These lemon and date scones are a wonderful sweet treat. Enjoy them for afternoon tea with a nice "cuppa".

The idea to make these lemon and date scones came from my recent visit to Wellington for the Wellington on a plate food and wine festival.

I was having a conversation with Sarah who admitted she had this fascination with date scones!

She has been experimenting and searching to find the best date scone recipe.

Not one to back away from this I said I would look through my bookmarked recipes and see what I had up my sleeve.

And here we are!

🥘 Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to prepare these lemon and date scones:

a bowl of lemons and scattered dates on a table

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups self raising flour
2 tbsp sugar, caster or superfine
1 cup dates, roughly chopped
Grated rind of 1 lemon

Wet Ingredients:

150 ml milk
150 ml pouring cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Using lemon in this recipe adds a lovely citrus note to the final taste of the scones.

The recipe itself isn't too sweet and I think next time I might try it using some high quality medjool dates.

Overall these were delicious!

lemon and date scones on a table with a blue and white checkered tablecloth accompanied by jam, cream and hot tea

🔪 Instructions

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well
Whisk the wet ingredients together and add to the dry and combine until the mixture comes together nicely-DO NOT OVERWORK!
Press the dough out to about 2-3cms thick.
Using an 8cm round cutter or the rim of a drinking glass cut scones from the dough and lay flat side up on a baking paper lined tray.
Brush the tops with a little milk and place in a preheated 200 deg C fan forced oven
Bake for 12-15 until golden brown and serve immediately with jam and cream.

I think the number one rule or "secret" with scones is to not to overwork the dough.

Mix until all the ingredients come together and that's it!

Do not be tempted to knead it like bread dough or you will end up with hockey pucks!

lemon and date scones on a table with jam and a knife

🥗 Side dishes

My lemon and date scones are best served straight out of the oven and topped with jam and fresh whipped cream and accompanied by a strong "cuppa" as we say here in Australia.

Speaking of jam you may wish to check out a few recipes I have on the site for homemade jam.

Try my blackberry jam for something quick - it takes no time to whip up.
Or for something a little unique try my banana jam - a real treat!

📖 Variations

If you'd like to try a Fall favourite - I can highly recommend my healthy pumpkin scones. They're perfect for those cooler months.

PS In case anyone is curious, these pics were taken with an old Polaroid camera.

📋 Recipe