Strawberries and cream drop scones

Easy, delicious biscuits for breakfast, brunch or teatime!

I adore making scones and biscuits but sometimes find I am not in the mood to roll out and cut the dough. Drop scones are a great solution as they are fast and easy to prepare. These ones have just the perfect amount of sweetness and the subtle strawberry flavour shines through beautifully. To speed up the final preparation, you can blend the liquids together the night before (cover and refrigerate) and grate the butter into the flour mixture (also refrigerate it). In the morning, simply dice the remaining strawberries and proceed with assembly. You can easily use your favourite gluten-free flour blend in this recipe.

Ingredients

Scones

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) diced fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) light cream
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla extract
• 2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose or gluten-free flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) baking powder
• 1/3 cup (90 mL) cold butter
• 2/3 cup (165 mL) diced fresh strawberries

Glaze

• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 (7.5 mL) teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) cold water

Method

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Place the 1/2 cup (125 mL) of diced strawberries, the sugar, cream, egg and vanilla in a glass measure and puree with a handheld (stick) blender until smooth (or process in a regular blender or food processor). Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
• Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture and toss with a fork or your finger so the butter shards are coated in flour.
• Add the strawberry and cream mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just until a shaggy dough begins to form. Add another teaspoon of cream if needed.
• Add the 2/3 cup (165 mL) diced strawberries, gently folding them in. Note that the dough will be a little sticky.
• Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets; each scone should be about the size of a golf ball. A small cookie scoop works really well.
• Make the glaze by stirring together the sugar, vanilla and water; drizzle a little on top of each scone on the baking sheets.
• Bake the scones until they’re just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges, 15 to 16 minutes. Serve warm.

Makes 3 dozen small scones.