These delightful, tender grapefruit scones have zest and juice in the scone, and are topped with a light grapefruit glaze. These bright, egg-free scones will chase away winter grays!
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Use a microplane zester, or other grater, to zest the grapefruit right over the bowl. Toss the zest with the flour with a fork.
Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or 2 knives, until the flour mixture resembles crumbs. You don't want anything larger than a pea.
Combine grapefruit juice and buttermilk in a measuring cup, and then pour it into the flour mixture. Use a fork to toss the crumbs together until everything is just combined. (A small amount of dry flour is okay.) Do not overmix.
If mixture does not come together easily or if there's a lot of dry flour, add a little more milk (no more than 1 tablespoon at a time); use your fork to toss the crumbs together. For a small amount of flour, gently use your hands to work in the rest of the flour mixture. If you have to do this, do not knead.
If dough comes together easily, knead gently, about 5 times, by folding the dough in half over itself. This can be done on a very lightly floured surface, or as I do it, in the mixing bowl by dusting the dough with just enough flour that the outside surface doesn’t stick to the sides.
Gently pat into a 7-inch circle and cut into 8 wedges. Separate wedges on lined baking sheet and brush with milk.
Bake at 425F for 16 minutes, rotating pan once halfway through, until tops begin to brown and toothpick inserted in center of scone comes out clean.
While the scones bake, mix the glaze. Use a few extra drops of juice for a thinner glaze to give the scones a sheen. Keep the glaze thicker if you want an opaque glaze.
For a light sheen, brush the glaze over the tops of the scones immediately. The glaze will melt and seep into the scones this way. For an opaque glaze, let the scones cool for a few minutes before spooning the glaze on them.
Serve warm. Store cooled scones in an airtight container. They are best on the day they are baked, but are still pretty good the next day if microwaved for about 8-10 seconds.
A whole grapefruit is a must for this recipe. Do not use bottled or canned grapefruit juice. The recipe is best with red grapefruit, but will still be tasty with white grapefruit.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can use plain yogurt, or combine 1 teaspoon (5ml) vinegar with enough milk to make ⅓ cup (75 grams of milk).
Handle the dough gently, or the scones will become tough. If your dough seems dry, add a little extra milk; regular milk is fine in that case.
Double the glaze if you love icing. The quantity I make is for a very light glaze.
Calorie count calculated in MyNetDiary and is an estimate only.
Recipe originally based on a recipe at Joy of Baking.
This recipe originally published in January 2012; rewritten in 2024 with minimal changes.