Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Scones

These gluten-free vegan lemon scones are ready in under 30 minutes which makes them so perfect for a springtime brunch. They're easy to make and full of bright, lemon flavor. Get those ovens started lemon lovers!

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Lemon lovers rejoice! These gluten-free vegan lemon scones are bursting with bright lemon flavor! Drizzled with a luscious lemon glaze to make them extra lemony. Perfect for a gluten-free brunch with your girlfriends! They’re light and have a beautiful crumb – you wouldn’t even know they’re gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan.

I recently found myself with a huge bag of lemons leftover from previous recipe testing and went on a day long lemon baking kick to use them up.

With today being Mother’s Day and the royal wedding next week, it only felt fitting to make some of these gluten-free vegan lemon scones. I gave some to my mom this morning and while she’s a self confessed chocolate lover, I think she really enjoyed these lemon scones! Even if she did drizzle some chocolate over them after she got home.

Scones are personally my favorite breakfast treat. They’re perfect for cool spring mornings… just imagine birds chirping, a cool breeze, leaves rustling and a hot cup of tea or coffee with a lightly sweet lemon scone. Perfection.

I really love how simple the lemon flavor is in these scones. It’s pronounced without between too tart. The lemon glaze on top really brings out the freshness of the lemon flavor.

If you’re accustomed to using lemon from the bottle…. it’s time to stop that. You don’t get the fresh lemon flavor that you get from real lemons. Plus, the zest is where the lemon flavor is at!

I have a little baking secret whenever I’m working with lemons or other citrus, like limes, oranges or grapefruit. I zest my lemons and rub it into the granulated sugar in the recipe with my fingers. The oils from the lemon release and give off the most amazing fragrance. It really makes your lemon dessert shine! Try it next time you’re baking with citrus!

Lemon scones are the perfect breakfast or brunch recipe for this spring. Full of bright, lemon flavor and a light and airy crumb. Top with raspberry jam, lemon curd or eat as is. I’ve been working on a vegan lemon curd that I can’t wait to share with you all – you can see my most recent test batch in some of the photos below! Is lemon not your thing? Try using grapefruit or orange, instead!

Tips and Tricks for Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Scones

• It’s important to keep your butter cold. I cut the amount of butter I need into small cubes and freeze it until it’s solid, for at least 30 minutes before I make my recipe. Cold butter keeps your scones fluffier.
• Instead of using a dairy-free butter, you can also use coconut oil. Just chill in the freezer so it’s cold and solid.
• Measure your flour by spooning the flour into your measuring cup and leveling it off with the side of the spoon or a knife. Don’t scoop your measuring cup straight into the bag or pour the flour into your measuring cup from the bag. The flour will get too dense this way and you’ll use more flour than you need, resulting in a dry scone.
• Don’t overbake these babies. You want the edges to be lightly browned, but if you bake them for too long they’ll be dry. If they end up overbaked and dry, dip them in tea or coffee and they’ll still be delish! (at least I think so!)
• You can make the scones ahead of time to bake for a rainy day! You can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it – just thaw and bake when you’re ready. You can also freeze the scones after they’re baked. Allow them to come to room temperature and then place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze up to one month.

Other Gluten-Free Lemon Recipes You May Like…

• Lemon Poppy Seed Cookie Bars
• Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• Easy Homemade Lemonade
• Lemon Sweet Rolls

Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Scones Recipe

Lemon scones are the ultimate springtime brunch treat and are gluten-free and vegan – but you’d never guess! Topped with a tart lemon glaze, they’re full of lemon flavor. Lemon lovers, this gluten-free breakfast recipe is for you!

Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Scones

These gluten-free vegan lemon scones are ready in under 30 minutes which makes them so perfect for a springtime brunch. They're easy to make and full of bright, lemon flavor. Get those ovens started lemon lovers!

5 from 9 votes

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 scones

Calories: 258kcal

Author: Megan

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Ingredients

For the Scones:

• ▢ 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tbsp lemon zest (from two lemons)
• ▢ 2 cups gluten-free flour blend
• ▢ 1 tbsp baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/3 cup dairy-free butter (cold and solid, cut into small cubes)
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 - 1/2 cup lemon juice (from two lemons)

For the Glaze:

• ▢ 2 tbsp lemon juice (from one lemon)
• ▢ 2 tsp lemon zest (from one lemon)
• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• In a small bowl, rub lemon zest into granulated sugar until the fragrances are released and the zest and sugar are thoroughly combined.
• In a food processor, add the sugar mixture, gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse to combine.
• Then, add in the very cold butter chunks and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. If you don't have a food processor you can also do this in a bowl with a pastry blender or two knives. You just want the butter to remain cold and not melt into the flour mixture.
• Then, add in the vanilla and lemon juice. Start with ⅛ cup of lemon juice and keep adding more until the mixture is slightly wet and can be held together into a dough (I ended up using almost the full 1/2 cup of juice but it will depend on your brand of gluten-free flour).
• Turn dough out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pat the dough into a circle (about 8 inch in diameter). Cut it into 8 wedges.
• Bake at 400F for 13-17 minutes, until they are a light golden brown.
• Make the glaze while the scones are in the oven. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, zest and powdered sugar and whisk until there are no more clumps of powdered sugar. You can add more juice if you want a thinner glaze.
• Remove the scones from the oven and allow to cool before glazing.
• Drizzle or spoon the glaze over the scones and allow to set completely before serving.

Notes

• It's important to keep your butter cold. I cut the amount of butter I need into small cubes and freeze it until it's solid, for at least 30 minutes before I make my recipe. Cold butter keeps your scones fluffier.
• Instead of using a dairy-free butter, you can also use coconut oil. Just chill in the freezer so it's cold and solid.
• Measure your flour by spooning the flour into your measuring cup and leveling it off with the side of the spoon or a knife. Don't scoop your measuring cup straight into the bag or pour the flour into your measuring cup from the bag. The flour will get too dense this way and you'll use more flour than you need, resulting in a dry scone.
• Don't overbake. You want the edges to be lightly browned, but if you bake them for too long they'll be dry.
• You can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it - just thaw and bake when you're ready. You can also freeze the scones after they're baked. Allow them to come to room temperature and then place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze up to one month.

Nutrition

Calories: 258kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 1.2mg

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I’m Megan

A gluten-free food blogger from Chicago and lover of all things food, showing you gluten-free can be easy and delicious, too. Let’s make gluten-free stress free together! Read more…