Combine the sweet taste of fresh strawberries with the warm crunch of a freshly baked scone with this seasonal twist on an everyday favourite. You can even substitute other seasonal fruits like raspberries to mix it up.
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400° and lightly grease a cookie sheet.
- Cut fruit into bite-sized pieces. (If using optional fruit it may need to be sweetened to taste first with up to 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. Be sure to have berries small or they tend to fall out of the dough.
- Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Add butter, cutting it in with pastry cutter or 2 knives (can also manually mix to get it evening blended). Stir in fruit, and then add half-and-half (or cream/buttermilk) all at once.
- Use spatula to gently stir dough until it holds together or mix with mixer using cutting blade but be careful not to over mix.
- 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” thick., pressing back in any fruit that peeks out.
- Cut circle into 6-8 wedges, then transfer wedges to the cookie sheet, leaving at least 3/4-1 inch of space between them. NOTE: Parchment papers work well for this.
- Sprinkle with topping sugar (a coarser sugar gives a more decorative finish).
- Bake for 20 minutes or more (depending upon oven) until tops are beginning to brown and spring back when you push them. Note: check every 5 minutes in final baking time so you don’t dry out the scones.
