Easy Rustic Lemon Mint Scones are bright in flavor from lemon and mint, rustic in appearance with the help of oat flour and quick to make.
What Is A Scone?
Honestly, I never had scones while growing up.
The closest thing to a scone I had, was homemade biscuits.
Biscuits , made in my kitchen, when savory with cheddar cheese and herbs, were perfect for a bowl of chili or to bake on top of a Turkey Pot Pie.
However, when made into a slightly sweet dough, they were perfect for morning coffee or topped with my homemade Thyme Strawberry Jam.
Both a biscuit and a scone are a thick batter or dough made with really cold butter, flour and baking powder.
Either sweet or savory scones get rolled out just like a biscuit or pie crust and shaped as you desire before baking.
A delicious scone recipe I make every year for Mother’s Day, is my Blueberry Lemon Scone recipe, and yes, I make them for myself because I am a mom!
English Scones
Having visited England a few years ago and spent a week in the countryside of the Cotswolds I had scones that were the scones to beat all scones!
Less butter and sugar in the batter, since a thick schmear of clotted cream (sorta like butter) and jam, was going to go on top the baked scones.
I vowed, while on that trip, that if I ever have tea parties when I am back home in America, I would always serve scones.
And yes, since home, not only have I made these for girl-time gatherings but I am making them here to inspire you!
Lemon Mint Scones
While a plain scone makes for the perfect treat to slather cream, jam or whatever on top of, putting berries inside the batter has become popular in America.
When Mother’s Day arrived during the pandemic period, one of my sisters came for tea, 12 feet apart, on my veranda and I made a luscious blueberry scone for us to enjoy with our tea.
I will never forget the joy of those Blueberry Scones, probably because I was as hungry for sister time as I was the deliciousness of these scones.
I began to play around more with flavors in the batter and decided that fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and freshly chopped mint was a delightful flavor for a scone, not too sweet.
The bright flavor of the mint and lemon offered a more refreshing flavor to a buttery scone.
What Is The Secret To Making Good Scones?
Butter is the secret to making good scones!
Iced cold butter cut into the flour, and fiddled with as little as possible.
Once the dough for the scone has been mixed and shaped, chill them for about 15 minutes before baking.
While many bakers swear by using self-rising flour, it really is just all purpose flour, with salt and baking powder.
I always have baking powder in my pantry. I don’t always buy self-rising flour, so I don’t use it in my scones.
If you forget to put baking powder into the recipe… You will end up with a cookie instead of a scone.
Not a terrible mistake, just not a scone.
Great Scones Love To Chill!
When making scones, chill, chill and chill everything!
Cut the butter into small chunks and pop it into the freezer while preparing the other ingredients.
Freshly squeeze the lemon juice and pop that back into the fridge until ready to use.
My mom actually used to keep flour in the freezer for other baked goods she made.
Not a bad idea for scones, I’d say.
Once the dough is assembled and shaped the way you want, put it onto the baking sheet and pop that back into the fridge for a bit before baking.
Shaping Scones
There is no set rule or age-old traditional way to shape scones.
Using a biscuit cutter in a variety of shapes, both large and small works great.
Of course a cookie cutter can also work.
Another popular way to shape the scones is to simply place the dough onto the baking sheet and cut it, like you would slice a pie, into triangle shapes before baking.
Rustic looking scones taste just as delicious as fancy cut scones.
Choice is yours.
Easy Step By Step Tips For Making Rustic Scones
The first step and best way to be assured of great scones, is to always work with cold ingredients.
It doesn’t matter if you choose to make scones with dairy milk, oat milk or other non-dairy milk, butter or coconut oil, the colder these ingredients are, the better the texture will be once baked.
Another tip in keeping the ingredients cold, is to cut the butter into small pieces, put it back into the fridge for a couple of minutes before assembling the dough.
Next step is to quickly mix the ingredients together, while they are cold.
This can be done in a bowl with a pastry blender or fork, in a stand mixer or by hand, however remember the warmth of your hands will defeat the purpose of chilling the ingredients.
Shaping Step is again, another chilling step by rolling the dough into a round disc, about an inch thick and putting the disc into the fridge again to chill before cutting or shaping the scones.
Once the dough has been chilled for about 15-minutes, it is ready to cut and bake. Brushing cream across the top of the scones, followed by a sprinkle of sugar before baking gives them the appearance of a glaze.
To Glaze Or Not To Glaze Scones
While this easy recipe does not include an added glaze, simply because I find scones so delicious on their own.
However, it is certainly easy enough to whisk juice from fresh lemons, with a little powdered sugar to make a lemon glaze for more sweet flavor, yet a bright flavor.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- Whole milk
- Lemon
- Sugar
- Mint
- All Purpose Flour
- Oat flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
Equipment Needed
- Large mixing bowl
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Citrus press
- Rolling pin
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Basting brush
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Oven
Easy Rustic Lemon Mint Scones
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry cutter or biscuit cutter
Ingredients
- 12 oz Cold Butter cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup Whole milk cold
- 2 tbsp Heavy cream
- 4 tbsp Lemon juice cold
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest extra for garnish
- 1/4 tsp Lemon extract optional
- 1/3 cup Sugar extra to sprinkle
- 2 tbsp Mint leaves extra for garnish
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour extra for dusting
- 1 cup Oat flour crushed rolled oats
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet.
- In a large bowl, or with a stand mixer, place the all purpose flour and oat flour. Whisk in the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- With a pastry blender (if not using a mixer), work the butter pieces into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
- Quickly work in the cold milk and cold lemon juice, (extract if using), zest and finely chopped mint leaves. For the best results in working with a scone dough, working with cold ingredients, keep butter from becoming soft, resulting in a flaky scone. Once the dough forms a ball, transfer to a lightly floured surface and with a rolling pin shape the dough into a round disk, or circle about an inch thick.
- With a bench scraper or wide knife, transfer the dough to a flour dusted cutting board and place dough in the fridge to chill for 15-minutes. Shaping or cutting scones is much easier if the dough has not become room temperature.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and with a pastry cutter, biscuit cutter or simply a sharp knife, cut the scones into the shapes you desire.
- Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. On the top of the dough, brush the heavy cream, followed by a sprinkle of sugar and a few chiffonade chopped mint leaves. Bake the scones for about 30-minutes or until they begin to look golden. Remove the baked scones from the oven. On the top of the scones sprinkle with a little more freshly chopped mint and zest of lemon. Serve.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.