Strawberry Scones

Good morning! The weekend is finally here... now time for a nice home made breakfast! I happened to be bored last weekend and actually watching Food Network on tv. I love Barefoot Contessa and was lucky enough to catch her show. On it she made these strawberry scones using dried strawberries. They looked so good through the tv that I had to make them. Turns out I had her cookbook sitting on our kitchen counter for years with the recipe but never thought to make them. It's funny how watching something on tv makes it that much more appealing than reading it in a cookbook. Finding dried strawberries was a bit tricky, they weren't in the local grocery store like other dried fruit. I was able to find them at Fresh Market and stocked up.

For me these will make the perfect breakfast or snack to go along with my cup of tea! They would be great for a brunch, bridal shower or tea party. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Strawberry Scones
Yields: 14-16 scones
Slightly adapted from: Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients:
4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

2 Tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1.5 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cold heavy cream (I used skim milk)

3/4 cup small-diced dried strawberries

1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 4 cups of flour, 2 Tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour and butter mixture.

Combine until just blended. Toss the strawberries with 1 tablespoon of flour, add them to the dough, and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.
Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into squares with a 4-inch plain or fluted cutter, and then cut them in half diagonally to make triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with raw or granulated sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outsides are crisp and the insides are fully baked.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

One thing I love about the weekends is having the time to bake something from scratch and have a relaxed home cooked breakfast. It is something my parents used to do when I was at home and still do today when I am home visiting. I bought some huge fresh blueberries the other day and had come across this recipe as a perfect opportunity to use some of them up. This recipe was really easy to make but I will warn you that the dough was a bit thick and despite my best efforts did squish a few blueberries. Despite that the flavor was really bright from the lemon zest that you can even see in the pictures. I sprinkled a little sugar on top to look pretty. The scones themselves are not that sweet since the original recipe has a glaze on top that I omitted. Not bad for a home made breakfast in 30 minutes!

Lemon Blueberry Scones

Yields 8 scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour  ( I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 all purpose)
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 lemons, zested
Pinch of salt
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 large egg
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles a coarse sand (alternatively, if using a stand mixer, mix in butter with paddle attachment until butter is pea-sized or smaller).

In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy whipping cream and egg until well blended.  Stir in the blueberries to the thick dough (over-mixing the blueberries will burst the berries and dye the batter purple—try to avoid this). Pour cream into scone mixture and mix until it comes together as a dough.

On a lightly floured surface, place dough and form into a circle, flattening the top until dough is roughly an inch thick. Cut dough into 8 pie-shaped pieces and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until scones are lightly browned. 

Source: The Pastry Affair