Time to Bake The Scones!

Fall has arrived!  It's time for fuzzy wool sock and fleece jackets and baking!   All summer when the temperature hovered around the 100º mark I refrained from heating up the oven as much as possible but now the night time lows are dipping into the near-freezing zone and the extra heat from the oven is welcome in the house.  Usually fall baking recipes center around---

but because I still have a box of strawberries that was included in one of the last CSA farm boxes I picked up in September I felt compelled to find a recipe that utilized this summer-like fruit instead of the traditional fall tastes.

I searched TastyKitchen.com for a recipe and Strawberry Shortcake Scones caught me eye.   

Scones are one of those fancy sounding sweets that are not at all difficult to make.  Basically, they start with the usual ingredients found in most made-from-scratch biscuits.

The dry ingredients are blended together, the cold cubed butter is cut in with a pastry blender and the half and half is stirred in just until it all comes together and the dry ingredients are moistened.  The dough is flattened out into a 1-inch thick rectangle...

 cut into 6 squares which are cut again into 12 wedges.  The scones are placed on a parchment or silicone mat covered baking sheet.

After baking for 16 minutes the scones are golden brown and looking good.

Once cooled a bit, a powdered sugar glaze is drizzled over the top.

Yum!  A taste of summer in a warm fall-like pastry.  

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE SCONES

(submitted to TastyKitchen,com by Alaska from Scratch)

SCONES

     2 cups all purpose flour

     1 Tablespoon baking powder

     3 Tablespoons sugar

     1/2 teaspoon salt

     2 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters

     5 Tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

     3/4 cup half and half

GLAZE

     1 cup powdered sugar

     1/2 teaspoon vanilla

     2-3 Tablespoons half and half

Preheat oven to 425º.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silcone baking mat.

Combine first 4 ingredients in large mixing bowl and stir with wire whisk.  Add butter and cut in with pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.  Add strawberries and toss with fork until coated with flour mixture.  Pour in half and half and fold in gently until dry ingredients are evenly moistened.  Do not over mix or knead dough.

Turn dough onto floured surface and flatten with hands until a 1-inch thick rectangle is formed.  Cut dough into 6 equal squares and cut each square in half diagonally to form 12 wedges.  

Place scones on baking sheet and bake at 425º for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove scones to cooling rack placed on wax or parchment paper and let cool for a few minutes before adding glaze.   Combine glaze ingredients, adding more or less cream for desired consistency.  Drizzle glaze evenly over baked scones.

Enjoy with a cup of your favorite hot beverage!