But I’m also happy to bake with them. Plenty of delicious desserts include vegan strawberry shortcakes and strawberry rhubarb shortcakes.

These scones are my latest favorite. Plus, this is the best vegan strawberry scone I’ve ever had. They’re also the best vegan scones I’ve ever made myself!

I’ve always loved scones but only knew they existed in high school. Around the corner from my school is a place that sells raisins, chocolate, potato chips, and cranberry scones. As soon as I tried them, they became my favorite after-school snack – before I was a qualified baker enough to consider making them myself, let alone turning them into vegetables.

A perfect ingredient for a vegan scone

The consistency of a scone is somewhere between a cookie and a cake. Scones should be crumbly and layered but softer and more tender than traditional flake cookies. It’s no surprise that I prefer my scones to be more cake-like. My perfect scones are soft and creamy on the inside and crispy and crumbly on the edges. What’s more, they’re sweet, but not too sweet, with enough buttery flavor.

To achieve this flavor, I use vegan butter for my scones. But I’ve also tried making them with solid coconut oil, and while it’s not as buttery, it still works. Most Scone recipes also call for cream. I replaced it with cashew cream and a bunch of different non-dairy milk. This recipe uses whole coconut milk instead of cream. It’s rich enough to mimic cream easily, but there aren’t enough ingredients in the recipe to make the scones taste overly coconut.

Vegan strawberry scone-making tips

The main trick to making scones is to keep everything cold, just like you would for a pie crust or a cookie. Cold butter and a little treated dough will make the scones crisper. The dough for these vegan strawberry muffins will be crunchy in places, and that’s okay: it should be a little messy when you roll it into a round shape.

I used to make scones and pie crusts in a food processor. As time went on, I began to enjoy using the cutter. It gives me more control and makes it easier to see how small my chunks of butter have become. The idea is to disperse the butter in flour the size of a pea or a little smaller. It’s easy to do this with a pastry knife, but you can also use a fork or butter knife.

You can do two things to make the scones easier to shape: First, set the dough on parchment paper. You can knead the dough on a pastry board or a floured countertop, but kneading on parchment paper is not as messy. Especially the little chunks of berries that have the potential to roll out of the dough! I like to round the dough and cut it into 8 pieces.

My second tip is to use a pie server and transfer the scones to a lined baking sheet. This will keep the scones crunchy, and a pie server is the right shape to keep them intact.

Decoration scheme

Add some glaze to your vegan strawberry scones (like the glaze on these sweet cherry sticks) if you want a little variety. But I usually decorate the scones the least. Mixing non-dairy milk with agave or maple syrup is a great vegetarian egg wash.

Once it’s ready, you can brush it over the top of the scone. I like decorating scones with sparkling sugar, which is sometimes sold as decorative sugar. It’s easy to find in specialty bakery stores, online, and even mainstream grocery stores. It has a nice effect and adds a bit of crunch.

Store and freeze scones

If the space in your home gets warm and wet as quickly in the summer as I did, keeping your scones crunchy is a little more complicated. The good news is that the leftover scones are delicious, even if they lose a bit of their crunch. If you like, you can enjoy it after 10 or 15 minutes in the oven on low heat (200 or 250 degrees Fahrenheit).

You can also freeze your scones to keep them fresh. They will keep them in the fridge for up to six weeks. Otherwise, store the scones in a cool, dry, airtight container for up to three days. If you suspect you won’t be able to finish a batch in this time, you can freeze half or more of them once they’re done baking.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups (270 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

6 TBSP (75 g) sucrose

Two and a half teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 TSP + 1/8 TSP kosher salt

8 tablespoons (112 grams, or 1 stick) of thinly sliced cold vegan butter

1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned, trimmed and chopped

1 tablespoon non-dairy milk (oatmeal, almond, soy, and coconut milk all work)

1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave syrup

Sparkling sugar for decoration

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Use a pastry knife (butter knife or fork) to cut the cold butter slices into the dry flour mixture. Once you’ve added the butter, aim for it to be about the size of a pea or slightly smaller.
4. Make a well in the center of the butter and flour mixture. Pour in the coconut milk and vanilla. Mix everything roughly with a spatula. The dough should be a little dry and crumbly in places, but if you squeeze it gently, it will stick together. Gently fold in the strawberry slices with your hands.
5. Place the dough on a large parchment paper or a floured work surface. Use your hands to quickly and gently shape the dough into a circle about 9 inches in diameter and 3/4 to 1 inch high. Cut the platter into 8 pieces.
6. Use a pie server (or spatula) to transfer each slice onto the prepared baking sheet gently. Alternatively, you can gently separate the bread slices on the parchment paper you are making and slide them onto the baking sheet.
7. Whisk together a tablespoon of skim milk and syrup. Gently mix this mixture (it’s a vegan egg wash!). Brush on the scones. Sprinkle glitter sugar on top.
8. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are browned and the top is still pale. Let the scones cool on the paper for a few minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Let them cool for 15-20 minutes before enjoying!

Raw material exchange and substitution

Make your scones more inclusive by using white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry powder. These options can cater to a variety of dietary needs, including those on a gluten-free diet. Feel free to use your preferred gluten-free flour instead of regular flour. Keep in mind that using whole wheat flour can result in a denser texture, but don’t let that limit your creativity. You can always substitute a small amount of wheat flour for some all-purpose flour to suit your taste.

Vegan strawberry scones are a summery, sweet breakfast or tea-time snack (or afternoon cold brew snack if you’re a coffee lover like me). Sharing them at brunch or as a gift for a friend needing a homemade meal would be nice. Last week, I had big plans to give some of my scones to friends, but a few days of wet weather scuppered my plans. It’s an excellent excuse to do it again soon.