These homemade fresh scones are super easy to make and are topped with a white chocolate drizzle and a sprinkle of chopped pistachios for crunchy and sweet scones. These flaky scones are perfect for breakfast if you love fresh morning meals.
Follow the step-by-step photo instructions to achieve tender scone perfection. These scones would make a delicious addition to my other Christmas Morning Recipes.
- Easily switch out the frozen cherries for dried cherries, fresh sour cherries or canned sweet cherries. So no need to wait for the cherry season to enjoy this.
- Perfect for Christmas morning these sour cherry scones can be made the night before to be part of your holiday breakfast. These scones are best served with cup of tea or coffee.
Ingredients needed to make cherry scones:
Recipe Card?
To find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions CLICK HERE to go to the recipe card.
Dry Ingredients
- All-purpose flour (1 ¾ cups): Forms the base and structure of the scones. Use fresh, unbleached flour.
- Sugar (3 tablespoons): Sweetens and helps with browning. Look for lump-free, fine sugar.
- Baking powder (2 ½ teaspoons): Leavens the dough for fluffiness. Use fresh for best results.
- Salt (½ teaspoon): Enhances flavor and balances sweetness. Fine sea or table salt works well.
Wet Ingredients
- Butter (⅓ cup, chilled): Adds richness and creates flakiness. Use cold, unsalted butter.
- Egg (1): Binds ingredients and adds moisture. Use fresh, large eggs.
- Tart cherries (¾ cup, seeded): Adds tartness and moisture. Fresh or thawed frozen cherries work.
- All-purpose flour (1 tablespoon, for cherries): Prevents cherries from leaking juice into the rest of the dough. Use the same flour as the base.
- Milk (2 tablespoons): Adds moisture and helps bind the dough. Whole milk provides richness.
Garnish
- Pistachios (3-4 tablespoons): Adds crunch and nuttiness. Use unsalted, fresh pistachios.
- White chocolate chips (½ cup): Adds creamy sweetness. Choose high-quality chips with real cocoa butter.
I don't have pistachios. Do sliced almonds work in this recipe?
The absence of pistachios might change the intended taste profile. But sliced almonds will add a different texture but still enhance the cherry scone recipe.
Don't like pistachios or white chocolate? No problem! Leave them off. Just brush the top of the warm scones with melted butter as an alternate garnish.
How to make cherry scones:
Preheat Oven
Pre heat oven to 400°
Whisk dry ingredients
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium size mixing bowl.
Cut In Butter
Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Add Egg
Stir in egg.
Coat the cherries
Cut tart cherries in small pieces and toss into a small bowl with 1 tablespoon flour.
Fold in cherries
Add chopped cherries to mix and gently incorporate into dough.
Flatten Dough
Place the scone dough on a lightly floured cookie sheet, a piece of parchment paper, or baking sheet and form it into a flat 8" circle.
Cut Dough
Use a sharp knife or pastry cutter dipped in flour to cut dough into 8 wedges, by cutting across horizontally, then across vertically, then across diagonally. Do not separate the dough.
Bake the scones
Bake 15-18 minutes in the hot oven, check at 15! When scones turn golden brown, remove, and place scones on a cooling rack, separating them.
Make the Icing
Melt white chocolate in the microwave or double boiler (which is easy to make with a pan filled with water and a dish of white chocolate slowly heating.
Chop pistachios
Step 1 text
Garnish
Drizzle white chocolate on cooled scones and immediately sprinkle with pistachios.
Did you make this recipe?
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Seasonal Favorite
This is the best homemade seedless black raspberry jam recipe made with fresh or frozen black raspberries.
Can I freeze scones?
Yes, you can freeze cherry scones. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil before placing them in an airtight container or freezer bag to maintain their freshness.
Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
This helps prevent the cherries from sinking to the bottom of the dough while baking and leaking juice into the dough.
Add milk if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, kneading the dough in the bowl until it is no longer sticky, approximately 10 times.
To make the white chocolate more of a drizzle, add 1 teaspoon solid coconut oil or solid Crisco that has been melted. Do not allow water to mix with white chocolate or it will seize and become very hard.
For scones, you can use various types of cherries depending on your preference. Some popular choices include sweet cherries like Bing cherries or Rainier cherries, which add a burst of sweetness to the scones. Tart cherries, such as Montmorency cherries, can also be used for a tangy flavor. Ultimately, the choice of cherry variety depends on your personal taste and the flavor profile you want to achieve in your scones.
Fresh cherries will give a juicy and vibrant flavor to your scones, while dried cherries will add a slightly chewy texture and a more concentrated sweetness. It's really up to your personal preference!
For the best results in this recipe, it's recommended to use unsalted butter. Cut butter into small pieces to achieve a crumbly texture.
When making the dough for cherry scones, it's preferable to use frozen cherries over dried cherries. Frozen fruit integrates better into the dough, resulting in a more moist and flavorful final product.
More Breakfast Recipes:
- Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls - the best frozen cinnamon rolls for making proof and bake cinnamon rolls for breakfast or brunch without the work of a traditional cinnamon roll.
- Homemade salmon lox - 6 simple ingredients and tastes better than any store-bought cured salmon lox
- Sous Vide Egg Bites - Made in mason jars, these breakfast bites are easily transportable for a protein packed breakfast on the go.
- Chipped beef on toast - The simple white sauce combined with the fried chipped beef, all poured over thick toasted bread, will bring comfort food to any breakfast table.
Breakfast Recipes
Ingredients
Cherry Scones
- 1 ¾ Cup (218 ¾ g) Flour, All Purpose
- 3 tablespoon (3 tablespoon) Sugar
- 2 ½ Teaspoon (2 ½ Teaspoon) Baking Powder
- ½ Teaspoon (½ Teaspoon) salt
- ⅓ Cup (75 ⅔ g) Butter chilled
- 1 (1) Egg
- ¾ Cup (103 ½ g) tart cherries seeded
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Flour, All Purpose
- 2 tablespoon (2 tablespoon) milk
Garnish
- 3-4 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) pistachios
- ½ Cup (90 g) white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 400°
- Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium size bowl.1 ¾ Cup (218 ¾ g) Flour, All Purpose, 3 tablespoon Sugar, 2 ½ Teaspoon (2 ½ Teaspoon) Baking Powder, ½ Teaspoon (½ Teaspoon) salt
- Cut the chilled butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until it resembles fine crumbs.⅓ Cup (75 ⅔ g) Butter
- Stir in egg.1 Egg
- Cut tart cherries in half and toss into a small bowl with 1 tablespoon flour.¾ Cup (103 ½ g) tart cherries, 1 tablespoon Flour, All Purpose
- Add cherries to mix and gently incorporate into dough.
- Place the dough on a cookie sheet and form it into a flat 8" circle.
- Use a knife dipped in flour to cut 8 wedges, by cutting across horizontally, then across vertically, then across diagonally. Do not separate the dough.
- Bake 15-18 minutes, check at 15! When scones are fully cooked, remove to a cooling rack, separating them.
Make the Glaze
- Melt white chocolate in microwave or double boiler (which is easy to make with a pan filled with water and a dish of white chocolate slowly heating.½ Cup (90 g) white chocolate chips
- Chop pistachios.3-4 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) pistachios
- When scones are cooled, drizzle white chocolate over scones and immediately sprinkle with pistachios.
- Serve and enjoy!
d lajoie says
seems like a 5 star, in the oven now. but a question remains whether to put in the milk and when. We think that part was left out. since this is our first time to make scones, we hope it works out.