Air Fryer Lemon Blueberry British Scones
Try my new recipe for Lemon Blueberry British Air Fryer Scones! Step-by-step tutorial for scones that rise well, & how to bake in the air fryer! Let me show you how...
Air Fryer Lemon Blueberry British Scones
Step-By-Step Tutorial
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What Are Lemon Blueberry Air Fryer Scones?
These are my popular British scones, in full detailed tutorial style, for scones that will rise, provided you stick to the instructions, even in a small air fryer. This time, flavoured with juicy blueberries and lemon. Not too sweet, these scones are great with lemon curd and cream!
Why Make These Scones?
- Quick & easy
- Make in the air fryer or oven
- Money & energy-saving method
- Taste amazing!
- Full step-by-step instructions
- Video tutorial
- No decoration required
- Enjoy with your favourite fillings
A Big Reason To Use My Recipe
As well as being someone who always writes thorough recipes, with helpful photos & videos, I am Scottish & live in Britain, with a true knowledge of how our scones should taste & look.
After lots of practice, tweaks & more practice, I developed the perfect recipe tutorial for you to follow.
But with our scones, it is a case of WHAT NOT TO DO to achieve that perfect classic rise to these scones. Scones should never be flat and should always rise to about double the height on baking.
My theories were tested worldwide by bakers across the globe when we had a scones bake-along weekend in 2020. Fellow bakers in Facebook group Great British Bake Off Fans all used my recipe during this fun activity. Over 1000 scones were made that weekend with great success. Even for those using All Purpose (Plain) Flour, gluten-free flour, lactose-free milk & even goats butter.
My tutorial was tested out by lots of home bakers across the globe, in a Facebook scones bake-along weekend in 2020. (Click to join the Great British Bake Off Fans Facebook group).
Ingredient Notes
These British scones are made from the following ingredients:
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Unsalted Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Lemon Extract
- Lemon Zest
- Blueberries
*See notes below
Flour
UK Self-raising or Plain (All Purpose) flour can be used for these scones. Both require the addition of baking powder, but in different amounts. All the details are found in the ingredients in the Recipe card below.
Unsalted Butter
Unsalted butter, rather than salted butter, is always recommended for both sweet & savoury baking. It will give the best & most consistent results.
Try making your own butter & buttermilk from cream about to expire, that can both be used in making these scones.
TOP TIP – cut the butter in rough small cubes (about1cm, ⅓” ). This smaller surface area means the butter will soften quicker. Contrary to common belief, British scones do not need to be made with fridge cold butter. Letting the butter soften enough to work with, means you don’t over-work the scones dough.
Milk
I use regular milk (any kind from skimmed through to full fat) as well as sometimes homemade buttermilk in my scones.
But I do know from friends and followers, that lactose-free milk & goat’s milk have both been used successfully, with the only difference of a very slightly paler to the top of the scones.
Sugar
We use Caster Sugar a lot in British baking & these scones are no exception. The sugar is not added for sweetness (it is only a small proportion), but rather to help build structure in the scones. It provides a framework for a good rise, as well as helping promote a tender crumb & acting as a natural preserving agent.
US equivalent is Extra/Super Fine sugar. Alternatively, you can blitz your own finer sugar from granulated sugar.
Eggs
Medium to large-sized UK eggs are used & US equivalent is large to extra-large. Make sure the eggs are at room temperature too.
Lemon Extract
Lemon extract helps bring out a nice lemon flavour to the scones without adding too much moisture. But you could substitute with a little lemon juice.
Lemon Zest
Lemon zest gives a great lemon burst to the scones and is a great way of using the lemon skin.
Blueberries
You can use both fresh and frozen blueberries in these scones. For both, coating the fruit in a little flour stops all the blueberries sinking to the bottom. For frozen blueberries, no need to defrost. Just take from the freezer, right when the scone dough is ready to be mixed.
Mango cranberry scones is an alternative to the blueberries.
Equipment
Very little special equipment needed & a full list is included in the Recipe Card. No mixer needed and I don’t recommend using a food-processor.
To work in the butter (and to help your hands), I do always recommend a pastry cutter (pastry blender). See the photo below.
But this is optional and alternatives are 2 butter knives or using your fingertips.
Round cookie cutter is standard for British scones, not cut with a knife into triangles. I use a cutter with a 5¾cm (2¼”) diameter, the straight edge & don’t recommend going much larger than that.
A brush (artist or pastry brush) is used to apply the egg wash to the top of the scones. And is handy for lots of baking and cooking. You could at a push, also rub it on with some paper. Just be really gentle in doing so and avoid touching the sides.
I really don’t like the silicone brushes as they don’t make a good and full coverage of the bake and only come in one size, whereas having a few different sized artist brushes is more useful.
My scones recipe has been tested in both a small 3.5 litre (3.7 quarts) basket air fryer, as well as a larger, open-front air fryer.
I recently tried making in a an even smaller 3 litre air fryer basket, as well as in a 7.5 litre mini oven, in the new Cello double air fryer that I reviewed.
Tips For Scones That Rise
I always advise on the following things NOT TO DO:
- DO NOT use a food processor
- DO NOT roll out the dough
- DO NOT pat out thinner than 1″ (2.5cm) deep.
- DO NOT twist the cookie cutter – it impedes the sides of the scone & the rise.
- DO NOT touch the sides of the scones
- DO NOT let the egg-wash drip down the sides
- DO NOT be rough with the dough – light hands
- DO NOT use cold butter straight from the fridge
All of these actions can impede the rise that you are aiming for in these British scones.
**Mango cranberry air fryer scones in the photo here.
You can read more about these scone tips on my Classic British Scones recipe, watch the Scones video on my YouTube channel, or even the latest mango cranberry air fryer scones video.
Recipe Yield
Using a round cookie cutter about 5¾cm, 2¼” diameter, with an even dough thickness of at least 1″/2.5cm, the recipe should yield 10-11 scones.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Cube the butter small when measuring or weighing it out. Cut roughly into 1cm, ⅓” size pieces for quicker softening. No need for fridge cold butter for scones. But you need soft enough to work with.
2. When the butter is softened enough that you can push your thumb through the cube and leave an indent, get ready to begin.
3. Add flour and baking powder to a mixing bowl. If using Plain/A.P. flour, add a total of 7.5 tsp (3.5 tbsp) baking powder (yes this amount is correct). If using UK Self-raising, just add 2 level tsp of baking powder & whisk together.
4. Add the softened butter & mix briefly to coat the butter in flour. Then ‘cut in’ in the butter. This means working in the butter till it is in small pieces and coated in flour. You are aiming for resembling large breadcrumbs consistency. Does not need to be perfect. Scones are very forgiving & doesn’t take long to cut in.
5. Use a Pastry Cutter/Pastry Cutter (see photo collage 2) and push down on the mixture, rotating the cutter, left and right. Lift and repeat this motion across the bowl, making sure you are making contact with the bottom of the bowl. Occasionally unblock the cutter of butter pieces when needed. Takes me just a minute or so to work in the butter.
6. Alternatively, you can use your hands or 2 butter knives to work in the butter. For using your hands, lift some mixture up in your fingers and rub your thumb across the other finger tips, rubbing the butter and flour. Repeat this action across the bowl, where lifting the mixture also incorporates some air into the mixture.
See my Air Fryer Mango Cranberry Scones video below for how this is done.
7. Next, add the Caster sugar (Extra/Super Fine sugar) & mix together. Then make a well in the centre and leave to the side.
8. Break 2 eggs into a jug, whisk to combine & then add in the milk, till you are at the 300ml level (about 10 fl oz, 1.25 cups)
9. Add in the lemon extract & whisk together.
10. Reserve 2 tbsps of the egg-wash into a small bowl for later.
11. Add the lemon zest to the dry mixture & combine.
12. Wash the fresh blueberries in warm water & pat dry (frozen blueberries no need to do this or defrost). Coat in 1 & 1/2 tsp sugar, then 1 tsp flour.
13. Add half of the egg-wash to the dry mixture, briefly mix before adding in half of the blueberries.
14. Use your spoon or spatula to gently fold the blueberries in, then add a little more of the liquid before adding the remaining blueberries.
15. Push down on the flour mixture, to get it to take on as much liquid before you add anymore in. You might not use all the egg mixture, or might need a little more. You want a mixture that is coming together and just a little bit sticky to touch.
16. Roughly form the dough into a disc shape & place on some lightly floured baking/parchment paper.
17. Spread out the dough by hand (DO NOT USE A ROLLING PIN) & pat out to a thickness of at least 1″ (2.5cm). Do not make any thinner or your scones will not rise enough.
18. Dip the straight edge of the round cookie cutter in flour, and cut out the scones. Push down on the cutter but DO NOT TWIST THE CUTTER (this impedes the rise). You want to aim for 5 or 6 scones from this first time, so be careful where you cut. Any scones that don’t lift off with the cutter, leave to the end.
19. Shake for the scone to release onto a paper-lined baking tray or for the small air fryer, onto a small piece of air fryer safe baking/parchment paper, only big enough to hold the scones. Don’t let excess paper move about as this can be a fire hazard. A small silicone oven-safe mat would work too. Try not to touch the sides of the scone if possible.
20. Gently pull back the excess dough, freeing any scones that didn’t lift up on cutting. Use a palette knife of spatula to gently lift the scone to the tray.
21. Brush the reserved egg-wash on the top of the scones. We don’t want any to drip down the sides as it will impede the rise. So, tap your egg-wash dipped brush to remove excess, then brush from the centre of the top of the scone & work your way outwards. See the video for reference.
22. If using a small basket air fryer, you can bake the first 4 or 5 scones while you form more scones. For regular ovens, bake them all at once after gently bringing the dough together into a disc. Pat out again, (at least 1″/2.5cm deep), does not need to be smooth and perfect as the handling of dough means the first round of scones always look the best. Repeat until all the scone dough is used up.
Baking The Scones – Air Fryer
1.When baking in a sma
2. In my 3.5 litre/3.7 quarts air fryer (basket no wider than, 6″ (15cm) inside), I can bake 4 scones at once.
. This first batch of scones can bake while you cut out more. Pre-heat the air fryer if your machine needs it, to: 200°c/400°f and cook for 8 – 10 minutes. The scones will have risen well and be golden on top.
(See photo collage 10 of classic air fryer scones)
4. Carefully turn over the scones, brush egg-wash on the bottoms and bake upside-down for 3 – 4 minutes, till coloured. Only basket-style air fryers require this step.ll basket air fryer, you will bake in batches (or half the recipe). Start by placing just enough baking/parchment paper on top of the air fryer rack (only enough to go under the scones, with no excess). Make sure your scones are not going to be directly on the bottom of the basket, but leave enough space on top for a good rise.
***Please note that if your air fryer is very powerful or new, you might want to reduce the temperature by 20c to 180°c/380°f so that they don’t colour too much on top. They should be a golden colour and not pale.
5. Transfer to a cooling rack & bake another batch of the scones, repeating this process until they are all baked. I usually can bake all the scones over 3 batches.
Baking In The Oven
1. For regular ovens, pre-heat to 220°c/200°c Fan Oven/425°f/Gas Mark 6, setting the oven to heat up before you begin forming the scone dough.
**You can also cut out the scones and wait for the oven on to pre-heat, with no adverse affects to the scones.
2. Bake all of the scones at once, on one paper-lined tray with a little space in-between, for about 12 minutes. They will be well risen and a deep golden colour on top. Leave to cool on a rack.
Serving & Storing
1.Serve the scones a little warm or at room temperature. Cut in half & enjoy with fillings such as whipped cream, clotted cream, jam, butter, curd or with fresh berries.
2. Great with a cup of hot tea!
3.Store scones in a metal cake or cookie tin and they will last up to 7 days. Storing in the fridge is not advised as it causes condensation.
4. Scones freeze really well. Just wrap individually in paper and then either cling film/plastic wrap or foil & finally in a labelled food bag or air-tight container.
5. Defrost at room temperature & enjoy by halving and microwaving for no more than15-20 seconds for an almost-just baked scone. Will be fine in the freezer for up to 3 months1).
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: easy, beginner
Try these homemade toppings for your scones – lemon curd, blueberry orange curd, fig anise curd, plum jam or your own homemade butter. See photos below.
Recipe Card
Air Fryer Lemon Blueberry British Scones
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Mixing spoon
- Jug
- Large mixing bowl
- Pastry Cutter/Pastry Blender (optional – or 2 butter knives, or use fingers)
- Whisk or fork
- Baking/parchment paper (make sure good for hot temperatures)
- Round Cookie Cutter (5½-6cm or 1⅙-2⅓″, mine is 5¾cm or 2¼")
- Small bowl/dish (for egg-wash)
- Pastry brush or clean artist brush
- Air Fryer (or regular oven)
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 450 grams Plain Flour (15¾ oz , 3⅔ cups Plain/All Purpose PLUS
- 7½ tsp Baking Powder ( level tsp, Yes, correct amount – only use 2 tsp for UK Self-raising flour*)
Wet Ingredients
- 50 grams Caster Sugar (1¾ oz, level ¼ cup Extra/Super Fine Sugar*)
- 75 grams Butter (unsalted, cubed & a little softened, 2½ oz or level 2/3 stick or ⅓ cup)
- 2 Med-Large Eggs (US – Large or Extra Large)
- 240 ml Milk (1 cup, 8 fl oz – approx., or Buttermilk*)
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract (or orange, try homemade extract)
- Lemon Zest (zest of ½ lemon)
- 78 grams Blueberries (2¾ oz, ¾ cup approx., fresh or frozen*)
- 1½ tsp Sugar (to coat blueberries)
* Denotes -see notes
Instructions
Prepare Air Fryer
- Cube the 75 grams Butter (roughly about 1cm (⅓" ) in size, & leave to soften a little. We DO NOT NEED COLD BUTTER, rather soft enough to work with,
- Fresh blueberries should be washed in warm water, then pat dried, before coating in 1½ tsp sugar, follwoed by ½-1 tsp flour. If using frozen, no need to defrost & only add when dough is prepared.
- If using a small air fryer, plan out how many scones you can bake at one time, by trying out the cookie cutter. This is going to range from 4 – 5.
- Cut a small piece of high temperature-safe baking/parchment paper, just big enough to go under the 4 or 5 scones. Please make sure there is no excess that can cause a fire hazard in air fryers.
Prepare The Dough
- In a mixing bowl, combine the 450 grams Plain Flour & the 7½ tsp Baking Powder (yes this is the correct amount – for UK Self-raising flour, only add 2 tsp baking powder). 'Cut in the butter' till rough large breadcrumb consistency. DO NOT USE A FOOD PROCESSOR- use 2 butter knives, a Pastry Cutter/Pastry Blender or your fingertips. ***Please see the step-by-step instructions & photos before this recipe card for more information or watch the video,
- Add the 50 grams Caster Sugar (US Extra/Super fine sugar) Lemon Zest, mix to combine then leave to the side. Crack the 2 Med-Large Eggs into a jug & top up with approximately 240 ml Milk, until you get to the 300ml (10 fl oz, 1¼ cup level). Add the 1 tsp Lemon Extract & whisk together, before reserving 2 tbsp in a small dish for egg-wash.
- Make a well in the flour mixture before adding ½ the egg mixture & mixing with a spoon, pushing down to make the flour take on as much liquid as possible. Add ⅓ of the blueberries, (if using frozen, remove from the freezer now and coat in the sugar & flour). Gently fold the blueberries in, then repeat with the remaining blueberries. Very gradually add in more liquid until the mixture comes together and is only slightly sticky. You might not need all the liquid or a little more milk. (See video for reference).
- Flour a work area or some baking/parchment paper, form the dough into a ball & pat out on the paper, using your hands. DO NOT USE A ROLLING PIN. Pat it out with your hands, to a thickness of at least 1" (2½cm).
- Dip the straight edge of the cookie cutter in flour before cutting out your scones. DO NOT TWIST THE CUTTER. You will get about 5 – 6 scones from the first round. Scones that lift up, shake onto the prepared paper. Those scones that stick, just leave to the end. Pull back the excess dough, then carefully transfer with a palette knife (try not to touch the sides).
- When all 4 or 5 scones are in the air fryer basket (on top of the paper), very carefully brush the reserved egg-wash on the top of the scones. DO NOT LET IT DRIP DOWN THE SIDES. Tap the brush of excess egg-wash & start to brush from the centre outwards.
Bake The Scones
- Preheat your air fryer if it needs it, to 200°c/400°f & bake the scones for 8-10 minutes. The scones will have risen well and be a deep golden colour. However, as it's a basket air fryer, we need to turn them over, apply more egg-wash & bake for about 4 minutes till golden. If you have a new or powerful air fryer, try baking at 180°c/360°f to not burn the tops.
- While the scones are baking, gently bring the excess scone dough together as best you can with as little handling as possible. Then pat out to at least 1"/2½cm & cut out more scones. You will get at least 10 scones in total.
- Once the first batch of scones are baked, leave to cool on a rack, while you bake the rest.
- For regular oven baking, cut out & egg-wash all the scones & bake all at once on one tray/sheet for about 12 minutes with no need to turn the scones over during baking.
Serving, Storing & Freezing
- Serve the blueberry lemon scones at room temperature or a little warm. They can be enjoyed next day too. Serve halved with things like homemade butter , cream (whipped or clotted), jam, curd etc. Try my blueberry orange curd for a nice treat.
- British scones are best stored in a metal cake or cookie tin at room temperature, and can last at least 1 week.
- Scones freeze really well too. Just wrap each scone in paper then cling film/plastic wrap or foil, and place in a labelled food bag or air-tight container. Freeze for up to 3 months1. Defrost the scone(s) at room temperature or in the fridge overnight. Cut in half & microwave for no more than 15 seconds for a just-baked feel.
Video
Notes
Butter – unsalted butter is always recommended in sweet or savoury baking, for best & consistent results.
Milk –any kind of milk can be used, including lactose-free & goat’s milk. The scones will jsut be a little paler on top with the last 2 kind sof milk. Buttermilk works great too. Read my Homemade Buttermilk & Butter recipe.
Eggs – UK medium to large sized eggs are used, & that is large to extra large in US sizing.
Blueberries – use fresh or frozen. For frozen, no need to defrost, just add from the freezer, when the dough is prepared.
Cookie Cutter – straight edged cookie cutter should be used, and with a diameter of 5 to 6cm or 2 to 2⅓″. My cutter is 5¾cm or 2¼”.
Air Fryer –small basket air fryers can take 4 scones at one time. Read more before the step-by-step instructions. **Read my Cello double air fryer review.
Yield – using the same cutter & thickness, you should get about 10-11 scones from the recipe.
Important tips for British scones included in the directions, but more are listed at the beginning of the post. With scones it is WHAT NOT TO DO! If you stick to the tips your scones will rise well.
More scone & air fryer scone recipes to try. My Original British Scones recipe, the Double chocolate orange Scones version, Mango cranberry scones or Air fryer Cheese Scones.
Try my beginner’s recipe – Tear-&-Share Cheese Scones for an easier recipe.
**Total Time to make – based on making 3 batches of 4 scones, for 12 minutes each in a basket-style air fryer. For larger air fryers, and can bake more than 4 scones at one time, (or use a regular oven), total time would be reduced.
Browse Recipe Index
Reference – 1 Freezing information from website Freeze It.co.uk @ https://freezeit.co.uk/can-you-freeze-scones/
***I am not a qualified nutritionist, & all nutritional values are based on a serving of 1 lemon blueberry scone (from a batch of 11 as per recipe above), using skimmed milk, & with no fillings/toppings. Bigger or smaller scones & the nutritional values will change. All values from MyFitnessPal.com
Try some other scone recipes – just click on the photo below to jump to the recipe.
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Air Fryer Lemon Blueberry British Scones
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Reference:
- Freezing information from website Freeze It.co.uk @ https://freezeit.co.uk/can-you-freeze-scones/ ↩︎
Love this recipe. Lemon and Blueberry such a great combination. Great that they are baked in an air fryer too. The instructions are excellent to make the perfect scone. Thank you for another great recipe.