Juicy cherries and dark chocolate make this scone perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack with tea.

Cherry Chocolate Scones

Makes 6 scones

Cherries have a relatively short season only being available for a few weeks in the summer. These scones are a great way to use any that you may have on hand but can also be made year-round by substituting frozen cherries!

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

260g (2 c) AP flour

45g (3 T) granulated sugar

15g (1 T) brown sugar, packed

9g (2.25 t) baking powder

2g (.50 t) kosher salt

1g (.25 t) ground cardamom – optional

56g (4 T) butter, cubed and kept cold

Liquids

120ml (.50 c plus 1 T) milk

5g (1.25 t) vanilla extract

1g (.25 t) almond extract - optional

Mix-In’s

175g (about 1 c prepared) fresh cherries, pitted, each half cut into ¼’s

50-100g (1/3 c – 2/3 c) dark chocolate, cut into small chunks

Finishing

1 egg, beaten well

2 T sugar - optional

Recipe Know-how

1.      Preheat oven to 220 C or 425 F

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2.      In a small bowl combine liquid ingredients. Keep refrigerated until needed.

3.      In a large mixing bowl combine, flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and cardamom, if using.

• Add butter. Using your finger tips, blend butter into flour until it resembles damp sand.

There should not be any large clumps of butter

• Add chocolate and cherries tossing gently with fingers until well distributed.

• Pour liquids into flour mixture. Using a fork, gently mix to form a dough that just comes together.

Do not overmix as the resulting scones will be not be tender.

• Lightly flour work surface and turn dough out onto it.

• Pat dough into a 2.5cm (1 in) thick disk.

• Cut into 6 equal triangles.

• Place on prepared baking sheet

• Brush scones with egg wash.

• For a crunchy topping, sprinkle with the additional sugar. This is optional.

4.      Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Finished scones should be golden brown on top and bottom.

• Cool 5-7 minutes

5.      Serve.