Strawberry Scones

A few weekends ago there was some strawberries on sale at Safeway, so I picked up a couple of containers. We had some with brunch the day after I bought them. They were not very tasty at all. I really should know better - it's not the season. But, I figured it was close to Valentine's Day and they usually bring out some good strawberries around that time, so why not. With one bite, I remembered why not. So I told Dave that I would wash and hull them and throw in the freezer - smoothies! Well as the week went on, the strawberries were forgotten about and they got pushed to the back of the fridge.

The day I made the banana muffins I was flipping through the recipes and came across the Strawberry Scones recipe. I thought hmmm...I've got those strawberries that need to be used...bookmarked!

So the recipe actually called for dried strawberries, but I thought I'd try it out with the fresh strawberries to see how that would be. I would have to say...it was an experience. Because I used fresh instead of dried, the dough was MUCH stickier. The recipe calls for you to roll the dough out and then cut into the triangles. Well, I plopped the dough on the counter and I plopped it right back into the bowl. There was no way it was going to roll out or have been cut into triangles. So, I just used a 1/2 cup scoop and scooped them onto the parchment paper and just let them bake freeform - which turned out alright. If you like an unsweet scone, this is a great recipe to play with - I'd definitely add some orange zest.

Strawberry Scones (makes 12-16 large scones)

4 cups flour, plus 1 tbsp

2 tbsp sugar, plus 1 tbsp

2 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups cold butter, diced

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cold heavy cream (I used skim milk)

3/4 cups small diced dried strawberries (I used 1 cup diced fresh)

1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water or milk for egg wash (I omitted this step)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 4 cups of flour, 2 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour and butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss the strawberries with 1 tbsp of flour (if using dried), add them to the dough and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a well floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into squares with a 4-inch plain or fluted cutter and then cut them in half diagonally to make triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined parchment paper.

Brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the outsides are crisp and the insides are fully baked.

Recipe taken from: