Strawberry Basil Scones
Singing with summer flavours, these strawberry scones have just a hint of fresh basil!
Servings: 12 scones
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, frozen in one piece
- 1 cup buttermilk (plus more for brushing), cold
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, diced
- 3 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- sugar for sprinkling on top (coarse sugar if you have it)
Instructions
- If your butter isn't already frozen, put the cup of butter in the freezer for at least 15 minutes while you assemble your ingredients. If possible, have the butter as one whole piece to make grating it easier.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Grate the frozen butter into the bowl. With a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers, mix the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles a coarse meal (pea-sized crumbs of butter will be visible)
- Whisk together the cream or buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spoon or spatula. Mixture should be slightly dry with some flour still visible. Add the strawberries and basil and gently incorporate. Don't over-mix.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands, pressing the dry spots into the more moistened areas in the dough. The dough should hold together and be slightly sticky. If excessively sticky, sprinkle a little more flour on it, and if excessively dry, add a little cream or buttermilk.
- Pat the dough down evenly to about 1 inch thickness. Cut out circle shaped scones using a floured cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass. Place scones on a lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush tops with cream or buttermilk and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
- Refrigerate the pan of scones for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400°F. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until scones are golden brown on the edges. Alternatively, freeze the scones completely on the pan, then put them in a sealed bag in your freezer until you're ready to bake. When baking from frozen, add a couple minutes to the baking time.
- Let cool for a couple minutes on the pan, then remove scones and let cool slightly on wire racks before enjoying. Scones are best eaten warm but will keep 2 or 3 days at room temperature.
Notes
- To make your own buttermilk, add 1.5 tsp vinegar to a liquid measuring cup + fill it up to 1/2 cup milk and let sit 5 min. to curdle)
- Keep your ingredients COLD. This is why we use frozen butter, cold cream and eggs, and refrigerate the scones before baking. If the dough isn’t cold, the scones will spread too much.
- Do not over-mix your dough. There may be some small chunks of butter and some visible flour but that is ok as long as the dough holds together.
- Freezing unbaked scones and baking them on a later date works beautifully! I can't recommend this enough! If this recipes makes too many scones for you, just bake a few and freeze the rest unbaked. Your future self will thank you when you're craving a warm scone ASAP.