Let's have a moment of silence for sad, dry scones. Now let's bury them with these Strawberry Scones that are tender, buttery, and loaded with strawberry flavor-all thanks to the power of freeze-dried fruit.
No soggy dough. No fruit bleeding into your batter. No regrets. Just a golden, flaky pastry that makes you feel like you accidentally walked into a fancy bakery and found out you're the head baker now.
If you've got a bag of freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joe's sitting in your pantry and you're wondering what to do with them, this recipe is the answer. And if you're not wondering? You're still going to want to make these.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- No Fresh Fruit Fuss: Freeze-dried strawberries = max flavor, zero sogginess.
- Bakery-Level Brunch at Home: Impress everyone, including yourself.
- Freezer-Friendly: Bake now, freeze for future "treat yo' self" moments.m.
Why use freeze-dried strawberries?
Yes, for this recipe I'm using freeze-dried strawberries. Yes, as a snack they taste like astronaut food. But rehydrated, they have a vibrant strawberry flavor. While it isn't a traditional choice, it allows you to make them on a whim and might be a better choice for scones because
- you might not devour all 8 scones in one sitting
- freeze-dried strawberries are pretty intense in flavor, to begin with
- no need to wait until strawberries are in season
- fresh strawberries do get a bit funky if they are cut and left out for any length of time
- you'll get all the intense flavor of strawberries and they'll freeze well if you want to make this for later (or make one at a time).
Tips & Tricks
- Want a glaze? Whisk powdered sugar and milk with a drop of vanilla or lemon juice and drizzle away.
- Don't overwork the dough. It'll make the scones tough instead of tender.
- Keep your butter cold. Cold butter = flaky layers.
Creative Serving Suggestions
- Serve with clotted cream or mascarpone for a full English tea moment.
- Turn these into dessert with a scoop of strawberry ice cream on the side.
- Break them in half and use as shortcake with whipped cream and fresh berries.
Tips for freezing this
This recipe yields 8 scones. But I live in a household of two. I prefer my scones fresh. Wrap your scones, either individually or in pairs, in plastic wrap. Place them in a freezer bag. Label the bag as "Strawberry Scones" and be sure to add in "Defrost overnight in Refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 425F. Bake for 14 minutes."
Why do this? I'm not a morning person. My functioning level is not good before 8AM. Therefore, it is easier for you to look back at the bag, rather than hunt down this recipe. If you like this recipe, you can refill that plastic freezer bag as often as you like.
Watch Me Make These (60 Seconds)
Directions
As a baking rule of thumb, you need to preheat your oven to 425F. The only time you don't do this in baking is when dough needs to chill or yeast needs to rise. This is a quick bread therefore, you need to preheat your oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Step 1 Measure out all of your ingredients in advance. This is Mise en Place. In English, this means getting everything out before you start to make sure there is no middle of the recipe running to the store. That's not what it really translates to, but I remember being sent to the store as a kid from time to time. Might have happened once or twice as an adult.
Step 2 Open your bag of freeze-dried strawberries. Remove the packet of desiccant and discard it. Squeeze 5-6 times to break up the strawberries (this "cuts" them so you won't need to take them out of a knife or cutting board). Add ⅓ cup of water and set aside to rehydrate.
Step 3 In a food processor, add 2 cups all-purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 pinch of salt, and 1 stick of cold butter that has been cubed. Pulse about 10 times to combine. If you don't have a food processor use a pastry blender and a large bowl instead.
And the correct texture when this is processed is pea sized:
Step 4 Slowly add buttermilk to the flour mixture in the food processor. Pulse while pouring to combine.
Step 5 Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough until combined. Become Betty kitchen hack: lightly flour a baking sheet in place of your usual floured surface, place a towel under the baking sheet, and use that as your work surface. Less flour to get all over your kitchen. Less mess brings me more joy.
Step 6 Squeeze strawberries to remove excess moisture and add to dough. Work in the strawberries into the dough to evenly distribute.
Step 7 Shape dough into a round disk about an inch thick. Cut into 8 equal-sized pieces to ensure even cooking. I removed a few for freezing. Place scones onto a lined cookie sheet. Brush the top with cream or egg white or heavy whipping cream to ensure a golden brown top. Place in oven on the middle rack.
Step 8 Bake for 14-17 minutes. Start checking for doneness at 12 minutes. Every oven is different and you want these to be moist. Place them on a cooling rack.
Step 9 Remove from oven when golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
Step 10 (Optional) Make a glaze-Combine ½ cup of confectioners (10x) sugar in a bowl with 1.5 tablespoon of liquid. For this batch of scones, I made a lemon glaze with powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
And then drizzle over the scones like so:
Final Thoughts
These scones are the low-effort, high-reward bake that will make you feel like you've got your life together-even if you're still in pajamas at 2 PM. Thanks to freeze-dried strawberries, you get all the flavor without the mess, and a tender, buttery crumb that'll have you wondering if you should open a bakery. (Spoiler: you should.)
I hope you find these Strawberry Scones delicious! I also hope that I've left you with suggestions to inspire some kitchen creativity.
If you try this, would you mind hitting the "Rate" button? I'd love to know what you thought of it. If you tried one of my modifications, please let me know how it turned out. I love comments!
If you've tried this Strawberry Scones recipe or any other recipe on the blog, I'd love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest to see what I'm up to.
Recipe Adapted from The Art & Soul of Baking:
Strawberry Scones
Ingredients
- 1 1.2 ounce bag of Freeze Dried Strawberries if unavailable, then 1 cups of fresh cut into small pieces will work as well.
- ¼ cup water for rehydrating the strawberries
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 stick butter, cold, cut into cubes (4 ounces)
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- flour for work area
- cream for brushing on the top of the scones
Kitchen Equipment Needed to Make This
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone mat to prevent sticking and for easy clean up.
- Open bag of freeze dried strawberries. Remove packet of desiccant and discard. (Omit if you are using fresh strawberries)
- Gently squeeze bag of freeze dried strawberries 5-6 times in order to "cut" the strawberries (Omit if you are using fresh strawberries and cut the fresh ones small)
- Add water to bag of freeze dried strawberries to rehydrate. If no bag is usable for this, then use a separate bowl to rehydrate. Set aside. (Omit if you are using fresh strawberries)
- In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Pulse about 10 times to combine. Butter should be the size of a pea. If no food processor is available, then use a pastry cutter to combine OR use a box grater to shred the butter then use a fork to combine.
- In the food processor, slowly pour the buttermilk, pulsing to combine.
- When buttermilk is just combined, remove contents of the food processor and move dough on to a lightly floured work surface.
- At this point your dough should look dry and crumbly. With your hands knead the dough until it can hold its shape.
- Reach for the strawberries, which were set aside. Before you add them in, give them a squeeze before adding them to the dough to remove excess moisture.
- Work strawberries into dough until combined. Form dough into a round shape that is about 1 inch tall.
- Using either a knife, pastry cutter, or pizza cutter slice your dough into 8 equal sized pieces. This ensures the slices will cook evenly.
- Brush the lightly beaten cream (or an egg white if cream is unavailable) on top of the scone.
- Put into oven on the middle rack. Bake for 14-17 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- If it has biscuit like layers when you cut your 8 slices then you have done your job well.
- To avoid strawberries from browning too much, be sure to push them into the dough more before brushing with cream or going into the oven.
- Take this recipe as a starting point. Come back to BecomeBetty for all the flavor pairings you might want to try.
- To make a simple glaze add ½ cup of confectioners (10x) sugar plus 1.5 tablespoon of a liquid (fruit juice or something more adult). Mix until well combined and smooth. Drizzle on top.
Alek says
Love freeze dried fruit. Grind into powder and add to icings. Giving it that fresh fruit taste, natural color, and doesn't thin out the icing.
becomebetty says
Hey Alek! I think it is a totally underutilized item. Thanks so much for sharing!
Dagmar says
Also excellent if you take the freeze dried fruit and put it either ground into a powder or in pieces to yogurt to augment the taste.
becomebetty says
Hey Dag! Great suggestion on the yogurt. I didn't even think of that. Thanks so much for sharing!
libarah says
Yummm😋
Anne with a silent E says
Thanks for the great post - it's appreciated! I've never attempted scones but I'm inspired. And I love the freeze dried strawberries idea. And the FL strawberry festival starts at the end of February so might be the perfect time to give it a try!
becomebetty says
I'm very jealous of a strawberry festival that time of year! Right now, I'm in sticker shock how expensive certain fruit happens to be out of season. I hope this year brings us some great fruit! Thanks for stopping by!
Bernice says
These look wonderful! Never used freeze dried fruit!! 💕
becomebetty says
Hey Bernice! Actually, I think this for certain fruits it totally the way to go. The freeze dried varieties only need a bit of rehydration and a few minutes. In a baked good it works well. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Bernice says
Thanks for the tip!! 💕 💕 💕
Tiny Woman Tall World says
These look delicious! I’ve never thought of using freeze dried fruit!
becomebetty says
Hey Tiny Woman Tall World! Freeze dried fruit it actually pretty cool and underutilized. It allows you to pack more fruit into an item, you can add an extra layer of flavor when rehydrating this, they keep longer on the counter because they have less moisture, and seasons just don't matter. Thanks so very much for stopping by!
Crystal says
My 6 year old son and I made these for our family of 5 tonight. First attempt at scones and now we may never go back to store bought scones! These are so so good. We only had fresh strawberries but we chopped them and dried them with a towel and they worked great. We put lemon curd on top. Wonderful recipe!
becomebetty says
Hey Crystal! Thanks so much for the recipe feedback! Your comment really made my day. So glad to hear your family enjoyed them!
Harsha says
How do I make buttermilk for this receipe
becomebetty says
Hi Harsha! Here are some ways you can make buttermilk: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/how-to-make-buttermilk/
I hope that helps!
Willow says
The search is over. I have found the perfect scone. These are the perfect texture, flakey yet moist, and the freeze dried strawberries are a game changer!
becomebetty says
Thanks so much for your feedback Willow!
Julie says
Can these be stored in the freezer?
becomebetty says
Yes they can. You can freeze the dough like the post explains or wrap a fully baked one up for later. I hope that helps!