Summer is a time for tea parties in the garden, sipping iced tea lattes al fresco, and sharing pitchers of ice-cold lemonade with friends. For every sunny season gathering, there are perfect summer scones. Check out this round-up of all our favorite summer scone flavors, with a brand-new bonus lemonade scone recipe using your choice of seasonal fruits and Plum Deluxe lemonade mix!
Taste of Summer
Everyone has their quintessential taste of summer. The food that announces: summer is here! Maybe it’s the first batch of strawberries. Maybe it’s the fragrant bloom of lavender. Maybe it’s the sizzle of steaks on the grill. Whatever your classic summer flavor is, you can incorporate it into your tea-time treats.
Summer scones are easily adapted to the bounty of summer berries, fruits, and florals. You can stir them straight into the batter, turn them into a simple compote to spoon over your scone or use them to infuse your sugar or cream for a richer depth of flavor.
Summer scone flavors are as vast and varied as the fruits of summer themselves. Choose your favorite, and let’s get baking!
Very Berry
For me, nothing says summer like farmer’s market stands filled with every berry under the sun. Perfect for pies, jams, ice cream toppings, and scones. If, of course, you can resist popping them straight into your mouth like popcorn. For the berries that manage to make it all the way home, any variety is the perfect addition to a classic scone recipe.
If classic is what you’re looking for, check out this British strawberry scone. Studded with fresh strawberries, the scones come out beautifully flaky and perfectly golden—absolutely divine with a dollop of whipped cream, or—to keep it classic—clotted cream!
And while strawberries are in season, don’t miss out on these strawberry rhubarb cream cheese scones! The cream cheese adds a measure of richness and moisture that is simply heavenly. The dreamy indulgence of the cream cheese is enhanced by the sweetness of the strawberries and balanced by the subtle tang of the rhubarb.
Or try strawberry honey yogurt scones which swap out heavy cream for deliciously smooth honey Greek yogurt. If you’re searching for a scone recipe with less butter (or just amazing flavor), this is the one for you!
For the raspberry lovers in the crowd, amp up your raspberry scones with a handful of white chocolate chips! A touch of almond extract plays very nicely with the medley of flavors, topped off with a lovely tea-infused glaze.
Gluten-free tea lovers need not miss out on summer scones! We have plenty of gluten-free scone recipes in our catalog, including a beautiful raspberry scone that can be made with your go-to 1:1 GF blend, or the customized flour blend featured in the article. A few drops of orange flower water add an elegant nuance that melds charmingly well with the faintly floral undertones of the raspberries.
And to round out our berry section, zazz up your blueberry scones with a bit of orange zest! The brightness of the citrus mingles so pleasantly with the berries, warmed by a dash of cinnamon. Chef’s kiss!
Sweet Stone Fruits
Another summer staple is juicy, tender stone fruit. Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums…only available at their peak for the briefest of summer flashes. Sure, you can get them canned, frozen, or dried in the dead of winter, but nothing quite compares to the flavor of a perfectly fresh peach!
Take advantage of stone fruit season with these peach cobbler scones, infused with Peach Bellini herbal tea and layered with cinnamon-sprinkled peaches!
You could easily swap out the peaches in the cobbler scone recipe for any stone fruit of your choice. Have a plum tree in your yard? Go to town! Can’t get enough of nectarines? Cobble them up and then gobble them up!
If apricots are your thing, you must try these apricot lavender scones. A delicate smattering of lavender buds offset the gentle tartness of the fruit, softened by a creamy drizzle of icing.
Or fold a half cup or so of stone fruit into any of your go-to scone recipes for a fruity treat that is hard to beat!
Fabulous Florals
While we enjoy the cornucopia of fruits and berries that abound this time of year, let’s not forget the flowers! Many blooms of the season are a treat for the taste buds as well as the eyes. Check out this post on edible flowers for inspiration!
Or get started with the classics…
These lavender honey scones are elegant, flaky, floral perfection. Sweetening them with honey makes them especially moist and tender, and the subtly botanic notes in the honey are a perfect complement to the aromatics of the lavender. A beautiful addition to your tea table!
Or draw from another section of the garden with these mandarin elderflower scones. Elderflower pairs wonderfully with citrus (as in these Evening in the Garden cocktails with elderflower tea, lemon, and champagne), so mandarin orange juice is an excellent choice to augment the sprinkling of dried elderflowers in these whole wheat scones!
Though not technically a flower, rosemary gets an honorable mention in our floral section with these gluten-free rosemary blueberry scones. Herbaceous and berry-licous, they are the perfect baked good to pair with soothing Meadow Walk herbal tea!
Tropical Twists
You may or may not be able to enjoy a tropical beach vacation this summer, but anyone can enjoy the taste of the tropics with a tropically flavored scone! Whip up a batch of scones with a coconut or mango tea, and you can practically hear the sound of the surf and feel the sun on your skin!
Coconut mango scones incorporate dried mango (feel free to substitute for fresh!), shredded coconut, and coconut extract to give you easy breezy beach vibes. Almond and vanilla extract sweeten the deal, and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top gives a sandy aesthetic that makes you feel like you’re sipping tea surfside!
Pineapple and banana provide a sunny summer moment in these hummingbird scones. A combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour give an extra little boost of nutrients, and baking spices like cinnamon and cardamom give depth and warmth, hinting at the tastes of autumn to come.
Crisp Citrus
For an absolutely crisp, refreshing flavor, turn to citrus!
In addition to the mandarin elderflower scones mentioned above, check out ruby red grapefruit scones. The recipe combines the zest of grapefruit with ground tea leaves from Kitchen Table black tea blend (with secret citrus mix!) for a double serving of delicious tang.
Lemon and raspberry are a dynamic duo and come together beautifully in these raspberry lemon scones. Lemon yogurt and fresh lemon zest bring a burst of brightness, harmonizing wonderfully with a baked-in scoop of homemade raspberry curd.
If luscious lemony treats are your thing, lemonade scones will be right up your alley! Lemon juice and zest give all the punch you need, grounded by sturdy Fog Cutter black tea. The whole thing is topped with a mouth-watering lemon glaze to give the perfect hint of zing, crunch, and sweetness.
And now introducing, a new lemonade scone recipe featuring your favorite Plum Deluxe lemonades!
Lemonade Scone Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 cup Plum Deluxe lemonade mix
- Grated peel from 1 lemon, optional
- 2 Tablespoons honey*
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk with a squeeze of lemon juice, OR heavy cream or buttermilk (plus an additional 1 ~ 2 tablespoons for brushing—optional)
- 1 stick (8 ounces) butter, grated and frozen (at least 15 minutes, or overnight)
- 1/2 cup summer fruit add-ins, optional (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, etc.)
*Can play with sweeteners as desired. Could omit honey and add ¼ cup sugar, or increase lemonade mix to ½ cup. (Though that also doubles the amount of citric acid, which does affect the final taste.)
Directions:
Remove butter from fridge and grate with a cheese grater, then store in freezer. (At least 15 minutes, or overnight.)
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, lemonade mix, baking soda, optional lemon peel, and additional sugar (if using instead of honey). Put in fridge while assembling wet ingredients.
Tip: Dry ingredients can be assembled the night before and stored in the fridge for an even better chill and less day-of prep time.)
In a medium bowl, combine milk, egg, vanilla, and honey (if using). Set aside in fridge until needed.
Remove dry ingredients from fridge and butter from freezer. Use a fork to toss grated butter in with the dry ingredients until all butter is coated with flour and the butter chunks are fairly evenly distributed.
Remove wet ingredients from fridge, pour into dry ingredients. Stir gently until the dough is moistened but not fully combined.
Add additional fruits if using (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.), and gently fold into the dough.
Turn the dough onto the counter, gently use hands to incorporate any remaining flour, then shape into a roughly 8-inch disc.
Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 wedges. Brush with additional milk if desired (for a crisper outer texture and deeper golden color.)
Store scones in fridge at least 15 minutes (to let the flour rest), up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake scones 18 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and set.
Remove from oven and cool.
Serve with your favorite Plum Deluxe tea or lemonade, and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Master Scone Recipe. Thank you, Sally!
Summer Fruit Compote Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups summer fruit or berry of choice (suggestions: blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, peach, plum, apricot)
- 1/4 ~ 1/2 cup water (or tea)
- 3 Tablespoons sweetener of choice (taste and adjust as necessary, depending on sweetness of fruit and preference)
- Squeeze of lemon juice to taste
- 1/4 ~ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat.
Let simmer 20 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until desired consistency is reached.
Remove from heat, cool.
Serve over scones, ice cream, oatmeal, cake, or toast, and enjoy!
![Summer Iced Tea Variety Pack [6-Pack Variety of Flavors]](http://www.plumdeluxe.com/cdn/shop/files/summervarietypack.png?v=1713833466&width=239)
