Strawberry Scones are stuffed with lots of juicy fresh strawberries tucked inside a flaky tender pastry and topped with a sweet vanilla glaze. For Mother’s Day, Easter brunch, and lazy spring mornings.

all you’ll need for fabulous strawberry scones
- strawberries
- all purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- butter
- baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- milk (use half and half or cream for extra rich scones)
- confectioner’s sugar
- vanilla extract (you can use almond extract as well)
You can count on my scones to be super tender, none of that cardboard coffee shop stuff. But one warning – DON”T try to eat these in the car on the way to work, they’ll crumble in your lap, ruin your work clothes, and definitely cause some collateral damage, your insurance will go up, it won’t be good. These scones are meant to be enjoyed in a civilized manner, at an actual table, with a plate, a napkin, and a cup of tea. (Imagine!)
I make my scones quick and easy in a food processor
The secret to flakey scones is to cut the butter into the flour quickly and thoroughly. I find the food processor does an amazing job at this, much better than I could do by hand.
If you don’t have a food processor you can definitely make them by hand, just be sure to use cold butter and a pastry cutter to blend the butter and flour efficiently.
which is better, rounds or wedges?
Somehow I think round scones are a little more elegant, so if you’re baking for a sweetheart, or a Mother’s Day breakfast in bed, you might want to use your biscuit cutter.
Cutting scones into wedges has advantages, though. You won’t have to reform any of the dough, or have any waste. Just pat the dough into a fat 8 inch circle and slice like a pizza.
fresh or frozen strawberries?
Often I’ll recommend using frozen berries for baking, but for this recipe you’ll want to use fresh strawberries. Frozen strawberries will be too watery and will throw off the classic scone texture.
make ahead directions
Scones are best eaten the day they’re made, but if you want to make them ahead you can cut out the scones (up through step 7 in the recipe) and then refrigerate them until you are ready to bake, up to a day ahead.
If you want to bake them a day ahead, be sure to add the glaze right before serving.
storing and freezing scones
Store leftover baked scones lightly covered at room temperature. They can be briefly microwaved to refresh.
Scones can be frozen before or after baking. I prefer to freeze them before baking. Just place the cut scones into the freezer until they’re frozen solid, then transfer them to an airtight freezer container, or even a heavy duty zip lock freezer bag.
Place them in the refrigerator the night before you want to bake to allow them to thaw.
what to serve with strawberry scones?
Serve your scones with a little pot of clotted cream, of course! Clotted cream is hard to find in stores, but you can make clotted cream at home, with this easy recipe!
a glaze gives scones some additional sweetness
Scones aren’t super sweet on their own, so the glaze really helps make them extra special and brings out the flavor of the strawberries, in my opinion. If you don’t want to glaze them you could sprinkle them with sparkling sugar before baking.
still hungry?
- rhubarb scones
- fresh cranberry white chocolate scones
- tangerine scones
- apple pie scones
- maple oat nut scones
“As I sit here, covered in crumbs and glaze, I cannot help but thank you for this recipe. This was my first attempt at scones. I followed your recipe exactly and they came out too delicious. I will most certainly make these again.!!” ~ Stephanie
Strawberry Shortcake Scones
Equipment
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour ~ measured with the fluff, scoop and level method
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter ~ cut in pieces
- 3/4 cup whole milk , buttermilk, half and half, or cream
- 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
- 1 cup finely chopped strawberries
icing
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
- pinch of salt
- 4 Tbsp milk, cream, or half and half to thin, or more as needed
Instructions
- preheat oven to 400F Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the butter pieces and pulse about 30 times to incorporate it, the mixture will be crumbly.
- Add the milk (or half and half, or cream) and the extract to the processor and process briefly just until the dough comes together. It will be soft and sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and fold in the strawberries with clean hands.
- Mix just enough to get the berries evenly distributed. The mixture will be sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead once or twice, adding a little more flour if necessary to get a soft dough that isn't overly sticky. Pat or roll out to about an inch thick and cut out 6-8 scones with a 3 inch biscuit cutter. Note: reform the dough as needed but try not to over work it or the scones can become tough.
- I like to refrigerate my scones for about 15 minutes before baking, but this is optional. I think it helps them rise higher. After chilling, arrange the scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for about 18 minutes, until the scones are golden. Cool on a rack before glazing.
- To make the glaze, mix the sugar with enough milk to make it drip off the end of a spoon. Add the extract if desired. Drizzle the cooled scones liberally.
Notes
- an alternate method for mixing in the berries: after step 3, transfer the crumbly mixture to a large bowl and add the strawberries. Toss well. Then add the liquid and mix until everything is combined. Proceed with step 7.
As I sit here, covered in crumbs and glaze, I cannot help but Thank You for this recipe. This was my first attempt at scones. I followed your recipe exactly and they came out too delicious. I will most certainly make these again.
Oh wow, love this comment Stephanie, I can picture you there happily covered in your crumbs 🙂
Just pulled these out of the oven. I agree with others, mine spread and grew a ton in the oven (much more so than any other scone recipe I’ve ever made)…they are very large. I’m not sure if it’s due to the moisture in the dough, or the quantity of baking powder+baking soda. But they smell delicious!
When I make fresh fruit scones they do spread more, and you’re right, it’s probably from the moisture.
If I don’t have a food processor is there any other suggestion?
You can do this by hand, Diana, it just takes a little more work. You can incorporate the butter with a pastry cutter, or even two forks.
Hi, 12 tbsp is approx 3/4 cup. Measure and freeze, then take out frozen and use a box grater or fine shredder right into your flour mixture. Done!
Thank you for the tip Jim!
This is what I do as well. I use a large bowl & whisk the dry ingredients together. Then I take a 1/2 cup (1 stick) of frozen butter, roll it around in the flour mixture so my hands don’t get super gooey, flour the box grater, then grate the butter directly into the dry ingredients. A quick mix with my fingers, then I add the strawberries, then add the wet ingredients & mix with a spatula. So it’s totally doable without a food processor and they come out beautifully.
Sue, these are wonderful! My kitchen smells amazing and there are happy tummies all around!
Sue, can you advise for using frozen fruit to replace fresh for this recipe?
I don’t use frozen strawberries too often, so I’m not totally sure, I know they can have more moisture in them, which could be a problem for the texture. I’d defrost them, chop, and drain. You might also use dried (not dehydrated!) strawberries, I think Trader Joe’s carries those.
Thank you!
Scones are one of those things I’ve always believed I *should* like, in theory they’re right up my alley. But, invariably, whenever I order one I’m disappointed.
This recipe totally proved me right – I do like scones, they just have to be good scones, like these one bursting with delicious strawberry flavor!
I’m so glad to be the one to redeem scones for you Steph!!
I made these today. The dough turned out too wet for some reason so I had to add flour. Also they grew HUGE. They are way bigger than I had anticipated. I might try to make them smaller next time.
Scone dough can be very wet, Lani — I like it that way, it bakes up super moist. Maybe next time leave it wet?
This recipe is awesome. Just made them lastnight. One change i did was macerate the strawberries in a little sugar first to make them sweeter. Then i used the reserved liquid from the strawberries to make the glaze using less milk. Ended up with a pretty pink glaze 🙂 One thing I will change next time is to use a biscuit cutter to make slightly smaller scones as these made 8 enormous ones.
thanks for the feedback! I like the idea of mascerating the strawberries, sometimes they can be so tart!
Same! Mine were HUGE! Taste great though
I go big with my scones, but feel free to cut them smaller, it’s all good 😉
I haven’t make scones for a while and now I’ve craving for some after seeing your post and recipe. 🙂 You know what I’m going to have for Sunday brunch tomorrow!? Yes, Strawberry Shortcake Scones. Can’t wait to try these tomorrow.
Wow. These are beautiful. Do you have a trick to keep the strawberries from oozing moisture during baking? I’ve always gotten burnt bottoms. Maybe it’s oven temp? GREG
I did use parchment paper, which helps, and I did bake at 400 rather than 425 which a lot of scone recipes call for.
I agree that half the experience is the eating! I love your photos, these scones look so fluffy and delicious 🙂