Are You a Strawberry Scone Lover ? This Is For You

These strawberry scones check all the boxes. Made with juicy sweet strawberries, they’re tender and rustic with golden craggy edges and a sugar-crusted top!

There are some things to know before you jump into making these strawberry scones. First, the foundation of a great scone is a good recipe and cold ingredients. The cold ingredients will make the dough much easier to work with. Second, let your scones bake long enough, really keep an eye on things. For the scone style you see here, you don’t want pale. Much of the flavor happens as the sugars, and butter, and edges of each scone brown. Lastly, scones made with fresh fruit are best warm from the oven. Bake just before you want to enjoy them whenever possible. Or do a quick reheat!

Notes For You !

Refrigerate the flours ahead of time if you remember. And when zesting the orange, just orange peel, no white pith. These scone are great with add-ins as well. I suggest a number of options in the post up above including orange zest or chopped rosemary, or poppy seeds.

Ingredients Needed

• 2 large eggs, divided
• 3/4 cup or 170 g buttermilk or sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups or 312 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup or 98 g whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup or 100 g granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 1/2 tablespoons or 180 g cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes, placed in freezer for 10 minutes before making dough
• 1 1/4 cups or 170 g cold strawberries, hulled before chopping into 1/4-inch pieces
• 3-4 tablespoons large-grain or sanding sugar
• Optional: zest of one orange!

Instructions

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Take one of the eggs, crack it into a small bowl and whisk with a fork. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and orange zest. Set aside.
3. Working quickly to keep ingredients cold, combine the flours, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Use a fork to stir the ingredients well. Connect the paddle attachment, add the cold butter, cover the mixer with a clean towel (to prevent flour escape), and mix on medium speed until the dough has a sandy, small pebble-like texture - 45-60 seconds.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture and pulse the mixer until the dough comes together and there are no visible dry spots (check the bottom of the bowl). Sprinkle the strawberries across the top and pulse 3-4 more times, just enough to work them into the dough a bit.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and, working quickly, assertively press the dough into a large, cohesive circular disk - roughly 1 1/2-inches thick, level on top. Use a long, thin bread knife to cut the circle into 8 equal wedges, wiping your knife clean between slices. Use a spatula to transfer each wedge to the prepared baking sheet leaving at least 1 1/2-inches between scones. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
6. While the dough rests in the refrigerator, heat oven to 375°F / 190°C with a rack in the middle. When you’re ready to bake, brush the tops and edges of each scone with the egg wash, and sprinkle generously with the large sugar. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until scone edges and bottoms are golden.
7. Serve warm! These are best enjoyed the day off. Or, reheated in a hot oven before serving.

Some Variations You Might Want To Try Out

The recipe below is for classic strawberry scones with a bit of zest. Aside from the zest, they're straight-forward, direct, a good scone foundation. That said, I often switch them up with one or two of the following:

• Citrus: zest of one lemon or lime (mix into wet ingredients)
• Rosemary: I love the combination of strawberry and rosemary. Finely chop 2 five-inch sprigs of rosemary - 1 1/2 teaspoons or so. (Add to dry ingredients)
• Black Pepper: black pepper and strawberry are a classic combination. Add scant 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to dry ingredients. Adjust with more in future batches if you love it.
• Poppy Seeds: add 1/3 cup to dry ingredients.
• Toasted Almonds: be sure they’ve cooled completely. (Add to dry ingredients)
• Crystalized Ginger: adds jolts of chewy ginger sugar. Chop it small and add it along with the wet ingredients.
• Icing: lot of people like an iced drizzle over their scones. If you would rather have a drizzle top, here’s the plan. Use lemon zest in place of the orange zest called for in the recipe. Skip the sugar sprinkle, but do the egg wash. Allow scones to cool completely after baking, and use the salted lemon glaze from this glazed lemon cake recipe. Or do half and half so you can enjoy the sugar-topped scones warm!

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