Cherry Almond Scones are tender and flaky pastries filled with fresh sweet cherries and almonds, sprinkled with sugar.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) cold, unsalted butter
- 2 ½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ cup (119 g) heavy cream, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1½ cups (260 g) fresh sweet cherries, pitted, 1 cup halved, ½ cup diced*
- 4 tablespoons sliced almonds, divided
Topping
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream, room temperature, brushed on
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Grate the cold butter onto a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the butter to the freezer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the grated butter to the dry ingredients. Using a fork or pastry cutter, incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. There will be small pea-sized butter pieces in the flour mixture.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Gently fold in the halved and diced cherries and 3 tablespoons of sliced almonds until just combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough out onto the lined baking sheet. With lightly floured hands, form a circle that is about 8 inches in diameter and about one inch thick. Top with the reserved sliced almonds.
- Place the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes to one hour, or until the dough is completely chilled and holds its shape well.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- When ready, slice the circle into 8 wedges with a bench scraper or large knife. With your hands, gently separate the edges of each scone, creating a space of about ½ inch between each.
- Using a pastry brush, brush each scone with heavy cream on all exposed sides.
- Sprinkle each scone with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Let the scones cool for at least 10 minutes before enjoying. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
*You may have noticed that this recipe calls for 1 cup halved cherries and 1/2 cup diced. Upon tested I found that folding 1 1/2 cups of halved cherries was hard to do, however, I still wanted as much cherry flavor as possible. Taking 1/2 cup of the cherries and dicing them allows them to be more easily incorporated. The entire 1 1/2 cups are all added at the same time, but the different sizes allow for better distribution.
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