Strawberry Scones

Easy strawberry scones using fresh strawberries! They have a tender, moist texture and a turbinado sugar finish for extra crunch and sweetness!

Inspired by the soft British scones of my youth, this recipe makes soft, buttery strawberry scones with the perfect moist, crumbly texture. The sugar, heavy cream, and a dash of vanilla make this breakfast treat something decadent. They are rich, thick, and chewy, and each bite has strawberries and a hint of lemon! Perfection!

A sweet, rich scone is the best breakfast and can double as a dessert if paired with one of my ice cream recipe. I often rotate between these: my sourdough cinnamon rolls, carrot cake scones, and another strawberry favorite: classic strawberry chortcake with whipped cream.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Fresh Strawberries: It’s best to choose fragrant, red, in-season strawberries for these and my strawberry rhubarb crumble. Out-of-season strawberries will have less flavor and more water. If strawberries aren’t in season, try freeze-dried strawberries instead!
• Unsalted Butter: Butter shortens gluten strands as it coats them during mixing. This keeps them from forming a strong network that would lead to overly tough scones.
• Heavy Cream: adds just enough liquid to make a moist, tender scone. You can substitute with ⅓ cup Greek yogurt and 2 tablespoons of milk if you don’t have heavy cream on hand.
• Eggs:
• All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to create a flaky texture without being tough. You could also use pastry flour for extra cheap insurance.
• Granulated Sugar:
• Baking Powder: The primary leavener. Make sure yours is fresh; old baking powder is the most common reason scones bake up flat.
• Kosher Salt:
• Lemon Zest: Brightens the entire scone and lifts the strawberry flavor. Use only the bright yellow parts of the zest and stop before you hit the white pith, which is bitter. For more lemon flavor, be sure to make these lemon scones.
• Vanilla Extract:
• Turbinado Sugar: Sprinkled over the cream-brushed tops just before baking, it creates that signature crunchy, sparkly crust. You can use coarse raw sugar as a substitute.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Strawberry Lemon Scones

• Use seasonal fruit. Rotate scone recipes through the year, depending on what’s in season! Check out these apple scones and blueberry scones in preparation.
• Quick Glaze. Make a quick glaze with lemon juice and powdered sugar, and you’re in for a treat. I would quite happily recommend you drizzle on this strawberry glaze made from this easy strawberry jam recipe in my recipe for lemon cake donuts!
• Add some more mix-ins! Use my raspberry white chocolate scones or chocolate chip scones as an example! You can add dark, white, or milk chocolate! And some walnuts or pistachios could also be a great addition!

How to Make Strawberry Lemon Scones

This is a straightforward recipe with one step that deserves your full attention: keeping the butter cold all the way through mixing and cutting the dough.

Make the Scone Dough:

Step 1: Dice and dry the strawberries. Wash, hull, and chop the strawberries into roughly ½-inch pieces, then spread them on a paper towel and blot thoroughly. The drier they are, the better the finished scone’s texture.

Step 2: Mix the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth. Set this aside.

Step 3: Combine the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt. Give them a few turns on low, or just stir by hand, until everything is evenly distributed. (photo 1 below)

Step 4: Cut in the cold butter. Add the cold cubed butter and mix on low until the butter breaks down into the flour. You are looking for coarse, shaggy crumbs with the largest visible butter pieces no bigger than a pea. You can also do this by hand with a bench scraper or pastry blender. (photo 2)

You want the butter fully incorporated. Coating the flour in fat before the liquid inhibits gluten formation, which is exactly what gives these scones their tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Step 5: Add the cream mixture. With the mixer running on low, pour the cream mixture in slowly and steadily. Mix just until the dough is almost, but not quite, fully incorporated. There should still be a few dry streaks visible.

Step 6: Add the strawberries. Turn the dough out onto your work surface and bring it together with your hands, kneading just enough to unify the dry bits into the rest of the dough. Handle it with care: you want it cohesive, not smooth. Then scatter the prepared strawberries over the scone dough and gently knead them in. (photos 3 & 4)

You can do this by hand or in the mixer. I just find that mixing by hand creates a more tender crumb and keeps the fresh strawberries from smooshing.

Step 7: Knead gently and shape. Press the dough into a round or rectangle about 1 inch thick, then use a floured bench scraper, sharp knife, or pastry cutter to cut it into 6 equal triangles. Transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. (photo 5)

Cut and Chill the Dough:

Step 8: Chill the shaped scones. Before you do anything else, refrigerate the shaped scones for 2 hours. Cold scones hold their shape and rise more cleanly than room-temperature ones.

Bake the Scones:

Step 9: Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 325°F (conventional) and let it preheat fully before the scones go in.

Step 10: Brush with cream and add sugar. Brush the tops of the chilled scones lightly with heavy cream, then sprinkle generously with Turbinado sugar.

Step 11: Bake. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, starting to check at 18. The scones are done when the edges are golden brown, the tops are puffed, and the centers offer just a little resistance when you press them gently with a fingertip. If they feel soft and spongy, give them another minute or two. Underbaked scones collapse as they cool and turn gummy in the center, so err toward the higher end of the range if you are unsure.

Step 12: Cool and serve. Transfer the baked scones to a wire rack and let them cool completely, or eat them warm straight from the pan, which I will not judge at all. The texture firms up as they cool, and the crumb sets fully within about 20 minutes.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

If you enjoyed this chef-tested recipe, be sure to browse my Breakfast Recipes or Dessert Recipes. Might I suggest making these raspberry white chocolate chip cookies next!