Cherry Scones

We buy bags of frozen cherries at Costco and pull them out of the freezer to use at least 2 or 3 times a week for breakfast shakes. 2 or 3 times a week x 52 weeks x 2-3 years = a lot of glances at a recipe. We decided that this summer was the time to try this recipe out. We have since made it twice and both times it turned out somewhat differently.

The first go round we decided to half the cherries so that we would get more cherries spread throughout instead of big huge cherry chunks with a lot of dough. That made the dough INCREDIBLY wet, so wet that my kids thought I was going to lose my mind trying to get it to mix together and stop sticking to my hands. (If you don’t know, I’m not a big fan of wet texture while I’m baking, especially when I know they aren’t supposed to be that wet.) They were tasty but they were purple (all those cherry pieces bleeding into the dough), and not very attractive because we had to place them in big triangular lumps on the pan (because they were SO wet).

The second attempt yielded a much prettier result. We kept the cherry pieces whole and it turned out looking a bit more like it was supposed to. I prefer the second results, even though you get less cherry in each bit, but my youngest kiddo preferred the first go round because they were more moist with the cherries spread throughout each bite. Either way you make it, enjoy!

Cherry Scones:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar (plus 1 tsp for garnish)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons butter, frozen
• 1 cup frozen cherries
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal). Stir in cherries.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream, egg, and lemon zest until smooth.

Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press into a cohesive dough ball.

Place the dough mixture onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-8 inch circle, about 3/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife (or pizza cutter) to cut into 8 triangles; place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Bake until golden, about 15-17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.