Strawberry Mini Scones

My first "job," at age 12, was picking strawberries at a berry farm down the road from where we lived. Every morning I would hop on my bike and pedal to the farm, where I joined dozens of other kids crawling down the muddy rows, searching for ripe berries. I ate about as many juicy, sun-warmed berries off the vine as I added to my box.
I think I made a total of about $75 that summer. And I couldn't even look at strawberries for a long time after that summer, let alone eat them.
I got over it.

These Strawberry Mini Scones are a perfect ode to early summer's most wonderful crop. An adaptation of Alton Brown's terrific scone recipe, they're tender and flaky, not too sweet, and with lots of bites of juicy strawberry.
Here's the recipe!

Strawberry Mini Scones

Makes 18 – 24 mini scones
Adapted from Alton
Brown's basic scones recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
• 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of milk to brush on top
• Demerera or raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and
   sugar.
   
3. Cut the 4 tablespoons of butter into chunks and add, along with the
   shortening, to the flour mixture. Those are my fingers there on the left. Just tryin' to keep it real for ya!
   
4. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut the shortening and
   butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.
   
5. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg.
6. Mix in the cream.
7. Create a well in the dry mixture, then pour the cream mixture in.
8. Add the strawberries, then mix just until the dough starts to stick together.
9. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, and gently knead it
   together enough to form somewhat of one cohesive chunk of dough (I knead
   it just once or twice).
   
10. Roll into a rectangle. I was a little too overzealous with this batch and rolled the dough a tad thin. You probably want to go for about 3/4 – 1 inch thick.
11. Cut into mini scones.
    
12. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
13. Beat together the egg and 2 tablespoons milk.
14. With a pastry brush, brush some egg and milk mixture on each scone.
15. Sprinkle some of the demerara or raw sugar on top of each scone.
16. Bake for 13-15 minutes – I
    check for just a tinge of golden brown along the bottom.
    
17. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a
    wire rack to finish cooling.