Strawberry Scones with Lavender Lemon Glaze

Scones:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• ½ cup + 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ cup butter, cold or frozen
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup whole milk, plus 2 tbsp for brushing tops
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped into ½ inch pieces

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ½ tbsp fresh culinary lavender (available in fresh herb section of many grocery stores) or 1/8 tsp lavender extract
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Scones:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place chopped strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar. Set aside. Whisk flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Grate butter with a box grater and add it to the flour mixture. Work the butter in slightly with your fingers until the butter is incorporated and the mixture is crumbly. Fold in the strawberries, taking care not to overwork the dough.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with ¼ cup milk and vanilla, and make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the milk mixture to the well. Fold the liquid into the flour until just combined; do not overmix. You want to see the butter bits in the dough.

Roll the dough onto a floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a thickness of 1 inch. Fold the flattened dough in half and roll it out to 1 inch again. Fold the dough in half again and roll it to one-inch thickness one last time, then shape it into a rough circle. Use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into six triangles. Place the triangles on a large natural aluminum baking sheet lined with parchment paper, with 2 inches of space between each scone. Brush the top of each scone with the remaining milk using a pastry brush. Bake for 20-25 minutes on a middle oven shelf until the tops and bottoms are golden brown.

Glaze:

For the glaze, heat the milk in a small saucepan until steaming but do not boil. Remove from heat, add chopped lavender or lavender extract, and steep for 15 minutes. Using a strainer, remove the lavender. Whisk the lavender-infused milk and lemon juice with the powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle on top of warm scones just prior to serving. Makes 6 large scones or 8-10 small scones.