How to Make Cherry Chocolate Scones
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It’s no secret that scones are my favorite thing to make. There’s no end to the flavor combinations you can make with a simple base recipe, and they come together really quickly. So, today, I’m turning you on to my new favorite: cherry chocolate scones!
This recipe combines a soft, fluffy scone with semi-sweet chocolate and pops of fresh cherry. It’s finished off with a drizzle of vibrantly pink icing made from cherry juice and powdered sugar. They’re really easy and super satisfying.
Tips for the Best Scone Base
I like doing scones several different ways, but lately, I’m really loving self-rising flour to start. It keeps the ingredient list short, and it just works. Self-rising flour is flour combined with salt and baking powder in just the right proportions for biscuits, scones, or any 2-ingredient dough recipe.
So, for this recipe, our scone base is going to be that self-rising flour, sugar, butter, and milk. From this base, you can choose any add-ins you like to get great scones. Today, we’re adding chocolate and cherries.
There are a couple of tricks to getting really nice scones, and the first is how you handle your butter. You want the butter to exist in two forms. The first is that you want little dabs of it throughout the end product. This will create flaky pockets for a beautiful airy texture. To achieve that result, your butter has to be ice cold. That is why I start with frozen butter.
You also want your butter to do a bit of protective work. If fat coats flour, it inhibits gluten development. So, if you rub that flour into the flour really well, it’s going to insure a tender, soft, pillowy scone. The perfect scone, therefore, has a little bit of flakiness and a whole lot of tenderness. That means you’ll want some pea-sized bits of butter, but you also want the majority of it rubbed into the flour.
I learned a little trick from watching Nadiya Hussain‘s Netflix show. She said to jiggle your bowl to bring the big bits of butter to the top. Continue rubbing the butter in until you only have a few large bits.
Making Cherry Chocolate Scones
The trick with making a fruit scone is to make sure you don’t add so much moisture that they come out soggy. I started with frozen cherries. It’s cheaper to buy a big bag of frozen cherries, and there’s less pressure to eat them all before they go bad. I scooped out one cup of frozen cherries and popped them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
This defrosted them so they were soft enough to cut. However, they were still pretty cold. The cherries also produced about four tablespoons of juice. We need the juice to make our icing at the end, so I strained the cherries and set the juice aside.
Now, you may choose to leave your cherries whole, but I recommend cutting them either in half or in quarters for more even distribution. It also reduces the risk of mushy scones.
Unlike with muffins, you’re not likely to have an issue with the cherries sinking to the bottom while baking. However, it’s good practice to toss the cherries in the dry mix anyway.
The chocolate chips need less discussion. You add them in with the cherries, and that’s that. Once you’ve tossed the cherries and chocolate into the dry mix, you can work in the butter. Fold in the milk, and then it’s time to shape!
How to Shape Scones
Shaping scones starts with proper mixing. You don’t want to overwork the dough or they won’t come out flaky or tender… just hard and tough. So, when about 90% of the mixture is holding together in a scraggly mass and 10% of the dry mix is still loose at the bottom of the bowl, dump everything on the counter.
Grab a bench scraper and start folding and turning. Flatten the mass with one hand, scoop the scraper under the dough, and fold it in half. Press the dough back down, working in some of the dry mix, and turn the whole affair 90º. Scoop, fold, press, and turn the dough at least 7 times, but no more than 14 times. The dry mix should all be mixed in, and the top should start to look smooth.
Use your hands to press the dough out into a 1-inch thick disc. Press down, but use one hand around the circumference to smooth the edges into a round. Now, use that bench scraper again to cut the dough into 8 equal-sized wedges. Then, use the scraper to help you transfer each wedge onto your prepared baking sheet. We really put the bench scraper to work with this recipe, so if you don’t have one, you really ought to get one.
Finally, I brush these down with a bit of milk so the top gets a nice brown color. Baked goods with a dusting of flour on top do not brown and tend to come out pale. Milk dampens the flour but also adds some sugar that will caramelize in the oven to create that bakery-fresh color.
Cherry Icing for your Cherry Chocolate Scones
This is the last step, and it’s super easy. Just whisk together your powdered sugar and cherry juice. If you want it thicker, add more powdered sugar. If you want it thinner, add more juice. I like it so thick that the whisk leaves a substantial trail that holds its shape for a couple of seconds and then smooths out.
Transfer the icing to a plastic baggy, and snip off the tip for a quick and easy piping bag. You could also just use a spoon to drizzle. It won’t be as even, but really, who cares? Just drizzle your icing evenly on all the scones and let them set for about 15 minutes so the icing firms up.
You do have to wait until the cherry chocolate scones are cooled completely otherwise the icing is going to soak in or run off. Another word of warning, if you store your iced scones in an airtight container overnight, the icing will soak in. If that’s a concern for you, don’t ice them all. Keep your icing in a plastic baggy, and ice them when you’re ready to eat. Make sure to remove all the air from the bag and cover the cut tip with tape to prevent hardening. I keep this at room temperature as it’ll get hard in the fridge.
The Scone Making Tool Kit
Finally, here are my recommendations for scone-making tools. I use the box grater for my frozen butter, the bench scraper (as mentioned) is essential, and I love my pans and silicone baking mats for a whole lot of my recipes (they get a LOT of love).
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Cherry Chocolate Scones
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Box grater
- Bench scraper
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Sandwich bag
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cup frozen cherries
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup unsalted butter frozen
- 1 cup milk cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Microwave the frozen cherries for 30 seconds. They should come out cold, no longer frozen, and surrounded by a fair amount of juice. Strain and reserve the juice (you need this for the icing). Cut your cherries into quarters.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the self-rising flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and cherries. Stir to combine and coat the cherry bits with flour.
- Grate cold butter into the self-rising flour mixture, and toss with your hands to combine..
- Fold in the milk. When it’s mostly combined, turn out onto a floured counter. Fold 7 times until cohesive and all the dry mix is incorporated.
- Form into a 1-inch thick circle. Cut into 8 equal wedges. Place on a lined baking sheet with 2 inches between each.
- Bake for 13 to 17 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar with 2 Tablespoons of the reserved cherry juice. Add juice or powdered sugar until your icing is thick enough that your whisk leaves trails for 5 seconds and then settles into a smooth surface.
- Transfer the icing to a plastic baggy, and snip the tiniest bit of the corner off. Pipe drizzles of icing on each scone.
- Allow the icing to set for at least 15 minutes before serving.
