Strawberry Scones

By Foodiewife

This is my first attempt at baking scones, and these are so simple! I loved the strawberries because it resembled strawberry shortcake, with every bite.

I will never need to buy these at coffee houses, or in grocery stores. These can be in the oven in 15 minutes and in your tummy within an hour.

Ingredients

• TOPPING:
• 1 cup strawberries (or other fruit)
• 3 tablespoons sugar (granulated)
• 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
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 60mins
Adapted from foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

If using larger fruit, cut into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle fruit with 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Taste the berries for sweetness; set aside. Be sure to make the pieces small, or they tend to fall out of the dough.

Combine remaining sugar with flour, baking powder and salt.

Add butter, using a pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut in butter (you may want to use your fingers to be sure butter is evenly mixed into flour). Stir in fruit; then add ream/half-and-half/buttermilk all at once. NOTE: I used buttermilk.

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.

Press (pat) 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. NOTE: A silpat mat or parchment papers is ideal for this.
Bake 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with sugar (I used turbinado) and bake 5-10 more minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown and spring back when you push them. Keep a careful watch and check every 5 minutes - you do not want dry scones!). (The sprinkling of sugar over the top for the last few minutes of baking creates a simple, sparkly topping.)