Lemon Lavender Scones

Ingredients

Scones

• Butter - use cold, unsalted butter. Cut it into small cubes then keep it cold in the fridge.
• Milk - you can use dairy or non-dairy milk. I usually use oat milk.
• Lemon juice - freshly squeezed tastes way better than store-bought bottled lemon juice.
• Fresh or dried culinary lavender - I used freshly picked lavender buds, but dried lavender also works great! Get culinary grade lavender to make sure it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides.
• Granulated sugar - sweetens the scones and gets infused with lavender.
• All-purpose flour - I've also tried this recipe with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Blend to make these gluten free, and it turned out great.
• Baking powder and Baking soda - leaven the scones to help them rise in the oven.
• Salt - brings out the flavors of the other ingredients.

Glaze

• Powdered sugar - forms the soft, fluffy base for glaze.
• Lemon juice - use fresh lemon juice.
• Lemon zest - from about one whole lemon.
• Salt - just a pinch of salt is my Dad's secret to the best-tasting glaze.

Prepare the oven: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Infuse the sugar: Grind the lavender and sugar in a mortar and pestle, food processor, or coffee grinder until the lavender is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Mix the dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the lavender-infused sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the butter: Toss the cold butter cubes in the flour mixture. Use your index fingers and thumbs to squish and flatten the butter cubes. Continue tossing and squishing until the butter looks like thick cornflakes.

Add the buttermilk: Add your buttermilk and mix with a spoon or fork just until the dough sticks together and no big pockets of dry flour remain.

Shape the dough: On a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a large flat round, about 1 to 1½ inches thick.
Slice the dough into 8 equal triangles, and transfer the pieces to your prepared baking sheet.

Bake: Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the scones are golden.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and pinch of salt.

Cool and glaze the scones: Allow the scones to cool for 10 minutes, then drizzle the glaze on top.

Recipe Tips

• Just use the lavender flowers and buds in your scones. Discard any stems and leaves.
• Keep all your scone ingredients cold, especially the butter.
• Use your index fingers and thumbs to squish and break up each butter cube. For the best flaky scones, I recommend to stop squishing and tossing your butter once it looks like really thick cornflakes.
• The larger you keep the butter pieces in the dough, the more flaky layers you'll get. If your butter is small, like the size of peas (or even smaller) then you'll get more crumbly scones.
• Don't overmix the dough. Stop mixing when the dough sticks together and no big pockets of dry flour remain. Otherwise your scones won't be as light and flaky.

What is the Secret to Making Good Scones?

The biggest secret to making great scones is to keep your butter cold. I recommend to cut your stick of butter into half-inch cubes, then refrigerate it again until you're ready to incorporate it into the dry ingredients.

When cold butter hits the hot oven, steam rises from the water within the butter. This steam causes the dough to rise and lift, resulting in delicious layers.

This cold butter technique works in scones similar to how it works in pie crust. And if you've never had a scone, imagine a flaky biscuit with layers that are more cakey and dense.

What to Do if Your Butter Warms and Softens?

If at any point you notice that the butter in your dough is softening or melting before it goes into the oven, refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes, until the butter is cold and hard again.

Taking the time to chill scone dough before baking it could save you from having the soft butter melt into an oily puddle on your baking sheet.

Recipe Variations and Substitutions

• Buttermilk - You can substitute the milk and lemon juice with store bought buttermilk.
• Butter - If you're vegan, the only ingredient you'd need to substitute to make these scones vegan would be the butter - just use a vegan butter instead.
• Lavender - You can infuse the sugar with other dried herbs like rosemary, sage or rose petals.
• Glaze - instead of lemon glaze, you can drizzle honey or vegan caramel sauce on the scones.
• Cubed Butter - Some recipes suggest to use frozen grated butter instead of refrigerated cubed butter. I haven't tried this, since I like my butter chunks to remain big enough to create big air pockets for flaky layers.

Storing

Room temperature: Store cooled scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Freezer: Store cooled scones in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for up to
3 months in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature.

Reheat: Reheat scones in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.

How to Make Lavender Infused Sugar

I 2021, I started experimenting with lavender-infused butter to make buttercream frosting. And for these scones, I was excited to try a new experiment with lavender-infused sugar.

I used a mortar and pestle to grind the lavender and sugar together. But you could use a food processor, coffee grinder, or even a heavy-bottom drinking glass on a cutting board.

As the lavender is ground with sugar, the floral aroma of the flowers are released. It smells like a summer dream! You could make extra and use it to sweeten drinks or add it into other baked treats.

Similar Baked Goods

Once you get the hang of incorporating cold butter chunks into dough, the possibilities are endless! Try these other pie and galette recipes.

• German Apple Pie
• Berry Pie with Frozen Berries
• Pear Galette
• Blueberry Pie
• Strawberry Pie
• Pumpkin Pasties
• Gluten Free Carrot Galette
• Easy Vegetable Quiche