Ready for Spring in December, try these rich and buttery strawberry scones. The pop of strawberries make them perfect for a Christmas brunch or tea. Fresh strawberries are even better!
Strawberry scones are rich and buttery, just like a good Southern biscuit but a little sweeter.
It’s only December but I’m already craving fresh strawberries and strawberry scones. I made these the first time over Thanksgiving when we wanted a light breakfast to tide us over until the big meal. We all ate one as soon as they came out of the oven and then had another a bit later at room temperature and they were fabulous both ways. The strawberries add enough sweetness that we didn’t think they needed a glaze.
These are what I would call Southern scones and not the strawberry and cream scones you will see in Great Britain. They’re so buttery and rich, you don’t need clotted cream, you’ll find they’re delicious all by themselves.
If it’s not strawberry season, try blueberry scones or blueberry biscuits.
What you’ll need
- Fresh strawberries – you’ll just need a cup, so even in the middle of winter, you can make these scones with strawberries.
- Buttermilk – just like with biscuits, you need buttermilk. While you can make your own buttermilk, for biscuits and scones, I prefer the real deal.
- Butter – that’s what makes them taste so great.
- Demerara sugar – use this to sprinkle on the top before baking, it adds a slightly sweet crunch to the top.
- Egg and Milk – this is for the egg wash to make them golden brown.
- Pantry items –flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda
PRO TIP: To make flaky light biscuits, you need to use cold ingredients. Keep the butter and buttermilk in the refrigerator until ready to add to the dough and try not to handle it any more than necessary.
How do you make homemade scones
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor and like biscuits, add cold butter and process until pea size. Then add buttermilk and process until the dough just comes together. Fold in strawberries and shape into a circle.
Step 2: Cut into triangles, top with an egg wash and sprinkle with Demerara sugar and bake.
Think of these as an odd shaped biscuit, but a little sweeter. You make them like biscuits, trying to handle the dough as little as possible. I kind of just scraped the dough together on the counter so that they look a little rustic.
If you want a fancier looking scone, than form the dough into a more perfect circle so that you can cut perfectly shaped triangles. As with biscuits, cut straight down with your knife when cutting the triangles, it keeps them tall. You’ll get 12 very large scones. Of course you could cut them smaller but to me they were the perfect size.
What’s the difference between a biscuit and a scone
There’s not a lot of difference between biscuits and scones. They both use cold butter and buttermilk. However, a scone is supposed to be a little sweeter than a biscuit so it has more sugar. A lot of folks will add a glaze to a scone but with sweet strawberries, these don’t need one.
You can prep strawberry scones in just a few minutes, but it will take 30 minutes to bake. If you want to prep these ahead of time, just wrap in plastic wrap before adding the egg wash and refrigerate.
These are great for breakfast or brunch, and just enough to tide you over if you’re having a big holiday meal. This is a great basic scone recipe that you can adapt with other fresh fruits, nuts or dried fruit. If using dried fruit, you’ll need to increase the buttermilk just a tad.
This recipe is based on the one from the Foster’s Market cookbook which is a restaurant in Durham NC. So far all the recipes I’ve tried have turned out perfect and were worth making again. It’s one of our favorite places to stop when we’re in the area.
FAQ’s and tips
Yes, once you have shaped the dough, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake. Add the egg wash and sugar just before baking.
Frozen strawberries will have more liquid so decrease the buttermilk by about ¼ cup.
I love British scones, but they’re very different from this strawberry scone recipe. A British scone is round and not as sweet and is served with jam or lemon curd and clotted cream. American scones are slightly sweet and buttery and nothing needs to be added.
Just like biscuits, you can freeze strawberry scones. Reheat in the oven at 350º for about 10 minutes.
You don’t want your fresh strawberries to get moldy and have to be thrown before you eat them whole or add them all the delicious baked goods they are fun to make. Read this post about how to keep them fresh longer in your fridge.
More Breakfast/Brunch recipes
If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.
Strawberry Scones
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups butter cold and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup strawberries chopped
- demerara sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Add butter to flour mixture and combine with a pastry cutter until it resembles course meal, or use a food processor, processing about 10 times.
- Add buttermilk to flour mixture and mix until just combined and dough begins to stick together. Gently fold in strawberries. If dough is still dry, add buttermilk a tablespoon at a time until it comes together.
- Place dough on a floured surface and pat into two 6 inch rounds. Cut each round in half and then cut each half into 3 triangles. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
- Combine slightly beaten egg and 2 tablespoons milk and brush the tops of the scones. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar if desired.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- If making with dried fruit, increase buttermilk by ¼ cup.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- If adding frozen strawberries, decrease the buttermilk.
- If adding dried fruit, increase the buttermilk.
- For flaky tall scones, use cold ingredients and cut straight down when forming the triangles.
- You can shape these into circles instead of triangles by using a biscuit cutter.
- You can refrigerate the dough once it has been cut into triangles. Wait to brush with the egg wash until just before baking.
Nutrition
Follow Me On SocialDid you make this recipe? Mention @ButterandBaggage or tag #ButterandBaggage
on Instagram!Watch a webstory!
Leave a Reply