Cherry almond scones are a fantastic way to incorporate the summer's bounty of fresh cherries and the addition of almond extract makes them absolutely addictive.
Cherry almond scones are crumbly on the exterior while soft, buttery and flaky on the interior. The bright, sweet and tart cherries were made to partner with pure almond extract. The combination is incredibly magical.
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Happy summer! I cannot believe that we are less than one week from the 4th of July. This year is truly flying by! I'm frantically trying to figure out how to fit in all the summer bucket list items in the essentially two months left prior to the start of the new school year. We always manage to fit in a trip to Greenbluff in Eastern Washington and go cherry picking. Our bounty of cherries last year led to the creation of this recipe.
These cherry almond scones are perfect for breakfast, especially if you are hosting guests for the upcoming holiday. You get to showcase fresh summer cherries with tender and flaky scones. Is there anything better?
WHAT EXACTLY ARE SCONES?
According to Wikipedia "A scone is a British baked good, usually made of wheat, or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often lightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash."
American scones tend to be sweeter than British scones and typically have more add-ins in the dough.
HOW TO MAKE CHERRY ALMOND SCONES
One of the keys to getting perfect scones at home is to keep your ingredients COLD. One way to accomplish this is to freeze the butter. You will want to put the butter in the freezer a minimum of 30 minutes prior to starting this recipe. I typically put the butter in the freezer the evening before.
In a medium to large bowl, you will mix the dry ingredients and then add the grated frozen butter. I like to grate my butter onto a piece of parchment or wax paper. This makes it easier to transfer the butter to the dry ingredients without your hands warming it. The key to perfect scones is keeping the dough cold and not overworking it.
Next, work the butter into the dry ingredients. I use a pastry cutter, but a fork will also work. You want the mixture to resemble coarse meal.
Then you will add the cherries and wet ingredients; lightly combining the ingredients. Another key to yielding tender and flaky scones is to not over work the dough.
Then you will nudge the dough into a ball and flatten into an 8 inch circle. If you would like to make smaller scones, divide the dough and create two 5 inch circles. I made this batch into 16 smaller scones.
Cut the dough into 8 large or 16 small scones and brush the tops with heavy cream. I use the left over heavy cream mixture from the bottom of the measuring cup, but you can add up to 1 tablespoon more, if needed. Top with coarse sugar for a little extra sparkle!
Finally, let the prepared scones chill in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven. Remember, we want the dough nice and cold to give us the best results.
Once the scones have baked and are cooling, top with the almond glaze and then enjoy!
TIPS TO MAKE PERFECT SCONES AT HOME
- COLD ingredients {this helps keep the scones from spreading}
- Heavy cream {milk with less fat tends to yield a more flat scone}
- Chill the dough prior to baking {helps to keep the scone from spreading}
HOW LONG DO HOMEMADE SCONES STAY FRESH?
Scones are best enjoyed fresh and warm out of the oven. They will keep at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Scones do freeze well; place completely cooled scones in an airtight freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and warm to your liking.
OTHER BREAKFAST RECIPES TO TRY:
To pin this recipe, you can use the button on the recipe card, or on any of the photos in this post. Happy baking!
Cherry Almond Scones
recipe created and tested by:
I highly recommend using weight (metric) measurements when available for more accuracy and the best results.
Please note
When using 2x or 3x ingredients, the grams DO NOT adjust, you will have to manually do that.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250g
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar 50g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 50g
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup butter 113g, frozen*
- ½ cup heavy cream plus 1 Tablespoon for brushing over scones prior to baking
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped cherries
- Coarse Sugar optional
ALMOND GLAZE
- ¾ cup confectioners' sugar 90g
- 2 tablespoons half and half or milk 30mL
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk flour (2 cups/250g), both sugars (¼ cup packed brown/50g and ¼ cup granulated/50g), baking powder (2 ½ teaspoons) and kosher salt (½ teaspoon).
- Grate frozen butter (½ cup/113g) and add to flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or fork to combine until it looks like coarse meal.
- Gently fold cherries (1 cup chopped) in the flour/butter mixture.
- Whisk heavy cream (½ cup/118mL), egg (1 large) and both extracts (1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond) together and add to flour/butter/cherry mixture. Gently combine until dough just comes together. Try not to overwork the dough.
- Nudge dough into an 8” circle on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 equal scones. For 16 smaller scones, make two 5” circles and cut each circle into 8 equal pieces.
- Brush tops of scones with more heavy cream (approximately 1 tablespoon) and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.
- Place prepared scones in the refrigerator while the oven preheats to 400°F.
- Separate and bake on a silicone baking mat or parchment lined baking sheet for 20-25 minutes (for large scones) 18-20 minutes (for small scones), until lightly golden.
- Make glaze while scones cool by combining confectioners' sugar (¾ cup/90g), half and half or milk (2 tablespoons/30mL) and extracts (¼ teaspoon almond and ¾ teaspoon vanilla) in small bowl.
- Dip scones or drizzle glaze over cooled scones (or dip, then drizzle!) and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information is based on third-party calculations, is an estimate only and may not be entirely accurate. Actual nutritional values will vary based on brands used and portion sizes.
Jessica Arlantico says
Your tips are so helpful: freezing the butter overnight, plus showing how it looks grated, and crumble-mixed into dough. Thank you. Great recipe for this year when the cherries seem especially inexpensive in the Pacific NorthWest. It must have been a good year for the crop this time. Some years I pay $7/lb for cherries, but it’s been $2-3/lb this year. What blessings!
Tasia says
Thank you Jessica! The Washington cherries have been fantastic this year. I hope you get to enjoy them in these scones.😊
A. Van says
I made these with fresh cherries and they were delicious. Can I make them with frozen cherries??
Tasia says
Hi A! Thank you for coming back to leave a review; I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this scone recipe! It's one of my favorites. I haven't tested this one with frozen cherries, but I think it should work fine. I would let them defrost on some paper towels (maybe a light pat to dry them, if they are really wet) and then proceed with the recipe.