Strawberry Buttermilk Scones

These lovely strawberry buttermilk scones are filled with fresh strawberries, plenty of poppy seeds and a little hint of lemon zest for a bright pop – think the classic muffin in scone form with a flaky, buttery center and a crisp top. I might say perfect the vessel for strawberry jam!

Making scones is one of my favorite past times, especially when berry season is upon us. I like to use my classic buttermilk scone base that has been finely tuned over the years selling at farmers markets.

I love them because they fall somewhere between a biscuit and a muffin. They can stand-alone, or go perfectly with a little jam and cream. Plus, I can make the dough anytime and have ready in the freezer for on-demand baking.

Ingredients

What goes into these strawberry scones? Let’s review and talk about what makes them different from a biscuit.

• All-purpose flour. My favorite flour here. No need for anything fancier like bread flour.
• Baking powder. This gives our scones a sky-high rise.
• Cold butter. A key to the flakiness. I’ll go over the science below.
• Buttermilk. My preference for scones for it’s flavor but also the tenderness in the acidity.
• Sugar & Salt. Sugar brings a little sweetness to the dough. The salt enhances all the flavors.
• Egg. This is the biggest difference between biscuits and scones. The added egg provides a slightly more cake-like texture.
• Strawberries. I used fresh, but frozen can be substituted. Just be sure to defrost and throughly pat the berries dry before adding to the dough.
• Poppy seeds. These are optional, but I love the little contrast in texture.
• Fresh lemon zest. Don’t skip this, it really brings out the flavor of the strawberries.

Making Scones

Scones are incredibly easy to make, I think that’s why I love them. No mixers required, you get to play with dough a little, all good stuff.

Keep ingredients cold. Cold ingredients are the key for flaky, tall scones. When cold butter hits a hot oven, it creates steam. The steam provides lift and flakes in our dough.

Decrease wet ingredients. When adding wet ingredients like strawberries or cherries in these chocolate cherry scones, I like to give the berries a pat on a paper towel to reduce any extra liquids. This will avoid a soggy scone.

Rub in butter. Rubbing in butter is a process of mixing cold butter into flour. With the butter cut into small cubes, literally rub and moosh (technical term) the butter and flour together with your fingertips.

You will notice the texture become sandier as you work. Stop when you have some larger pea sized clumps – these will give larger flakes.

I like to use my hands, one less thing to wash, but you can also use a pastry cutter as an alternative to fingers. It’s a little easier on hands with pain or if you just aren’t a fan of playing with dough.

Use buttermilk as needed. Depending on the day, humidity, flour and strawberries, you may need a little more or a little less buttermilk. I start with a lower amount and slowly add a tablespoon at a time to get the right texture. The dough should be little sticky and shaggy but not wet and sloppy.

Freezing before baking. Instead of freezing the butter before making the scones, I freeze it AFTER! By popping the finished scones in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking, you reharden the butter and still get that killer rise. Plus, now they are ready to bake whenever you are.