Strawberry Oat Yogurt Scones

There’s a tendency for me to dream about lazy idyllic summers in a most idealistic sort of way.  I think of slow and free-spirited days turning into quiet peaceful evenings with lots of laughter in between.  Although no summer has ever been perfect, I do have memories of at least some resemblance to my ideals.  I remember many mornings of lingering around the breakfast table talking or reading aloud with the children.  We seemed to have plenty of space to plan fun and spontaneous outings to the berry farm, park, or whatever else might sound good for a given day.  For various reasons this summer has not quite been the same, and my role has become much more a cheauffer than anything else.  This may be just the reality of children growing up and them becoming more committed and involved in their own activities, but I’m still adjusting.

Even so with busier summer mornings, I still like to hold onto special breakfasts at least a couple times a week.  With our local strawberry season coming to an end, I thought it would be nice to make these strawberry oat yogurt scones as a last treat.  I love a good cream or buttermilk scone, but cream and buttermilk aren’t staples I keep in fridge so I often make this yogurt version which works surprisingly well.  Yogurt keeps the scones tender in the same way that buttermilk does and also keeps the scones a bit lighter than using cream.  These scones are completely whole grain but still quite light thanks to the combination of oat and pastry flour.  They are just barely sweet so serve with a slather of good quality honey or preserves if your preference is for sweeter.  We do find that if the strawberries are ripe and sweet, those bits of juicy strawberries scattered throughout are all we need.