Strawberry Vanilla Bean Scones

The other day I went strawberry picking and brought home a lot more strawberries than I know what to do with.  So here is the second of many strawberry recipes this week!  These strawberry vanilla bean scones are delicious and the lemon glaze really makes them heavenly!

What would a scone post be without some scone history!?  Scones were created in the 1500’s in Scotland and were a little different than the buttery pastries we think of today.  They were primarily made with oats and cooked in a griddle pan over a fire.  Scones became very popular in the late 1700’s when Anna the Duchess of Bedford ordered scones with her tea one day and continued to order them at tea time from then on.

Now, onto the science of scones.  The perfect scone is tender and flaky.  To achieve the perfect scone there are simple rules.  Basically scones are flaky because the butter that is cut into them melts while it bakes and the fat separates gluten formation.   Also, the butter must be cold, my trick to cut the butter into the flour with the least amount of overworking is by grating it.  I know, this sounds a little strange, but it works!  Try it! This way you can add the butter to the flour without using your hands and heating the butter up and you also have less dishes to do than when you used a food processor.

For my strawberry vanilla bean scones, the dough might seem a little dry before the strawberry incorporation, that’s alright.  The strawberries will add moisture and break apart as you mix them in and this will help with the excess flour!

Now the recipe!

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Scones

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped strawberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean seeds

Lemon Glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Dice the strawberries and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and brown sugar.  Mix to combine.
4. Zest one lemon into the bowl, grate the cold butter into the flour.  Toss the butter with the flour mixture. 
5. Add the egg, sour cream, milk, vanilla and vanilla bean seeds.
6. Stir together with a spatula, once it becomes too tough to use the spatula use your hands and mix until it is almost together but still a little dry.
7. Add the strawberries and fold dough until combined, but don’t over mix, some dry spots are ok.
8. Sprinkle flour on the counter and place the scone batter on it.  Form into a thick disk.  Cut into pieces by cutting in half, then half again, until you get 8 pieces. 
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until they are lightly golden and they have visible flakes.
10. While scones are cooking make the lemon glaze.
11. Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.
12. Once scones are cooled, drizzle the lemon glaze on top!

You can eat these while they’re still warm (which I recommend) but if you have one the next day heat it up in the toaster oven!