apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This scone dough is wetter than most. This makes the scones super flaky and light, but can also make the dough tricky to work with. If you're having trouble with it, just drop portion-sized scoops onto your baking sheet instead of shaping them into wedges. You can leave them as is or wet your fingers to pat them into circles.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Scones with Brown Sugar Crumble
Makes 10 scones

For the scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
4 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup roughly chopped strawberries
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/4 - 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons salted butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse bread crumbs. Add the strawberries and toss until the berries are coated with flour.

Whisk together the egg, sour cream, 1/4 cup of the milk, and vanilla. Pour this onto the flour mixture and then fold them together until all the flour is moistened. If necessary, add up to 1/4 cup of additional milk until a shaggy, moist dough is formed. Try not to overwork the dough.

Sprinkle a little flour on your counter, turn out the dough, and sprinkle a little more flour on top. Pat the dough into a circle or rectangle about 1-inch thick, and use a bench scraper to cut the scones into wedges.

Transfer the scones to a greased baking sheet. Combine the ingredients for the topping and use your fingers to crumble this evenly over all of the scones.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the scones are firm on the outside and golden in spots. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

These scones are best on the day that they're made. If you're planning on keeping them for several days, skip the topping (which will absorb moisture and get mushy) and instead smear them with butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar just before eating.

Related: Help! What to do with Leftover Sour Cream

(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)