Sunday Morning Strawberry Scones

Flaky? Check.
Biscuit-y? Check.
Buttery (but not too buttery)? Check.
Fruity? Check.
Summery? Check?
Delicious? Check, check, check!!!!!!!

Sunday morning strawberry scones. Finally. I do not have to rush out to work. I can take the morning to bake in my pajamas and slowly sip tea.

Every day this week, I brought home boxes upon boxes of plump, summer strawberries and it has gotten to the point where I want to do something creative with them.

These scones have a very rustic, fall apart in your mouth texture that is more like a biscuit than a cake or cookie. Instead of heavy cream, I used a combination of nonfat milk and Straus brand nonfat plain yogurt. Milk and yogurt are more on-hand ingredients for me than heavy cream, and I can also feel a little more guilt-free!

Earlier this summer I was on a muffin versus cupcake quest, and now it has turned into the biscuit versus scone brigade. I saw this quote on kitchensavvy.com by Dorie Greenspan: “[Scones] are made in a manner similar to biscuits and, in fact, share biscuits’ buttery-layered texture, but their name, their shape, and the fact that they’re served with tea rather than gravy, lift them to the level of fancier fare.” Cute!

Please, PLEASE, do not over mix this dough. No matter how much you want to, no matter how good it feels to mush and wiggle your fingers the sticky dough, DON’T. Pour the wet into the dry and just mix until loosely combined. Done. Trust me, to achieve ultimate the flaky consistency, less is more.

These strawberry scones further confirmed that breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. I can definitely see myself making these again and substituting different seasonal fruit (blueberries, peaches, FIGS!) and maybe even adding some freshly grated ginger just for kicks? Due to lack of supply, I did not add any citrus zest to the scones, but if you have a lemon or orange lying around, definitely throw in some zest!

Sunday Morning Strawberry Scones
Adapted from Goodthingscatered.com

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour (approximate)

1/4 c. granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (or you can sprinkle with raw, turbinado sugar!)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1 egg

1/4 c. yogurt (I used Straus brand plain, nonfat)

1/4 c. milk (I used nonfat milk because it is what I had on-hand)

2 tsp orange zest (I omitted this as I had not an orange in sight!)

1 c. fresh strawberries, diced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a baking pan and dust it with flour.
2. In a small bowl, combine egg, yogurt, milk, and zest, and whisk to combine thoroughly.
3. In a separate large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.
4. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until all pieces are smaller than pea-sized.
5. Add strawberries, and toss to coat.
6. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix in lightly with fork until dough just comes together, and then STOP!
7. Turn dough out onto well-floured work surface and pat into large ball.
8. Cut dough in half. Shape half of dough into flat disk shape and cut into slices. Repeat with other half of dough and place on baking sheet.
11. Sprinkle tops of scones with sugar and place in the oven.
12. Bake until turn slightly brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, if you can wait!
13. Indulge!