Cherry Almond Scones Recipe

This cherry almond scones recipe is bursting with fresh cherries, rich cream, and toasted almonds. Easy homemade scones are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or afternoon tea. You will be very happy biting into these soft flaky scones that just melt in your mouth!

I love fresh fruit, especially during the warmer weather, and nothing screams summer like fresh tart cherries! The local Farmer's market and grocery store are overflowing with fruit. Most bing cherries will go into pies and cakes, but I wanted to create a homemade scone, and cherry and sliced almonds seemed like a perfect pair. If you don't like or want almonds, then try our delicious cherry scone recipe.

How to make Easy Cherry Scones

If you thought it was super hard to make scones, I am here to tell you it is not. Will you have to try a few batches to get the hang of it? Maybe. But you will and I know once you master this easy recipe, you will be making scones every chance you can get!

Scone Baking Tips:

Two very important things to do to ensure a perfect fluffy scone:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees for at least 20 minutes before baking. A hot oven will help your scones rise tall instead of being flat.
2. Make sure your butter is COLD. It does not matter if you use cold unsalted butter or salted butter, but it MUST BE COLD. As the butter melts it will allow for air to create flaky scones.

Preparing Fresh Cherries

If you are using fresh cherries, you will need to wash and remove the pits from the fruit. You can use a cherry pitter tool, or a plastic drinking straw poked straight through will work too. Once the fruits are pitted, cut cherries in half (or quarters if you want smaller pieces) and lay them out on a paper towel to dry.

Have mixing bowls, measuring tools, and a sheet pan lined with a piece of parchment paper ready and set aside before you begin making your scones recipe.

Can I use frozen Cherries?

Yes! Most bags of frozen cherries will have the fruits already cut in half, but if they are still whole, just be sure they are without pits before slicing them in half. Work quickly with frozen fruit as they may make the scone dough a bit wet if they defrost completely. If this happens, add 2 extra tablespoons of flour to make the dough less sticky.

Can I use Dried Cherries?

Yes, you can! You can use fruit right out of the bag, but I like to soften them up a bit before baking. To do this, let dried cherry soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes to plump them up.

What can I use instead of heavy cream or whipping cream?

I like to use half and half in all of the recipes. I always have this on hand for a cup of coffee and I like the soft texture it creates when biting into a scone. If you want even more lightness in this easy recipes, substitute 2/3 cup buttermilk instead of half and half.

Ingredients

• all-purpose flour
• sugar
• baking powder
• salt
• vanilla extract
• almond extract
• chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• half-and-half, plus 1 tbsp.
• Fresh cherries, pitted and cut in half
• sliced almonds

How to Make Fresh Cherry Almond Scones

In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients first. You will whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside the dry mixture.

Working with a sharp knife, cut cold butter into small pieces. Add to the flour mixture and using a pastry blender or pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the flour mixture begins to look like coarse crumbs. This will give the best texture to your scones.

Now it is time to add in your wet ingredients. Add half and half, vanilla extract, almond extract, and cherry halves, and mix gently until a shaggy dough forms. 

Using your hands, knead scone dough for a little time until it forms a smooth soft ball, about 5-10 times. If your dough is still too wet, add 2 tablespoons of flour. 

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and gently pat dough into an 8-inch round disc, about 1 inch thick. Add sliced almonds on top of the dough. Using a knife or bench scraper, cut dough into 8 equal wedges. 

Place wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet or cookie sheets. With a pastry brush dipped in half and half, brush tops of scones and then add a small pinch of sugar to the scone tops.

Place the baking tray on the middle rack in the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove your batch of scones from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Once the scones are completely cool, enjoy plain or top scones with powdered sugar or our vanilla glaze.

Additional options for cherry scone recipe

There are many flavor options you can add to this recipe to take this basic scone recipe up a level or two! 

1. Almond extract – adding 1 teaspoon of this almond flavor will raise the profile to create cherry almond scones! To really take it over the top, add turbinado sugar to slivered almonds before baking to create a sweet crunch. 
2. Dark chocolate- add chocolate chunks or chocolate chips to scone dough or drizzle melted chocolate on top of scones for a decadent rich pastry.
3. Adding orange zest or lemon zest will give a pop of flavor to your perfect breakfast treat.

How do you store scones?

For best results, store fresh leftover scones at room temperature on a plate loosely covered with plastic wrap. The scones will stay fresh for about 3 days. To keep scones longer, place them in a single layer in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Other scone recipes you may enjoy:

• Almond Scones
• Date Scones
• Lime scones
• Blackberry Scones

Making this cherry almond scone recipe is easy and delicious and know you will make them all the time!