Saturday, March 21, 2009

Juicy Strawberry Scones

Another winner from Katie, these scones are a wonderful breakfast for a spring or summer morning. I had them on my list to make, and when I saw this gorgeous container of strawberries on sale at the grocery store, I knew it was time to give it a shot.

The scones came together very quickly, though I did have to play with the wet ingredients just a bit to get the dough to come together just enough. (As many of you know, I live in Phoenix and the dry climate often has this effect on baking.) I'd suggest starting with 2 1/4 c. flour and the called-for amount of wet ingredients and taking it from there.


Juicy Strawberry Scones
seen on Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (depends on ripeness of strawberries)
1/4 c. granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (I used Turbinado for sprinkling)
1 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 TBSP (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 c. low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 c. milk (I used skim)
2 tsp. orange zest
1 c. fresh strawberries, diced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.

2. In small bowl, combine egg, yogurt, milk, zest, whisk to combine thoroughly and set aside.

3. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, powder, salt, and whisk to combine.

4. Using pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until all pieces are smaller than pea-sized.  Add strawberries, and toss to coat.

5. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix in lightly with fork until dough just comes together.  Turn dough out onto well floured work surface and pat into large ball.

6. Cut dough in half. Shape half of dough into flat disk shape and cut into 8 slices. Place on baking sheet and repeat with other half of dough. (I omitted for larger scones.)  Sprinkle tops of scones with sugar and place in the oven.

7. Bake until turn slightly brown, about 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool (or eat right away!)