This simple recipe for Gluten Free Lemon Scones takes tender, oat-and-almond flour scones and infuses them with lots of fresh lemon zest and heavy cream. Perfect at breakfast time or for afternoon tea!

Simple Gluten Free Lemon Scones Recipe

Scones are one of the homiest and comforting baked goods you can make – they are delicious with salted butter or a bit of creme fraiche or even whipped cream. Jam, particularly homemade blackberry, is very nice too. But in this scone recipe you don’t need much if anything extra.

To start, lemon zest is rubbed into the sugar to release the oils in the lemon skin. This forms a flavorful base for the scones and helps distribute that gorgeous lemon flavor throughout each one. Cream in the batter makes these ultra-rich and tender, just what you want in a good scone! You can use Meyer or regular lemons interchangeably in this recipe, and can try different citrus zests if you like.

You can also try my Gluten-Free Cranberry-Orange Scones or Gluten-Free Berry Buckwheat Scones recipes if you love scones as much as I do!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe for Gluten Free Lemon Scones

So simple. This is almost a one-bowl recipe (and in truth it’s practically so!) and you only need minutes of active time to make the scone dough and form the scones.
Easy to make in advance for morning baking. You can put together the dough for these scones the day or night before, keep them in an air-tight container, and bake in the morning for fresh, warm scones. A bonus is that the dough really be really hydrated from the long rest and the lemon flavor will really permeate the scones.
Just two gluten-free flours are needed. Yes, just two naturally gluten-free flours are needed in this recipe! See the substitution suggestions below if you need to make any swaps.

What You’ll Need to Make Lemon Scones

Be sure to check the recipe card at the end of this post for the full ingredient amounts and instructions.

Sugar
Lemon Zest: From a fresh, organic lemon.
Oat Flour: Make sure to use certified gluten-free oat flour if you’re sensitive.
Almond Flour: Choose fine-ground almond flour rather than almond meal.
Baking Powder
Fine Sea Salt
Butter: Use unsalted butter in this recipe.
Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is best but you could substitute half-and-half or whole milk if needed.
Eggs

How to Make Gluten-Free Lemon Cream Scones

It’s not difficult to make these scones! Here is my method:

Rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Place the sugar in a large bowl and add the lemon zest. Using your fingers, work the zest into the sugar until it is fragrant and well dispersed.
Whisk in the dry ingredients. Whisk in the oat and almond flours, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
Add the butter. Grate the frozen butter using a box grater and add it to the flour mixture. Work in the butter with a fork and/or your hands until it comes together in pea-sized crumbs.
Add the heavy cream and eggs. In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and eggs. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the cranberries, and stir together until moistened.
Form the scones. Using a little oat flour, turn out the dough on the counter and, using a little more oat flour, knead and work the dough together until it is smooth and firm. Form dough into an 8-inch disc and, using a sharp knife, cut into 8 equal pieces.
Chill the dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the scones on the baking sheet and place the sheet in the fridge for at least an hour. You could also make these in advance and store in a parchment-lined, air tight container overnight for morning baking.
Bake the scones. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Place the scones on their prepared baking sheet on top of another baking sheet, then place in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, until scones are lightly browned and firm. Remove from oven, let cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then place on a rack to cool completely.

Substitution Suggestions

It’s not hard to make ingredient substitutions! Here’s how to do it:

Oat Flour – Try sorghum flour.
Almond Flour — Try buckwheat or teff flour.
To Make Dairy-Free – Swap very cold coconut oil and work into the dough similarly. Replace the heavy cream with coconut cream (not coconut milk).
To Make Refined Sugar-Free – Sub coconut sugar for the sugar.

Storage Options

Store the scones in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 3 days.