Strawberry Scones

Strawberry season has begun here in the south, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Welcome back.

Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits.  There is something so decadent about them, yet accessible.  Dress them up, dress them down, they still taste good and there is nothing quite like fresh ones.  To celebrate, I thought I’d make scones for my Thursday morning meeting with the strawberries that escaped my feeding frenzy.

Scone goodness.

I have a basic scone recipe that I really like.  It’s quick, simple, and only requires things you have around the house.  It’s not too dry like scones can often be, and it just a little bit sweet.  They go wonderful with a hot cup of coffee, but are still moist enough that you can have them solo.  I tend to add only about 1/3 cup of diced fruit to it because the scone batter is good enough to stand on its own.  The fruit just adds a little something extra.  I also dice the fruit because I think it incorporates into the dough more consistently and allows for more even cooking.  Ok, on to the nitty gritty.

First, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Oh my!

Add diced cold butter.  Crumble the butter into the dry ingredients by hand until no chunks remain.  Mixture should have a meal-ish consistency at this point.  Stir cream into the mixture until a consistent dough is formed.  Fold in diced fruit.  Lay dough out on a cookie sheet and spread out into an even layer (about 1/2 inch thick).  Cut into ~12 pieces and spread out on the cookie sheet.  This step is kind of weird, but its the best way to get a consistent thickness between all the scones.  It helps make all the scones cook evenly.

Yum.

Strawberry Scones

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp cold butter

1 cup cream

1/3 strawberries, diced

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Sift together dry ingredients.  Crumble in cold butter by hand until no larger chunks remain.  Stir in cream until dough forms.  Fold in strawberries.  Spread dough out onto cookie sheet in an even layer (~1/2 inch thick).  Cut into ~12 even pieces and spread out scones on cookie sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on scone size) or until lightly golden brown on top.

Enjoy!