Cherry Vanilla Scones

This is the story of what happens when plan-ahead-mum brain meets memory-gap-mum brain. Actually, it’s not really a story so much as a punchline: What do you get when you find the bag of last summer’s cherries in the freezer while rooting around for something to defrost for dinner? You get these.

 

 

 

Yes, you should have been writing when you baked them, and yes, it was probably bad planning to make them when there was no one else in the house to help you eat them, but dammit, there they are. And they are divine.

 

 

Cherry Vanilla Scones

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Very Blueberry Scones

 

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour (I use pastry flour)

3 tablespoons panela or light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits

1 cup frozen (or fresh) pitted cherries, chopped roughly

2/3 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or one vanilla bean, scraped)

1 large egg, beaten, for glazing

2 tablespoons panela (or, my favourite: vanilla sugar) for finishing

 

 

Method

Heat oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the vanilla and milk into a measuring jug. Add cold butter to flour mixture and work with a pastry blender until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas. Stir in cherries, then milk, mixing only until large clumps form. Use your hands to carefully knead the mixture into one mass inside the bowl. The more you knead, the wetter the dough will get and therefore tougher the scones will be. Gently does it!

Transfer dough to a well-floured counter and pat into a roughly 1-inch tall disc. Cut into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. (Don’t worry if you slice cherries in the process.) Before separating the wedges, brush the tops with egg, then sprinkle with sugar. Transfer wedges to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them apart.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until scones are golden brown on top. Serve warm or room temp on the first day.

 

XO

Ria