Jun 08 2011
White Chocolate Cherry Scones
I have to confess, I’ve inadvertently been holding out on you.
I first made these scones a couple of months ago, then made them again a few weeks later, and finally started thinking about them yet again. And I realized, oops, I never posted these. So, because I’m on the verge of celebrating the end of a heat wave, of which I haven’t been a fan, the dream of being able to comfortably use my oven again now not so far off in the future, I think it’s the perfect time to talk about these fantastic scones.
I suspect the use of sour cream is what makes them so absolutely delicious. They are flakey, tender, and moist – not always the easiest combination to achieve. Plus, scones have a mere fraction of the amount of sugar as muffins, so I feel better about enjoying one with my morning coffee or afternoon tea.
I like to freeze most of the batch as soon as they’ve cooled, so I can pull one out when the craving strikes. They do seem to dry out slightly in the freezer; I’ll start experimenting with adding a little more sour cream to see if that does the trick, because eating the entire batch within 36 hours simply is not an option.
Even with the slight freezer-issue, it’s still my new go-to basic scone recipe, gussied up just a little for this post.
White Chocolate Cherry Scones
adapted from All Recipes
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour*
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup dried cherries; chopped
1/2 cup white chocolate; chopped into large chunks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
melted white chocolate or confectioners’ sugar, if desired
*I’ve used half while whole wheat flour with excellent results
Instructions
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400*F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth; add vanilla.
In a large bowl (5-6 qt), mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use your fingers to work in butter (you should still have pea-size pieces of butter and bits of loose flour), then stir in dried cherries and white chocolate.
Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (There may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough does come together.)
Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut into 8 triangles; place on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.
If desired, drizzle with melted white chocolate or dust with confectioners’ sugar after the scones have cooled.
Anything with white chocolate and cherries is a winner. The sweet-tart combination is perfect…especially contained within what looks like a delicious scone.
Done and done. This is one hell of a tasty looking breakfast! Or late night snack… Way to go!
These look wonderful! I love the white chocolate – cherry pairing. Classic!
I’m so glad I found your wonderful web site. Thank you for posting all these delicious recipes and beautiful pictures. I was so happy to find your White Chocolate Cherry Scone recipe. I look for excuses to drive in 25 miles to a bakery called Queen of Tarts in Sacramento to get white chocolate cherry scones. They told me their secret ingredient is cream (maybe it is sour cream–I was thinking of whipping cream). Their’s look a bit more rustic (almost like a drop biscuit) and are piled higher probably 2-1/2 inches at the wide end. They are so much more moist and tender than any other scone I’ve had. I am definitely going to try your recipe. Your “flaky, tender, and moist” description sounds just like my favorite scone.
Suzy, you can make these into drop scones. Instead of patting the dough into a circle, just drop 8 mounds on a baking sheet. Baking time will probably be a bit longer.
Before this recipe, I generally used heavy cream in scones; but the sour cream really gives them a great texture. I’m a convert!
Sara,
Thanks very much for the tip on changing them to drop scones. I like the idea of sour cream in place of heavy (whipping) cream as I always have sour cream on hand. I will definitely
be making these as soon as the weather cools down a bit.