try them!
Colleen
Hi Veronica, I’m wondering if you tried halving the recipe and what your results were? Thank you!
Kathy Manos Penn
I made these and appreciated the tips about keeping the butter in the fridge after cubing it. I just saw another recipe where they froze the butter and then grated it. May try that too.
Everything came together easily enough. For me, the lavender taste was a bit strong, so I may halve the amount and try again. I’m in search of a lavender scone recipe to include in my cozy mystery, as it takes place on a lavender farm in Cornwall! Glad I found yours.
Becca Mills
Hi Kathy – I’ve heard of the grating frozen butter trick too, have yet to try it so thanks for the reminder! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the scones, thank you for commenting!
Diana
This recepie is amazing! I adapted slightly but it worked perfectly!
My boyfriend was not sure about lavender and lemon and it turn outs that he love them and now ask me to do them severas times! Perfect recepie to impress anyone! Classic but out of ordinary!
Really recomend you to do this!
Becca Mills
I’m so glad to hear, Diana! Also glad they passed the boyfriend test 😉 Thanks so much for sharing!
Liz
These are SOOOOO delicious!!! Have quickly become a family favorite!
Becca Mills
So glad to hear, thanks, Liz!
Nena Russell
Delicious scones! Nice combination of the lemon and lavender. the flavors came through, but were not overwhelming. I used the zest of a small lemon and the juice from the same lemon which turned out to be just right. I didn’t have enough leftover lemon juice for the icing, however,I crumbled some lavender buds into the icing.
.
Becca Mills
I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thanks, Nena! I bet the lavender buds in the icing were beautiful.
Belinda
I tried making scones for the first time yesterday after reading dozens of different recipes so I could get an overview of how it’s done. I grated frozen butter and then put it back in the freezer until it was time to mix in. I never did get the pea size mix everyone talked about but it still worked. My husband loved them!
Becca Mills
I must try the grated butter trick, I still have to! So glad to hear it worked. Thanks, Belinda!
Linda
Hi Becca, I have not tried the scones yet, but have a question about the milk. Can I use skim milk? Thanks
Becca Mills
Hi Linda! Yes, you can use skim milk. Let me know how they turn out! ☺️
Patricia McGann
Simply Divine………the only problem is I made 12 for party, but only delivered 9 – they were too yummy to resist. Absolutely delicious, and so easy too!! Thanks and I’ll be sure to double up the next time 🙂
Becca Mills
Haha! I completely understand that delimma 😉 I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thank you so much for commenting, Patricia!