I’m full-blown obsessed with these deliciously fruity, buttery scones. It’s the combination of the heavenly texture using my favorite basic scone recipe, the delicious little bits of fresh, ripe strawberries, and the simple, sweet glaze that all work together to achieve brunch perfection. I really think every needs to make these scones at least once, especially if you haven’t had good scone experiences in the past. I did not grow up enjoying dessert scones like these strawberry scones. My family regularly enjoyed biscuits for breakfast and I always thought scones were more of a fry bread meant to be covered in honey like you see at fairs in Utah and Idaho. The few times I had the opportunity to sample what I thought was a true scone I found them to be tasteless and dry and far inferior to biscuits. When strawberries are in season, we can’t resist getting them at the store or farmer’s market! Sometimes we even go strawberry picking ourselves at nearby U-pick farms! Some of our other favorite strawberry recipes are Fresh Strawberry Pie and Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream. It was only as an adult that I ventured into the realm of sweet American-style scones, as opposed to British scones which are usually served plain without as many mix-ins or glazes. It was eye-opening! Really good scones are actually tender, flaky, buttery, and as long as you aren’t a purist, can be loaded with all sorts of delicious flavors or drizzled with glazes! Back at my first job out of law school, there was a paralegal name Leah who was a talented and generous baker who used to bring in scones that she made once a month or so. I credit her with my full-blown scone obsession and still need to try my hand at recreating her bacon cheddar scones and lemon scones. It’s too bad we lost touch after I left the practice of law or I would reach out and ask her to share her recipes! I have made a bunch of varieties of scones ever since Leah kindled my love of this breakfast pastry, but I have to say that these strawberries and cream scones are my favorite of them all. If you really want to amp up the strawberry element in your breakfast, try serving these with Homemade Strawberry Milk!
What is the secret to making good scones?
The secret to making really great scones lines in remembering just a couple of principles: using very cold ingredients and not overworking the dough. I recommend freezing your butter and grating it into the scone dough, then chilling the scones in the fridge for a bit before baking them just to make sure they stay nice and cold before heating the heat of the oven. My other trick to deliciously tender scones it to not overmix the dough when adding the wet ingredients. The scone dough should just start to come together but still be pretty shaggy when you dump it out onto a piece of parchment paper. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the crumbly dough and press it into a disc in the center. This avoids introducing extra flour, keeps the dough from getting overworked, and helps it not stick to your hands or warm up to much while you knead it into a disc shape. Of course, you can just go in with your hands to pack it all together, I just personally find the parchment paper approach to make things easier.
Ingredients in Strawberry Scones
Flour: All-purpose flour provides the bulk of the structure for my scones. I haven’t tried making a gluten-free version of these yet, but have had good success in the past replacing regular flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour and feel pretty confident recommending that for these scones. Butter: Really cold butter is key to making the best scones! I always keep extra butter stored in the freezer and use that when making scones. Use a box grater to grate it right into the flour, which is the easiest approach. Cream: Heavy cream adds richness and an overall wonderful flavor to these scones, while also acting as just enough liquid to bring the dough together. Sugar: Granulated sugar not only helps sweeten these scones, but it also adds moisture to baked goods. You will also need powdered sugar for the glaze, and I like to also sprinkle a little coarse sugar on top of the scones before baking for a little added sparkle and crunch. Egg: One egg helps bind the scone dough so they don’t crumble as much. Baking powder & baking soda: These two leavening agents work together to give just the right amount of lift to the scones without making them too muffin-like. Salt: This common baking ingredient plays an important role in balancing flavors and making sure your baked goods don’t taste bland. Vanilla extract: The vanilla flavor adds dimension to the glaze. I love using my homemade vanilla extract. Strawberries: Be sure to wash and pat your strawberries dry, then cut off the tops and slice them. If your strawberries are small, you might just need to quarter them. But if they are larger, you will want to slice them so they are no bigger than about 1/2-inch.
How to Make Strawberry Scones from Scratch
Freezing and Storage Instructions
These scones freeze well without the glaze. If you plan to only eat a few of the scones and freeze the rest, I recommend making the full amount of glaze, then storing it in a ziploc bag along with the scones in the freezer. When you are ready to enjoy them, let the scones and glaze thaw on the counter, then snip off the end of the baggie and drizzle the glaze on the scones. You can even make and freeze the scones before baking. In that case, I recommend thawing the frozen scone dough in the fridge overnight before baking, rather than baking straight from frozen. Although if you prefer to bake straight from the freezer, you can just add 3-5 minutes to your bake time and watch them to know when they are done.
Variations
Strawberry Lemon Scones: Add some 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon zest to the scone dough along with the strawberries. Instead of making the glaze with cream, use lemon juice along with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon zest. Strawberry Poppy Seed Scones: You can add 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds to the scone dough for a delicious poppy seed crunch. Strawberry White Chocolate Scones: If you really want these to be more of a dessert, try adding ¾ cup of white chocolate chips with the strawberries. Strawberry Rhurbarb Scones: Replace half of the strawberries with diced rhubarb for a sweet-tart version.
More Muffin and Scone Recipes
Vanilla Glazed Chocolate Chip Scones Blackberry Scones Twice Glazed Pumpkin Scones Chocolate Chip Muffins Easy Apple Oatmeal Muffins
Maine Wild Blueberry Scones
Bakery Style Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Triple Chocolate Scones
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