Happy Monday: Strawberries!!!

I couldn't resist! The other day I was at the groceries and as soon as I stepped in I saw a counter with all the most delicious berries of this planet: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries...Unfortunately, they were also pretty expensive, excpet for the strawberries yay! I had to buy a small basket of strawberries. They were so red, so big, so enticing. My mind was already spinning at the image of all the possible cakes, tarts and pies I could do with those delicious strawberries. However, my first priority was....duh duh duh duh....of course: scones!

The other day Wally told me that I should really make sure we constantly have scones on stock in the house. As I mentioned in a previous post, it is the only way for him to have breakfast. I am already giving up the idea of having him sitting down to have a slow breakfast in the morning. Not that he doesn't have the time, but he would rather spend it in front of the computer. In this sense, he really is a "typical American" (of course, in a joky way) and he is a geek. I know he will never take up the habit of a real breakfast from me. So, I'd rather have him become the biggest consumer of scones than not having breakfast at all.

On top of it, Wally told me that my scones are better than the ones he can find in fancy coffee shops in Palo Alto...my baker's ego definitely raise to the stars. How could I possibly deny a person the pleasure of amazing home made scones??? :-)

Strong of my new baker's ego and of these amazing strawberries, I thought that there would have been not better way to start the week than with fresh strawberries scones topped with a soft vanilla glazed! My Happy Monday series definetely needed something that screamed "Spring". This is a very easy and quick recipe, as  most of the scones recipes, with the difference that the strawberries made the scones VERY moist and not at all crunchy, which I think for once was a great deviation from regular scones. Also, I added a "light" vanilla glaze that I left rather liquid and I poured over the scones while they were still warm. In this way the glaze was almost completely absorbed into the scones giving this combined strawberry-vanilla taste that I find heavenly de.li.cious!

  

Strawberry Scones

yields 8 scones 

Ingredients

 2 cups flour

3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

4 TB. butter, cold, cut into 1/2 in. cubes

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 to 2/3 cup buttermilk

Vanilla Glaze

Ingredients

1/2 to 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar (depending on how thick you want the glaze) 

2 1/2 tbsp milk

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in strawberries and enough buttermilk to be able to form dough into a ball (up to 2/3 cup).

Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead gently a few times and shape into a ball. On a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, pat dough into a circle about 1/2" thick and 8-1/2" in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut wedges in the dough, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove to rack to cool.

For the vanilla glaze, melt the butter and add to rest of ingredients. Mix until creamy. Frost scones while warm.

Makes 8 scones.

Happy Monday!