Chocolate Cherry Scones

These chocolate cherry scones are based on scones my mom and I used to love from a local bakery! They’re tender and soft but not dry and can easily be filled with other fillings.

Why aren’t my scones puffy?

The puffiness of scones usually comes from the baking powder and the butter. It is important to make sure that the baking powder hasn’t expired and that the butter is cold going into the dough and the dough is cold going into the oven. Layering the dough and stacking it up tall will also help create tall and puffy scones

Cream Scones vs. Butter Scones

This recipe uses a combination of butter, cream, and yogurt for an extra tender scone that is almost biscuit like. The cold flakes of butter keep the scones light and the cream and yogurt keeps them soft and moist.

What is the secret to making good scones?

There are a few secrets to making good scones. It’s very important that the ingredients are cold and the actual scones are cold before baking them in a hot oven. The temperature of everything is very important for the scones to keep their shape and rise. Additionally it’s important not to overwork the scone dough. Mix the dough as little as possible and do your best not to knead it.

Can I make scones the night before?

Yes! That being said they come together super quickly and chilling them in the fridge while the oven heats up is more than enough time! But if you want to prep the dough the night before, simply make the dough, wrap in plastic and place in the fridge overnight.

Can you reheat scones?

Yes! I used to microwave left over scones – let me tell you, worst idea. The best way to reheat or refresh a scone is to heat the oven to 350 F and then place a scone on a baking sheet (even with the cherry glaze, I promise it won’t melt) and bake for 5 minutes. You can also freeze them and bake from frozen, simply increase the time to 10-15 minutes.

Tips for making Scones

• Keep everything as cold as possible but don’t stress, as long as the butter hasn’t melted and they have chilled before baking you’ll be fine.
• Once you add the liquid ingredients, don’t overwork the dough. I like to fold the dough to create extra layers but be careful not to knead the dough as they will become rubbery. Using a bench scraper is a great way to press the dough together and cut it into layers.
• I like to add dry cherries and chocolate but you could also do blueberries and milk chocolate or cranberries and white chocolate!
• Using fresh fruit can be a little trickier because of the water that gets released. If you want to use fresh fruit I recommend sprinkling it into the dough in the bowl, then just press the dough together into a big square or rectangle rather than layering it. Blueberries, raspberries, or cranberries would work best.
• Scones are better under mixed rather than over. So when in doubt of whether or not you’ve mixed enough, stop and just press it together in a disk and move on.
• Make sure the oven is hot and the scones are cold! I like to put the scones in the fridge while the oven heats up. Make sure my oven is HOT, like 450 F when the pan goes in.
• Allow the scones to bake until golden brown! This gives them that classic crunchy outside but don’t worry they won’t dry out inside!
• These taste best freshly baked but they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days, or wrapped up and frozen for a month or two. I like to bake them in a 350 F oven on a baking sheet for 5 minutes to reheat.

Additional Recipes to try!

• Raspberry Rhubarb Cream Scones
• Chocolate Orange Scones
• Maple tahini chocolate chunk scones

Scone Ingredients

• Flour: I like to use all purpose flour for these to let the cherries and chocolate shine but you could also do half whole wheat, half all purpose!
• Granulated White Sugar: Sugar sweetens the scones and affects the texture, I don’t recommend leaving out the sugar as it will affect the overall structure.
• Fine Sea Salt: Salt needs to be added to enhance the flavors in the scones. If using salted butter cut the added salt in half.
• Baking Powder: Baking powder is what makes the scones puff so make sure it isn’t expired.
• Baking Soda: Baking soda helps with the texture of the scones and keeps them soft inside.
• Butter: I used cold unsalted butter in these scones, if you plan to use salted just decrease the salt amount by 50%.
• Dark Chocolate: I like to finely chop a bark of dark chocolate for baking to create different sizes of chocolate but you can also use chocolate chips!
• Dry tart cherries: If you’re more of a sweet dark cherry person that’s totally fine but I prefer tart cherries in these to balance out the sweetness and chocolate!
• Full Fat Greek Yogurt: Full fat greek yogurt is mixed with heavy cream to create a buttermilk type mixture. Don’t use a sweetened or regular yogurt as it will be too soupy or make the scones too sweet.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is mixed with full fat greek yogurt to create a buttermilk type of mixture. Make sure it is cold when mixing with the yogurt! It is also brushed on top of the scones to create a shiny brown top.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste will work to help sweeten and enhance the flavors of the scones.
• Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar is used if you decide to make a glaze for the top!
• Tart Cherry Juice: Tart cherry juice mixed with powdered sugar makes the perfect glaze for the top of these scones.
• Flaky salt: Flaky sea salt adds a fun little touch to the top of the scones and pairs deliciously with a lot of flavors!

How to make Chocolate Cherry Scones

Prep the Chocolate

• Chop the chocolate into small chunks, approximately 1/2″ pieces.

Make the Scone Dough

• In a large mixing bowl, add in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
• In a separate bowl stir together the yogurt, heavy cream, and vanilla.
• Thinly slice the butter and toss it into the dry ingredients. Rub the butter slices into the flour mixture until thin and flaky.
• Add in the cherries and 125 grams of the dark chocolate and stir once more.
• Pour in the liquid and cut it in with a fork. Try to fold and cut the dough instead of stirring it.
• Dump the very crumbly dough onto your work surface and pat it together into a 2″ tall rectangle. Bring the edges in with a bench scraper, work quickly as to not melt the butter.
• Use a bench scraper or a knife to cut the rectangle in half. Hotdog style if ya know what I mean. Stack the two halves on top of each other and press down to smush the two layers together.
• With the palms of your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the dough again until it is 2″ thick. Then repeat cutting it in half and stacking it. Pat it into a square that is 2″-3″ tall.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge while you preheat the oven.
• While the dough chills, place a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 450 F.

Assemble & Bake

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Once the scone dough has chilled and the oven is hot, remove the dough from the freezer and unwrap it onto the lined baking sheet.
• Brush the top of the dough with the heavy cream.
• Use a knife or bench scraper to cut the disk into 9 squares.
• Place the scones close together about 1/2″ apart.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
• Once brown, take the scones out of the oven and leave to cool.

Cherry Glaze

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the tart cherry juice and powdered sugar until a thick glaze forms.
• Add more tart cherry juice or more powdered sugar as needed to thicken or thin out the glaze.
• Once the scones have cooled for at least five minutes, spoon the glaze over the scones. Sprinkle each one with left over chopped dark chocolate a bit of flaky salt and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

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