Cherry Almond Scones

Another week and another breakfast pastry down! This week, we are making Cherry Almond Scones. Scones are easy to make; they are similar to a biscuit and take less than 10 minutes to prepare. Then it’s in the oven, and they go, and you’re done! Quick, simple but yet taste delicious.

You can use a specialty scone pan to bake these scones but it’s not required. I typically just place my scones on a baking sheet with parchment paper and let them bake. Scones have very little spread or rise, so you don’t have to worry about them losing their shape.

To make a batch of cherry almond scones, you will need the following –

2 C  All Purpose Flour
1/2 C Sugar
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup Butter, unsalted, frozen and grated
1/2 C Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp Heavy Cream
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1 C Cherries, pitted, sliced fresh or frozen

For the Glaze –

1/2 C Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1/4 C Almonds, sliced and toasted

A little tip on the cherries, I buy them frozen. Then they come pitted and sliced! And frozen cherries are available year round so then you can make cherry almond scones whenever you crave them not just when cherries are in season.

If you are using fresh cherries, I highly suggest you invest in a cherry pit remover. They will make it go so much smoother!

If using fresh cherries, remove the pits and slice them in half. Then, lay them flat on a baking sheet and freeze them for at least a half hour.

While the cherries are firming up in the freezer, grate the butter. You’ll want the butter to be frozen when you are grating it. It goes much quicker frozen. Once you have grated your butter, pop it back in the freezer until you need it.

Next, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Give it a few stirs until it is well combined.

In another bowl, mix the heavy cream. egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. You will want to whisk it until well combined.

Using a pastry cutter, combine the frozen grated butter with the flour mixture. If you do not have a pastry cutter, using 2 forks and pulling the mixture in opposite directions will also work.

Add in the wet ingredients to the flour and butter mixture. Mix until they are well combined.

Fold in the cherries.  You want to add in the cherries at the last few seconds before baking so there is not cherry juice combined into the dough. If that does happen the worst thing is you’ll have pink scones. It won’t change the taste.

Take the dough and form a 7 to 9 inch circle. Then use a butter knife to score out 8 equal scones.

Using a bench knife or sharp knife, cut the scones where you scored them and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up. This will help keep the cherries from bleeding into the dough while baking.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Once the oven is preheated, remove the scones from the freezer and brush them with the 1 Tbsp of heavy cream.

Bake for 12-15 minutes

Remove from oven and let cook for about 30 minutes.

To prepare the glaze, you need a small mixing bowl. Combine the powdered sugar, almond extract, and heavy cream. Stir until dissolved, and you have a thick glaze.

Drizzle the glaze on your cooled scones, then sprinkle the sliced almonds on top.

Enjoy!

If your scones are too warm, the glaze will melt and run off the sides, so be sure to wait for the scones to cool.

These will keep for up to a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator or 3-5 days on the counter in an airtight container.