Strawberry Scones

I made these scones last weekend and they turned out to be delicious! I ran across this recipe online when I was searching for new things that I could make with some leftover buttermilk. I rarely buy buttermilk, so when I have it around I want to use it!

To make 6 large strawberry scones (or probably 8-10 medium sized scones) you will need:

• 3/4 cup (FROZEN or FRESH) STRAWBERRIES, chopped
• 2 & 1/4 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 Tbs BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/4 cup GRANULATED SUGAR
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1 stick very cold UNSALTED BUTTER, cubed
• 3/4 cup BUTTERMILK
• 1/2 tsp LEMON JUICE
• 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

For topping:

• 1 & 1/2 Tbs UNSALTED BUTTER, melted
• 2 Tbs LARGE CRYSTAL SUGAR or GRANULATED SUGAR

Start off by chopping the strawberries into bite sized pieces. Then stick them in the freezer while you prepare the dough. Freezing the strawberries will prevent the juices from oozing when you mix them into the dough making the dough too wet. (If you use pre-frozen strawberries you obviously don't have to wait around for the strawberries to freeze which makes the process go faster!)

Cut the stick of butter into cubes and then put it in the freezer with the strawberries to allow the butter to get very cold! When your strawberries are pretty frozen (this could take about an hour if you use fresh strawberries) preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Mix well to make sure all of the ingredients are equally dispersed. Next cut the cold butter into the flour using either a pastry cutter or two knives. You want to end up with pea sized balls of butter in a coarse flour mixture.

In a small bowl, mix the buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Pour the buttermilk mixture and frozen strawberries over the flour mixture.

Gently mix together the wet ingredients and dry ingredients with a spatula until the dough just starts to form. (I had to add a few extra tablespoons of buttermilk to get the dough to come together. If you need to add more liquid be careful to not add too much, add it one tablespoon at a time!)

Once the dough will just hold together, (I should still be kind of crumbly!) form it into a rectangle on a floured surface. Press the dough out to be about 1 & 1/2 inches thick.

Next, brush the melted butter onto the dough and sprinkle the sugar on top. The sugar will almost create a crust on top of the scones once baked.

Cut the large rectangle into 6 pieces and then transfer them to the baking sheet. You could cut the scones into smaller pieces if you don't want such large scones.

Then bake for 25-30 minutes! Look how much they grew!

 Don't they look yummy!

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Strawberry Scones

Ingredients:
To make 6 large strawberry scones you will need:

• 3/4 cup (FROZEN or FRESH) STRAWBERRIES, chopped
• 2 & 1/4 cup FLOUR
• 1/2 Tbs BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 tsp BAKING SODA
• 1/4 cup GRANULATED SUGAR
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1 stick very cold UNSALTED BUTTER, cubed
• 3/4 cup BUTTERMILK
• 1/2 tsp LEMON JUICE
• 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

For topping:

• 1 & 1/2 Tbs UNSALTED BUTTER, melted
• 2 Tbs LARGE CRYSTAL SUGAR or GRANULATED SUGAR

Directions:

1. Chop the strawberries into bite sized pieces. Then stick them in the freezer while you prepare the dough. 
2. Cut the stick of butter into cubes and then put it in the freezer with the strawberries to allow the butter to get very cold! 
3. When your strawberries are pretty frozen (this could take about an hour if you use fresh strawberries) preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Mix well to make sure all of the ingredients are equally dispersed. 
5. Cut the cold butter into the flour using either a pastry cutter or two knives. You want to end up with pea sized balls of butter in a coarse flour mixture.
6. In a small bowl, mix the buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Pour the buttermilk mixture and frozen strawberries over the flour mixture. Gently mix together the wet ingredients and dry ingredients with a spatula until the dough just starts to form. (I had to add a few extra tablespoons of buttermilk to get the dough to come together. If you need to add more liquid be careful to not add too much, add it one tablespoon at a time!)
7. Once the dough will just hold together, (I should still be kind of crumbly!) form it into a rectangle on a floured surface. Press the dough out to be about 1 & 1/2 inches thick. 
8. Next, brush the melted butter onto the dough and sprinkle the sugar on top. The sugar will almost create a crust on top of the scones once baked.
9. Cut the large rectangle into 6 pieces and then transfer them to the baking sheet. You could cut the scones into smaller pieces if you don't want such large scones. Then bake for 25-30 minutes! 

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I adapted this recipe from a recipe I found on the following site: http://www.breadtastic.com/quick-breads/tartines-strawberry-buttermilk-scones/