Strawberry Scones

Strawberries don't seem to last long, do they? I had about 3 cups of diced up strawberries that I knew I couldn't use before they went bad so I started searching for a scone recipe. I came across a few but settled on this one in the end.

I ended up making two batches, one for my mom and one for my family. I baked half of my mom's batch and froze the other half. My family's I just put right into the freezer and didn't pull them out until a few months later. I initially took them out for breakfast the next morning but I was craving some fresh baked goods and it was too late in the evening so I didn't want to start from scratch. Of the six I baked for breakfast the next morning we ended up eating three that night. The next morning I decided to spruce them up with a bit of icing.    

Strawberry Scones
Source: Confessions of a Tart

1 cup strawberries (cut into bite-sized pieces)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar + extra for sprinkling
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, in cubes, slightly softened
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream or cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Sprinkle strawberries with 1/2 tablespoon sugar; set aside. Combine remaining sugar with flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter (you may want to use your fingers to be sure butter is evenly mixed into flour). Stir in strawberries; then add cream/half-and-half/buttermilk all at once. Use spatula to gently stir dough until it holds together.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to incorporate dry ingredients. Be gentle so you don't break up the berries and don't overwork the dough. Sprinkle dough with flour if it gets sticky.

Form the dough into a circle 3/4 inch thick. If any berries peek out, push them into dough. Cut circle into 6-8 wedges, then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them. Bake 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with sugar and bake 5-10 more minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown and spring back when you push them (keep checking on them - you do not want dry scones!). 

* You can add icing by mixing powdered sugar and water to the desired thickness.

Makes about 8 scones