Nothing beats the heavenly aroma of freshly baked homemade strawberry scones! These light and flaky delights, bursting with juicy strawberry bits, are the perfect way to start your morning.
While they need to bake for 30 minutes, you can prep scones in just a few minutes. There’s nothing better than a warm scone for breakfast. Strawberry scones are rich and buttery, just like a good Southern biscuit but a little sweeter with fresh or frozen strawberries added to the dough.
This recipe for strawberry scones is not as hearty as an oatmeal walnut scone or as tall and flaky as a creme fraiche scone. Instead, they are the essence of Spring, light with just a hint of sweetness.
If you’re looking for a sweeter strawberry breakfast treat, try strawberry cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting or a strawberry coffee cake. But for those mornings when you don’t want a sugar rush but still want a special treat, a strawberry scone is the way to go.
The first time I made these it wasn’t strawberry season at all but Thanksgiving morning. I love strawberry recipes and wanted something special to tide the family over until the big feast. You can use frozen berries in this recipe, just make sure to drain the strawberries first. You can also prepare the dough the night before and just pop them in the oven in the morning.
Before they are placed in the oven, sprinkle some demerara sugar over the top. The dough has a bit of sugar also so there’s no need for a glaze.
These are what I would call Southern scones and not the strawberry and cream scones you’ll 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.
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.
If you’re not a scone person, then strawberry rhubarb muffins are a great way to enjoy Spring fruit for breakfast. Muffin recipes are the way to go if you don’t want a rustic look and are always a hit.
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.
What You’ll Need for These Breakfast Treats
- 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. If you don’t have any, learn how to make your own buttermilk with items in your pantry.
- 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 scones, 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:
Chop the strawberries. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor and like biscuits, add cold butter and process until pea size.
Add buttermilk and process until the dough just comes together. Fold in strawberries and shape into a circle. The dough will be stickier than a biscuit recipe due to the strawberries.
Step 2:
Cut into triangles and top with an egg wash. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar and bake. If you want to refrigerate these overnight, cut into triangles and cover with plastic. Wait to add the egg wash and sugar until ready to 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.
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 16 very large scones. Of course you could cut them smaller but to me they are the perfect size.
What to Serve With Strawberry Scones
If you want to serve these as part of a bigger breakfast or brunch, cut them into smaller triangles or circles. Think of them like a biscuit and serve with a quiche with caramelized onions or with bacon and eggs.
How to Store Scones
Scones are one of those breakfast pastries that are best served the same day. Store any left over in an airtight container on the counter, not in the fridge. They will stay fresh for 1-2 days at the most. They will dry out quickly.
Can you freeze scones?
Just like biscuits, you can freeze strawberry scones. If you can’t eat them within a day, you are better off freezing them. Reheat in the oven at 350º for about 10 minutes.
Strawberry Scone Recipe FAQs
Can you make scones with strawberries ahead of time?
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.
Can you use frozen strawberries?
Frozen strawberries will have more liquid so decrease the buttermilk by about ¼ cup.
What is the difference between British and American scones?
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.
How long do strawberries last in the fridge?
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
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Strawberry Scones Recipe with Buttermilk
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
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