The One With the Whole Wheat Strawberry Scones

We went strawberry-picking last week at Columbia Farms on Sauvie Island. It was our first time, but it won't be our last. It was so much fun! The girls were actually very helpful and picked lots of strawberries for their buckets. Of course, Olivia ate all of hers before they made it very far. But we were still able to bring home plenty to make homemade jam (yummy!), dice and eat with Greek yogurt and granola (our favorite breakfast these days), freeze some for future ice cream creations, and use some in our Whole Wheat Strawberry Scones that we made Steve for Father's Day brunch. And by "we" I mean that I made these scones all by myself. Sometimes Ellie likes to help in the kitchen. On Sunday, however, she did not.

We brought home a flat (about 10 pounds) of the Hood strawberries, which are deliciously sweet all by themselves, making them just ideal for baking as they don't require the addition of a lot of sugar. I modified my old faithful scone recipe to use whole wheat, turbinado (or raw) sugar, vanilla Greek yogurt, and, of course, these lovely berries. It turned out so well that we ate the whole batch in one sitting. And I thought I'd share it with you.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Scones

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1/2 cup strawberries diced for the puree, + 1/2 cup strawberries diced small to add at the end
1/2 cup vanilla Greek Yogurt*
3 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup turbinado sugar**
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold
1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Grease a baking sheet and set aside.

Place 1/2 cup diced strawberries in a food processor and chop until a chunky puree. Combine puree with vanilla Greek yogurt. Stir in water, olive oil and 2 teaspoons baking powder and set aside.

In a separate bowl, use a fork to sift together flour, sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a cheese grater to grate the butter into the flour mixture and then use a fork, a pastry blender or your fingers to combine the butter and flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal.

Use a fork to stir in the strawberry and yogurt puree. Stir in diced strawberries. Once combined, shape the dough into 2 1/2-inch balls and then roll them flat (until they are a 1/2 inch thick) on a floured surface. (Or you can cut them into triangles as shown here.) Sprinkle with a light dusting of sugar and bake for 8-10 minutes.

These are pretty wonderful served with butter, and if you're feeling really exciting, strawberry jam. That's how Steve liked them. As you can see, we have a great affinity for all things strawberry in this house.

* You could substitute plain yogurt for vanilla, but if you do, add 2 teaspoons vanilla and use 1/3 cup turbinado sugar instead of 1/4 cup.
**You can substitute turbinado sugar for raw or refined, whichever you prefer.