Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones

These Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones are perfect for a Springtime snack or breakfast.

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Lemon rosemary scone ingredients
The ingredients to make Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones: all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, unsalted butter, rosemary, lemon zest, kefir (or buttermilk), egg.

I like scones. A lot. I have been known to make them for breakfast, brunch or snacks. I’m quite certain I’ve even eaten them for lunch before. My addiction started in University, when I got into the habit of picking up a giant blueberry scone from one of the campus coffee shops after my early morning Genetics lab once a week.

I’ve definitely made whole wheat scones before, but never with lemon and rosemary. Since we’ve finally gotten a couple of warm days, I really wanted to make something Springy. And by Springy I mean with fresh flavors of citrus and herbs. I won’t be starting my outdoor herb garden for several more weeks, so the only fresh herb I have is my indoor rosemary plant – perfect with some lemon zest. 

The ingredients to make whole wheat lemon and rosemary scones in a food processor.
Using a food processor to make your Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones will safe you a lot of time and work.

How to make Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones:

 The process to make these Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones is the same as with most scones: first mix dry ingredients, then add the cubed butter and blend until it resembles sand. Then add the wet ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. 

Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scone dough on a floured countertop.

 Then move the dough to a floured surface. You can either roll/pat it into a circle and cut it into wedges (like I did) or use a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut it into circles. 

Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones on a baking sheet before baking.

I prefer wedges for scones because you don’t have to worry about re-rolling the scraps.

Whole wheat lemon and rosemary scones on a baking sheet.

Look how much they puffed up after baking! Let them cool for a bit while you make the glaze, which is just a mixture of lemon juice, milk, lemon zest, chopped rosemary, and powdered sugar. 

Glazed whole wheat lemon and rosemary scones on a baking sheet.
Make sure you let the scones cool before glazing them, as the glaze will melt and run off the scones if they are still too hot.

If you glaze the scones while they are still too warm, the glaze will run off. However, you can scrape the leftover glaze back into the bowl, and re-glaze once they cool.

Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones on white plates.

Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones Ingredients and Substitutions:

 Since these scones don’t use an oatmeal base like my Oatmeal Maple Scones, the ingredients are a bit different:

For the Scones

  • All-purpose flour
  • Whole wheat flour (if you want to make these scones white instead of whole wheat, simply replace the whole wheat flour with an equal amount of all-purpose flour)
  • Baking powder
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Unsalted butter
  • Fresh rosemary
  • Lemon zest
  • Plain or vanilla kefir (or replace with buttermilk, or plain or vanilla yogurt, or a half-and-half mixture of plain or vanilla Greek yogurt and milk, or 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice added to milk)
  • Egg

For the Glaze

  • Lemon zest
  • Lemon juice
  • Fresh rosemary
  • Milk or water
  • Powdered sugar

These scones certainly do have the light, fresh, Springy taste I was going for. They would be perfect for a fancy Springtime affair – I’m thinking Easter breakfast or Mother’s Day.

These scones also freeze well. Simply put them into a large freezer bag, and reheat for a few seconds in the microwave when you want to eat one.

Whole wheat scones with lemon and rosemary - DomesticDreamboat3

Want more breakfast pastry recipes?

Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones Nutrition Notes:

Note that the nutrition information in the recipe below assumes that you use all of the glaze on the scones. If you use less, your scones will be slightly lower in sugar.

Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones

4.50 from 2 votes
Lemon rosemary scones glazed scones cropped
These Whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones are perfect for a Springtime snack or breakfast.
Servings: 8
Course: Bread, Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: Universal
Calories: 316
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Cooling Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients
  

For the Scones
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 3 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4″ cubes
  • 1 Tbsp finely minced rosemary
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 3/4 cup plain or vanilla kefir see note
  • 1 egg beaten lightly
For the Glaze
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp finely minced rosemary
  • 1 Tbsp milk
  • 2-3 cups Powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Add flours, baking powder, sugar and salt to food processor and pulse until mixed. Or whisk by hand until combined.
  3. Spread butter over top the dry ingredients. Pulse until mixture resembles sand. Add rosemary and lemon zest and pulse until they are mixed in. Transfer to a large bowl. Or cut in butter with a pastry cutter, then stir in rosemary and lemon zest.
  4. Stir in kefir and egg with a rubber spatula until dough is formed. Pour onto floured countertop and form dough into a ball. Pat dough into a circle and cut into 8 equal wedges, or cut into circles with a cookie cutter. Place wedges on prepared cookie sheet.
  5. Bake until tops are light brown, 12-15 minutes. Cool scones while preparing glaze.
For the Glaze
  1. Whisk together lemon juice and zest, rosemary and milk. Stir in icing sugar until desired consistency is reached 2-3 cups). Drizzle glaze over cooled scones.

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 5gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 327mgPotassium: 88mgFiber: 2gSugar: 35gVitamin A: 264IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 132mgIron: 2mg

Notes

Instead of kefir, you could use buttermilk or equal parts yogurt and milk

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whole Wheat Lemon and Rosemary Scones

2 Comments

  1. When younmention “equal parts yogurt and milk”, do you mean 3/4 of each or enough of each that will equal 3/4? I did 3/4 or both and it came out really watery. I had to add in another cup of both whole wheat and APF to be able to roll out.

    1. If you are using yogurt and milk, you would do enough to total 3/4 cup, so just under half a cup of each. I hope your scones turned out okay with having to add extra flour 🙂

4.50 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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