These tender, sweet Strawberry and Cream Scones are among my most favorite scones ever. Diced strawberry strewn throughout intensifies to become candy-like; vanilla glaze crystallizes on top as they bake!
I first made these delicious spring scones in 2012, and haven't tried a different strawberry scone since. They're tender and moist. Pureed strawberries in the dough subtly but clearly flavors the scone. Like I said, though, the highlight is the little bits of diced strawberries that intensify in flavor while the scones bake.
As a bonus, you bake a glaze directly onto the scone! It crisps the top slightly and makes it extra-enjoyable to eat. And you don't have to worry about glaze sliding off of a warm scone.
They're perfect alongside a cup of coffee or tea, and would go nicely with Strawberry Bellinis for a spring brunch.
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When I revised this recipe in 2018, I happened to try Starbucks' Strawberry Yogurt Scone - for "research." Dear reader, it was not as good as these.
Key Ingredients
Strawberries: Use fresh strawberries, not frozen, which often have an off taste and will make the scones soggy. Peak season strawberries are best, but scones are still tasty if they're not perfectly ripe yet.
Cream: Despite the name, I often just use dairy milk.
Vanilla: Somehow enhances the strawberry and cream flavors. Don't skip it.
Butter: Needs cold for the scones to hold their shape. I use unsalted butter; cut the table salt down to ⅛ teaspoon if you use salted butter.
How to Make Strawberry and Cream Scones
I originally came across this recipe from King Arthur Baking, but I've streamlined some things over time. So, let's get started baking!
After cleaning your strawberries, cut the green tops and any white parts off. Set aside ⅔ cup (or around 100 grams) of your nicest, prettiest, most uniformly diced strawberries; these should be mixed in to your scone dough later.
Blend another ½ cup (or 70 grams) of strawberries with the sugar, cream or milk, egg, and vanilla extract. Blending it now will start macerating the strawberries, especially important if you're using off-peak strawberries.
This will look like a very pale, barely-pink smoothie when you're done with it. Don't blend too much, though; the egg doesn't need to be worked that much.
One: Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or two knives (or your fingers) to cut the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles small crumbs.
It's easier to work the butter in if you cut it into small pieces with a knife before you add it to the flour.
Two: Use a fork to stir the pureed strawberry mixture into the flour-butter mixture. I use a fork instead of a spoon because it keeps the mixture loose and mixes it better.
Three: Mix the dough just until it comes together in large clumps.
Four: Stir in the ⅔ cup diced strawberries. The dough will become stickier as the juice from the strawberries combines with the dough.
Five: Use a medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop, or two spoons, to scoop the dough onto Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheets.
Six: Stir together 3 tablespoons sugar, more vanilla extract, and water. Glaze is not optional.
Seven: Use the spoon to flatten each ball of dough while you spoon a small amount of glaze. Yes, the glaze will bake directly onto the scone.
Eight: Bake until the scones until the edges are just starting to turn golden. (The tops won't brown, due to the glaze.) A toothpick inserted into the scone will come out clean. Don't underbake, or the scones may be gummy.
You'll notice that the scones aren't golden or as pretty as you'd expect. Strawberry puree often changes from a pale pink to a gray as it bakes. The glaze also keeps the scones from browning. Rest assured that despite not being the prettiest color, these scones are still delicious!
Cool the scones a few minutes before removing them from the baking sheet. Serve warm.
Hint: Don't overwork the dough. Gluten will start to develop and strengthen if you mix it more than necessary, which will make your scones tough, not tender.
Equipment
I love my pastry cutter; the OXO one that I use has blades which cut through the cold butter more easily than other pastry cutters. It's a time saver if you make scones (or my Homemade Pie Crust recipe!). That said, you can use 2 knives, criss-crossed, to cut the butter as well. You can also rub it in with your fingers.
I use a bullet blender to puree the strawberries with the other liquid ingredients. My friend used a small food chopper when she made these, and said that also worked rather well.
Storage
After the scones have cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Scones are best on the day they're made, but they're still tasty for a few days. Microwave leftover scones for 5-10 seconds before eating.
Top Tip
Try to be sure the strawberries are spread out in the scones, and not clumped together. While the strawberry puree does flavor the scone, the best parts are definitely the diced strawberries, whose flavor has intensified as the scones baked.
Strawberry and Cream Scones FAQs
I find frozen strawberries have an off taste. While you could likely use thawed frozen strawberries in the puree, chunks of frozen strawberries in the dough would release too much liquid and make the scones soggy.
I've substituted fresh raspberries for the strawberries before. The recipe bakes the same, and the raspberry scones are delicious!
Scones and biscuits are very similar. You use the same method to make them - combine flour and leavening, cut in butter (or sometimes, shortening) into small pieces, add liquid, shape, and bake.
Simply put, in the United States, scones are sweet and biscuits aren't. Scones are more tender and usually include an egg in the dough; biscuits are more flaky and don't include an egg.
King Arthur Baking has a thorough breakdown of a UK scone versus a US scone vs a US baking powder biscuit.
You'll notice the strawberry puree only turns the liquid ingredient mixture a light pink; there's just not enough to make a huge difference in color. However, even if you included more puree, the scones still wouldn't stay pink.
The pigment that makes strawberries red (called anthocyanins) degrades with heat while it bakes, turning the scone batter brown or gray; the diced strawberries have a higher concentration of the pigment, so their color doesn't change so much.
Many strawberry cake recipes you find online include red food coloring to counter this effect. If you choose to add food coloring to your scone dough, add it to the liquid ingredients before you mix them into the dry ingredients.
I have not tested these scones with gluten-free flour. Since the egg binds the dough together and you don't want to develop much gluten when you make scones, I believe it would work if you use a mild-tasting, cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend that includes xanthan gum. However, your scones may be more crumbly than those made with wheat flour.
Cold butter will create steam as it melts and puff up, making your scones (and biscuits) lighter and fluffier. If your butter is too soft when you make scones, the scones will spread out, be more flat than puffed, and have a harder texture.
More Spring Brunch Recipes
Here's some of my other favorite springtime brunch recipes!
I hope this becomes a recipe you'll return to. If you try it, a star rating below helps others find it - and I'd love to hear how yours turns out in the comments! 💕 Questions or trouble? Drop a note, and I'll do my best to help.
📖 Recipe
Strawberry and Cream Scones
Equipment
- pastry cutter
- bullet blender
- 2 baking sheets
- Baking parchment or silicone mats
- #40 cookie scoop
Ingredients
Scone Dough
- ½ cup diced fresh strawberries (70 grams)
- ¼ cup sugar (50 grams)
- 2 tablespoons cream, half and half, or milk (28 grams)
- 1 egg (50 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (10 grams)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold, cut into small pieces) (85 grams)
- ⅔ cup diced fresh strawberries (99 grams)
Glaze (NOT optional)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (35 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla (7 grams)
- 1 teaspoon water (5 grams)
Instructions
Scone Dough
- In a food processor, blender, or food chopper (I use my bullet blender), puree ½ cup strawberries, ¼ cup sugar, cream or milk, egg, and 2 teaspoons vanilla until just combined. (You don't want to whip air into the egg, so don't over-process.) It'll look like a very pale pink milkshake. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles small crumbs. (Crumbs don't have to be the same size, though.)
- Add the blended strawberry mixture, stirring until the dough just comes together. There may be a little stray flour left behind; this is okay.
- Fold in the ⅔ cup diced strawberries, and mix until just combined. The dough will become sticky.
- Use spoons or a medium (1.5-tablespoon or #40) cookie scoop to portion the dough onto two parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheets. You will flatten these, so don't overcrowd. I get between 18-21 scones using this scoop.
Glaze and Baking
- Mix together the sugar, vanilla, and water to make a gritty glaze. Spoon a small amount on each scone and flatten it out to about ½ inch thickness. You'll want at least 1-2 inches between each scone once they're spread out.PS: I often move around pieces of strawberry at this time, so they're not clumped together.
- Bake at 375F for 14-16 minutes, until the edges are starting to brown. If baking two sheets at once, place the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and rotate the pans' positions from top to bottom halfway through baking. It is also okay to bake the sheets one after another, and not at the the same time.
- Scones will be done when the edges begin to brown. A toothpick inserted into a scone will come out clean, without dough or any sticky residue. The tops of the scones themselves will not brown, due to the glaze baked on top. Do not underbake; underbaked scones may be gummy.
- Serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container and reheat briefly (5-10 seconds) in the microwave. Scones are best the first day, but are still moist after a day or two.
Notes
Nutrition
[Published in March 2012 and rewritten in April 2018. Completely rewritten and updated in April 2025.]
Leona Konkel says
Am I biased that these are my favorite scones? Perhaps, but I think it's justified since I've been making them for 10+ years. I hope you love them too. Please leave me a comment and rating if you've tried them and liked them! And, let me know if you have questions; I'm happy to troubleshoot!