strawberry heart scones

Miss G. and I did a little Valentine’s Day inspired baking yesterday and came up with these gorgeous little heart shaped strawberry scones.

They are delish.

Chock full of fresh strawberries and laced with a good dollop of vanilla bean paste these pink hued babies smell and taste of summertime strawberries and cream.

Rather than following the traditional route I decided we’d skip mixing the scones together by hand and opt instead for the food processor.  And thanks to our favourite kitchen gadget the strawberry studded scone dough came together almost effortlessly and in a matter of just moments.

Grace had the most fun though once we started playing with the dough.  Watching her flatten the dough into a chubby disc and cut out the little heart shaped scones melted my heart.   Yes it got a little messy but it was totally worth it.  Her little face was so proud and full of excitement as she plonked the heart shaped scones onto our baking sheet.  And of course she was in charge of ‘painting’ the scones with their obligatory adornment of milk.

Once nestled in the oven the scones grew and turned the most wonderful shade of gorgeous goldenness.  And thankfully the scones didn’t take long to cool down as Grace could hardly wait to dig in.  Once cool enough I sliced a strawberry studded scone in half, topped with strawberry jam and a dollop of Greek yoghurt and my lovely little taste tester gobbled it up praising her cooking efforts.

In terms of baby led weaning, scones make a wonderful morning or afternoon tea treat.  They’re texture is perfect for baby led weaning beginners, firm enough to withstand a tight grip yet soft enough to be nibbled on with ease.  So far I have baked mango coconut scones, raspberry almond scones, carrot cake scones, and even a batch of pumpkin scones.  All recipes include a good serving of fruit (or vege) and have been gobbled up and enjoyed by little kids (and big).  Scones also freeze beautifully.  I often bake big batches of scones to stash in the deep freeze, they not only last up to 3 months frozen but defrost and reheat beautifully!

To bake your own batch of Valentine’s Day inspired strawberry heart scones simply…

Begin by preheating your oven to 200 degrees celsius (420 F).

Place the self raising flour and brown sugar into the large bowl of the food processor and pulse to combine.

Add the cubed butter and pulse to combine.

Add the milk and vanilla bean paste and pulse to combine.

Add the strawberries and pulse to combine.

Tumble the pink hued dough onto a floured board and gently fold and knead 4-5 times or until the dough comes together.  If your dough is too moist, simply add more flour and if your dough is too dry simply add more milk.  (My dough was little moist as the strawberries burst throughout the dough so I worked about another 1/2 cup of flour into the mix.)

Using floured hands flatten the dough to form a 2 centimetre thick disk.

Use a scone cutter (or heart shaped cookie cutter) to cut out the scones.  Be sure to dip the scone cutter into flour in-between each scone so the cutter doesn’t stick.  Re-roll dough scraps and continue cutting until no dough remains.

Place the scones onto an oven tray lined with baking paper and brush each scone with a little milk.  Pop into the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Serve the still warm strawberry heart scones with a little jam, a dollop of greek yoghurt and a handful of strawberries.

strawberry heart scones

INGREDIENTS

3 cups (450 grams) self raising flour, plus extra to roll dough in

1/4 cup brown sugar

80 grams butter, cubed

1 cup (250 mls) milk

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1 cup (200 grams) strawberries, hulled and diced

strawberry jam, greek yoghurt and fresh strawberries, to serve

METHOD

Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius (420F).  Place the flour and sugar into the large bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.  Add the butter and pulse to combine.  Add the milk and vanilla and pulse until the dough comes together.  Add the strawberries and pulse to combine.  Tumble the dough onto a floured ball and knead 4-5 times or until the dough comes together to form a ball.  If your dough is too wet simply add more flour, if your dough is too dry simply add more milk.  Use floured hands to flatten the dough to form a 2 centimetre thick disc.  Use a floured heart shaped cookie cutter (or scone cutter) to cut the scones.  Re roll scraps and continue cutting until no dough remains.  Place the scones onto an oven tray lined with baking paper and brush with a little milk.  Pop into the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden and cooked through.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving still warm scones with a little strawberry jam, dollop of greek yoghurt and fresh strawberries.  Enjoy x

You may also like…

 mango coconut scones

 raspberry & almond scones

 carrot cake scones