Strawberry Scones

These strawberry scones are soft and crumbly and well balanced in sweetness, perfect for breakfast or an afternoon treat. As an added bonus, your house will be filled with the pleasant aroma of strawberry baked goods. Why not invite a friend over for tea?

Scones, are a baked good with British origin, and are believed to have originated in Scotland in the 1500s. Originally, people made them using oats and cooked them on a griddle, but now they are made using white flour and baked in the oven. They became a vital element in the afternoon tea ritual in England starting in the 1840s. Today in England, people make scones plain or dotted with a handful of currants, then served with jam and clotted cream.

For sure, a traditional scone does not contain strawberries. However, it doesn’t hurt to break with tradition in order to make way for new ideas and new food possibilities. I think you will enjoy these strawberry scones whether you are new to scones or are more used to a traditional scone.

What Makes These Strawberry Scones Great?

This recipe is easy to follow and contains ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. It is also fairly inexpensive to make, freezes well, and adults and kids like them. You can use fresh ripe strawberries, but the recipe also works well with those strawberries that have seen better days. You know the ones, you don’t want to throw them out because it seems wasteful, but they aren’t quite up to snuff to serve fresh. Once you bake these scones, you can’t taste or see the difference in the strawberries. I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries though, as they would impart too much liquid into the batter and make things soggy and discoloured.

Ingredients

For the Scones

• all-purpose flour
• granulated sugar
• baking powder
• cold salted butter – can use unsalted if you want and just add 1/2 tsp salt to dry ingredients. You want the butter as cold as possible so you end up with a beautiful flaky/fluffy texture.
• diced fresh strawberries – can use perfectly ripe ones, or slightly over ripe, just make sure to cut away any bad bits.
• eggs
• heavy cream
• vanilla extract
• coarse sugar – to sprinkle on top for a sweet crunch (optional)

For the Glaze

• powdered sugar
• heavy cream or milk

Let’s Get Making these Awesome Strawberry Scones

Preheat oven to 400F.
Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or two table knives to cut in the cold butter. “Cutting in” means to combine the cold butter with the flour mixture without melting the butter. You should end up with coarse crumbs. The butter bits will be small and well covered in flour.

Stir in the diced strawberries, make a small well in the flour mixture and set aside.
In a small bowl use a fork or whisk to lightly whisk together the eggs, ½ cup of heavy cream and vanilla. Add this wet mixture into the small well of the flour mixture in the mixing bowl. Use a mixing spoon to carefully combine the wet and dry ingredients

I find towards the end of mixing it is easier to use your well floured hands to bring the dough together into a ball. Once the dough is together, place it on a well floured work surface. Using your hands press the dough into an even flat disk that is approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick. Cut the dough disk into 8 even pieces.

Place pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet at least an inch apart.
Brush the tops of each scone with a little heavy cream or milk and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Transfer scones to a cooling rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
While scones are cooling combine the powdered sugar and heavy cream or milk to form the glaze. You can add a little more cream if it is too thick or a little more sugar if the glaze is too thin for your liking. When adding more cream just do a little bit at a time, because a few drops can go a long way.
Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the scones and serve.

Notes

1. It is important to keep the butter cold so that it can be cut into the flour mixture forming crumbs. This is what gives the scone it’s great texture.
2. When stirring in the strawberries be gentle so that they don’t get squished too much which could make the dough too wet and the red color could bleed into the dough giving a pink dough.
3. Adding the coarse sugar on top is optional, it adds a nice crunch of sweetness as these scones are only slightly sweet.
4. You can put the glaze into a small Ziploc bag and cut off the corner to have better control of how the glaze is applied to each scone.

FAQs

1. Can I use unsalted butter? Yes, you can use unsalted butter and just add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients.
2. How do you reheat the scones? Scones do taste best warm. I reheat in a toaster oven or air fryer for a couple of minutes around 350F – but watch the glaze as it can burn. If you are not going to eat them all right away, you could hold off on glazing them- the glaze lasts well in the fridge in a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off, and just glaze before eating. You can also microwave the scones for about 15 seconds and you don’t have to worry about the glaze burning.
3. How long do the scones last? In a sealed container on the counter these scones stay fresh for about three days. Put the container in the fridge and your scones will be good for 4-5 days or freeze them for up to three months. I freeze them on a cooling rack in the freezer and then add the scones to a large Ziploc bag for storage. Let them thaw on the counter for an hour before eating.
4. Can I use other fruits? Of course, all sorts of fruits can be added instead of strawberries. Blueberries are great, so are raspberries. Just make sure the fruit you choose doesn’t have a huge amount of liquid – like say watermelon.