Strawberry Scones with a Vanilla Glaze



 



I'm trying something new - to have "extra-large" pictures, so you can really see the detail. Do you like it?

It's cold and rainy outside. So foggy that I can't see the valley below and all I want is a nice hot cup of herbal tea and a scone warm from the oven.  I still have plenty of strawberries, so Strawberry Scones it is.

Whenever I make scones lately, I've been using a variation on The Pioneer Woman's recipe for Petite Vanilla Scones.

I appologize in advance. All the pictures are pretty dark. What can I say? It's dark outside.

Here's how I make my Strawberry Scones.

3 cups of AP flour

 2/3 cup sugar

 5 tsp baking powder

 1/4 tsp salt (I could't find my 1/4 tsp mesure, so I did two 1/8 tsp.)

 2 sticks of cold butter, cubed

 Cut the butter into the flour mixture.

 Add 1/2 cup strawberry puree.

And 1/2 cup milk (or cream, or whatever you have). I just used the same measuring cup I just used fo the strawberries - that's why the milk looks strange.

 1 egg, beaten.

 Some strawberries, washed and cut . . .

 to fill 1 cup.

 Mix with a fork and turn out onto a floured work surface.

 Knead until it comes together. Flatten it out to about 1/2 inch, and then cut in whatever shapes you wish. (I find that a pizza cutter is the best tool for this.)

 I did mine in large triangle shapes today. - If I were to cut them again, I would make them smaller. The shape doesn't matter, you could have squares, circles, triangles, trapezoids. Whatever you like. ;)

 Brush the tops with  either a little melted butter, cream or an egg wash. (You just want something to make the sugar stick.) I used cream today.

 Then I sprinkled each scone with some sugar.

Into the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes. Then they go into the oven to bake @ 350 for about 20 minutes, or until they are brown around the edges and firm. (The time will depend on how big you make your scones. If you cut 24 mini scones, you probably only need to cook them about 18 minutes. If you made 6 extra large scones you would need to cook for almost 30 minutes. My medium to large scones took 22 minutes.)

Now it's time to make the vanilla glaze.

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 2 Tbsp milk, and 1 cup of powdered sugar.

 Whisk until it's smooth.

 When the scones were done, I let them cool on the cookie sheets and then transferred them to a wire rack. When they were mostly cool, I drizzled the glaze over each one with a fork. (The glaze will be prettier if you wait until the scones are completely cool, but who has that kind of will power? Not me.)

Then I immediately consumed with a hot cup of tea.

I could have chosen a prettier one, but I wanted to eat it now - and I usually save the pretty ones for other people and photographing - like the first picture in this post. It doesn't matter what it looked like - it was DIVINE!

Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Scones with a Vanilla Glaze

3 cups of flour (always all purpose)
2/3 cup sugar - plus more for sprinkling
1/4 tsp salt
5 tsp baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup strawberry puree
1/2 cup milk (or cream)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup chopped strawberries


Preheat oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, until the butter is the size of peas. Add the strawberry puree, milk and egg. Add the chopped strawberries. Combine with a fork just until it comes together. Dump out onto a floured work surface. Knead a few times until it's a solid mass and then flatten out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut in any shapes you wish. Place on lined cookie sheets. Brush each scone with melted butter, cream or an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Bake @ 350F for about 20 minutes (this will depend on how big your scones are). They should be golden brown around the edges and firm.
Cool on cookie sheets and then transfer to a cooling rack. Drizzle with glaze.

Vanilla Glaze

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Whisk until smooth and drizzle over cooled scones.