These Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Scones are moist and fluffy, sweet and fruity and rich and “buttery”! They’re great for dessert, breakfast or a snack.
Why you’ll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Scones:
- they’re honestly undetectably vegan and gluten-free
- they’re refined sugar free
- they’re perfectly zesty and citrusy
- they’re packed with juicy blueberries
- they’re easily customisable
- they’re easy to make
- they come together in one bowl
- they’re much healthier than the traditional version
- they’re perfect for breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea, a snack, Mother’s Day, baby showers, bridal showers and anything else in between!
What is the difference between American and British scones?
These Lemon Blueberry Scones are American scones, which are quite different from British scones. Here are the main differences between American and British scones:
- The shape: American scones are triangular, British scones are circular
- The way they’re baked: American scones are made by making a round shape with the dough and cutting before baking, whereas British scones are made by cutting out individual circles from the dough
- Add-ins: American scones usually include add-ins like fresh fruit, whereas British scones are usually plain or contain a small amount of dried fruit such as currants
- The way they’re eaten: British scones are sliced in half and eaten with clotted cream and strawberry jam
Substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
- you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
- you can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
- you can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free
- you can replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground walnuts or ground sunflower seeds
- for a nut-free version: use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and a nut-free plant-based milk
- you can use either fresh or frozen blueberries
- if you’re not into blueberries, you can substitute them with raspberries, blackberries, strawberries or cherries
How to make these Lemon Blueberry Scones
Once you’ve made the dough, all you need to do is get a baking tray lined with baking paper, and use your hands to create an elongated circular shape.
Tip: You can use a rolling pin, but I like to avoid floured surfaces and all the faff that comes along with that, so I prefer to just use my hands as it’s easier. You can use a floured rolling pin if you like, but there’s no need to use a floured surface as the baking paper works to stop the dough from sticking.
Once you’ve got that circular shape, just use a knife to carve lines into the surface of the dough – it’s kind of like cutting a pizza, but don’t cut it all the way through to the bottom!
Equipment you’ll need to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Scones:
glass mixing bowl – for mixing together the ingredients for the dough- measuring jug – for measuring out the plant-based milk
- rectangular baking tray – for baking the scones
- baking paper – for lining the baking tray (make sure to grease the baking paper to stop the scones from sticking)
More gluten-free vegan blueberry desserts:
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Blueberry Banana Bread
- Lemon Blueberry Mug Cake
- Blueberry Muffins
- Blueberry Pie
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Blueberry Scones
Ingredients
- 60 g (1/4 cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 150 g (1 1/4 cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 100 g (1 cup) fresh blueberries
- 150 g (1 1/4 cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
- Once melted, add the lemon juice to the same bowl along with the lemon zest, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, ground almonds and blueberries
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
- Mix well until a dough forms, adding the milk a little bit at a time to ensure you don’t add too much - it should be soft, but firm enough to mould easily. You can add a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
- Line a baking tray with greased baking paper
- Use your hands to shape the dough into a slightly elongated circular shape about 2 cm (1 inch) thick - you can also use a floured rolling pin for this, but I prefer to do it with my hands because it’s easier. There’s no need to use a floured surface as the baking paper works to stop the dough from sticking.
- Keeping the dough in that shape, use a knife to carve the surface of the dough into eight - cut in half first, then each half into half, and each quarter into half again until you end up with eight even triangles. It's a bit like cutting up a pizza, but make sure not to cut all the way down through the dough.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until browned and an inserted skewer comes out clean
- Leave to cool slightly before cutting
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days - delicious reheated in the toaster!
Notes
almond flourDisclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of the products, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Kapana
Hi there. Just wondering if the dough can be kept in the fridge overnight and scones baked in the morning?
Rhian Williams
Yes that could potentially work, though I can’t guarantee results. Depending on what type of flour you use, gluten-free flour can get quite dry so I’d bear that in mind.
Yolanda
Yummy!! Thanks for a great recipe. Made them this morning…kitchen smells good:)
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!