These Fresh Strawberry Buttermilk Scones with a Lemon Zest Glaze are perfectly crumbly and have just the right amount of sweetness. They are full of fresh strawberries and topped with a zesty lemon glaze. The strawberry and lemon combination is one that will give you all the warm weather feels.
These triangular scones are so delicious and go perfectly with a cup of coffee. The lemon glaze has just the right amount of zest which pairs great with the sweet strawberries. A perfect breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea choice!
The best part about these tender scones is how easy they are to make. Scones can seem like an intimidating treat to tackle, but these are quite easy to prepare and will definitely impress!
For more delicous breakfast choices, try: Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns, Oatmeal Blueberry Banana Muffins or Coffee Overnight Oats.
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Why You Will Love These
- The strawberries. Using fresh strawberries that are ripe and sweet gives these scones the most refreshing flavor and a beautiful color. They are a perfect treat to make during strawberry season!
- The lemon glaze. The fresh lemon flavor the glaze adds is tangy and sweet. It not only tastes great, but looks beautiful too!
- They are easy to make. These fresh strawberry scones are pretty simple to put together with common kitchen tools and ingredients. This is the best scone recipe if this is your first time making scones.
Ingredients Needed
- Buttermilk: Full fat or low fat cold buttermilk will work great for this. You can use store bought buttermilk or make your own (see below!)
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Flour: All-purpose flour is used in the batter and also on your work surface when you are forming the dough into a disc before cutting into triangles.
- Sugar: For this you will use white granulated sugar.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter: You will need cold unsalted butter. It is important that the butter is cold so leave it in the fridge until you are ready to use it!
- Strawberries: For best results use fresh, coarsely chopped strawberries. Frozen strawberries would work if you are making these out of season or don't have access to fresh ones.
- Powdered sugar: Sifted powdered sugar will give you the smoothest glaze.
- Heavy whipping cream
- Lemon: You will use fresh lemon juice and zest from one lemon.
Step by Step Instructions
Here is how to make these fruit scones. See the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and instructions. The only special equipment needed is a pastry blender.
For the Scones:
STEP 1: Combine the buttermilk, egg and vanilla in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine and set aside.
STEP 2: In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a whisk to combine.
STEP 3: Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and, using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs. You want to be able to see small pea-sized butter pieces mixed in with the flour mixture.
STEP 4: Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and gently stir to coat the strawberries.
STEP 5: Add the buttermilk mixture and stir gently with a fork just until most of the dry ingredients are combined. You don't want to mix it too much, so it will be a pretty loose dough.
STEP 6: Transfer dough to a floured work surface and, using floured hands, form dough into a ball, making sure to incorporate any ingredients that may not have gotten combined in the bowl. You may need to gently kneed the dough a couple of times to get all dry ingredients incorporated.
STEP 7: Gently pat the scone dough into an 8-inch round disk.
STEP 8: Using a sharp knife, cut the disc into 8 equal parts for large scones.
STEP 9: Carefully transfer triangles to two parchment paper lined baking sheets. Spacing them about 2-inches apart.
STEP 10: Place baking sheets in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
STEP 11: While scones chill, preheat the oven to 400°F.
STEP 12: Remove scones from the freezer and bake in the 400°F oven for 16-18 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown on the tops.
STEP 13: Remove from the oven and allow the scones to cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Lemon Glaze:
STEP 1: In a medium sized bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of whipping cream. Whisk the ingredients together until fully combined and smooth. Add whipping cream by the tablespoonfuls until desired consistency for drizzling.
STEP 2: Using a spoon, drizzle or pour glaze over the top of the cooled scones.
Expert Tips
Be sure to work with cold ingredients. You will want the buttermilk, egg and butter to all be cold from the refrigerator for this.
If you do not have a pastry blender, you could use two knives to cut the butter in. Alternatively, you could mix the dry ingredients in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse just until coarse crumbs form. Then transfer to a bowl before adding the strawberries and buttermilk mixture.
Cut each triangle into two for smaller scones.
Swap out the strawberries for fresh blueberries if you'd rather make blueberry scones!
FAQ
Yes. You can easily skip buying buttermilk and make your own at home. To do this, measure out 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into a glass measuring cup. Next, pour milk into that glass measuring cup until it measures 1 cup. Stir it up to combine and let it sit for about 10 minutes before using.
Yes. You can pat or roll the dough out to 1-inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. You could also drop the batter by ½ cupfuls onto prepared baking sheet.
Yes! These are just as delicous without the lemon glaze. If you choose to skp the lemon glaze, you could brush with buttermilk and spinkle the scones with turbinado sugar before placing them in the oven.
Storing and Freezing
Leftover baked strawberry buttermilk scones can be stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Warm them in the microwave, wrapped in a paper towel, for about 15-20 seconds, if desired.
Unbaked, unglazed scones can be wrapped individually in parchment paper or plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove from freezer and bake as recipe directs before adding glaze.
Baked scones can also be frozen in an airtight container or zip top bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.
Other Recipes to Try
To use leftover buttermilk or heavy whipping cream from these delicious strawberry buttermilk scones, try:
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Recipe
Strawberry Buttermilk Scones with Lemon Zest Glaze
Ingredients
For the Scones:
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup strawberries, chopped
For the Glaze:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Zest from one lemon
- Juice from one lemon
Instructions
For the Scones:
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, vanilla and egg. Stir with a whisk to combine. Set aside.½ cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 egg
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a whisk to combine.2 ½ cups flour, ½ cup sugar, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the butter to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and stir until strawberries are coated. Add the buttermilk mixture. Using a fork, gently stir ingredients together just until combined.1 cup strawberries, chopped
- Transfer dough to a very lightly floured surface. Use your hands pat the dough into a ball then lightly press into 8-inch disc. Slice into 8 wedges. Carefully transfer wedges to prepared baking sheets. Place baking sheets in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, or until the dough is fully chilled.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Bake in 400°F oven for 16-18 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown on the tops. Remove from the oven, let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Glaze:
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons whipping cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Stir with a whisk until smooth and fully combined. Add extra whipping cream by the tablespoonful until desired consistency is reached.1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted, 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, Zest from one lemon, Juice from one lemon
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