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.
Nutrition
These aren’t even out of the oven yet, and I can tell they’re amazing. Quick question – since you can chill the tray of scones for a few minutes, etc. while you clean up, I’m wondering if I could make them the night before and leave them covered in the fridge until the morning to bake them?
Yes, for sure, you can leave the unbaked scones in the fridge overnight.
I measured the flour carefully but added the whole cup of 1/2 & 1/2, a little at a time. WAY too gooey! Really made a mess. Wish I’d have added about 3/4 cup only. They taste OK but no shape…like great big biscuits.
It’s always a judgement call with scones, I find. If your strawberries were juicy you might have needed extra flour.
Where it says half and half or cream, is this where we would use the whey from the clotted cream?
Well, technically you should be able to do that Summer. The whey from clotted cream tends to be fairly rich, so I would say go for it.
I made these with the frozen berries (need to use them before fresh crop shows up). The dough turned out too wet to shape, but still ohh so good. I pulsed the frozen berries, but I think the “slush” that resulted was the set up to the flat “scones” that resulted. I will try again with fresh fruit.
That’s the only drawback to frozen fruit, especially berries, Jean.
I’ve been planning to make these for a few weeks. Finally did it today. Oh. My. Word. So easy and very delicious! This is going in my recipe file. Thanks for the inspiration to bake something awesome for my family!
I love that this is going in your recipe file…I hope it becomes a recipe you go to again and again every season.
I can’t wait to make these!
Can they be frozen?
Yes, scones do well in the freezer, I like to wrap them in plastic wrap, and then pop them into sturdy freezer bags.
Every single one of your recipes is wonderful. These scones came out great….my entire family enjoyed them. I did not make the glaze and they were sweet enough for us. Thank you for your inventiveness and simple instructions. Please never stop posting!
These look delicious! What would you suggest for high altitude adjustment?
Hi Ann ~ I’m not an expert on high altitude baking, but I’ll refer you to this guide from King Arthur:https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I made these last year for Mothers Day and everybody loved them, will be making again this year, thanks!
Just made these delicious strawberry scones.Wow so good,I did use almond extract
Definitely will make again.
Could you use frozen blueberries?
You can definitely use frozen blueberries, I would use them from frozen, don’t defrost first. And I love that you used almond extract, what a lovely combination. I used that in my Strawberry Cake from last week (Strawberry Cake)