The pie cherries are ripe at our house, and the trees are loaded! In my quest to find a new use for our bounty, I decided to combine two of my favorite things: scones and cherries! The result? A sweet, tempting morning treat that really tastes like dessert! My Fresh Cherry Cobbler Scones are perfect with your morning cup of coffee or sharing with a friend. Honestly, they would be great with ice cream as a dessert, too. 🙂
Every June I can remember growing up, we went to my grandparents’ house to pick cherries. They had several cherry trees, but our favorite part of the day was getting into the scoop of Grandpa’s tractor to pick cherries at the tops of the trees. I remember standing in the tractor loader, high above the ground, one hand holding on to a cherry branch and the other hand picking juicy, ruby fruit to put in the bucket hanging from my belt. It was amazing! Pitting the fruit and having the sticky juice shoot everywhere wasn’t as much fun, but these memories are sweet to me. It has been years since I’ve picked cherries from my grandparents’ orchard, but it was fun to remember those cherry harvests with my extended family while making these scones.
The trick to tasty, flaky, and tender scones is cold butter. Please, don’t get it out of the refrigerator until it is time to use it! The colder the butter, the better! Scones use the biscuit method of ingredient combining, so make sure you have your dry ingredients mixed together, a pastry blender ready with your cold butter, and then the wet ingredients mixed together separately. The recipe comes together quickly, so by planning ahead, you can have warm, sweet, Fresh Cherry Cobbler Scones for breakfast!
For this recipe, I began with a basic scone recipe from King Arthur Flour. They have wonderful recipes! The scone dough uses very simple ingredients. Really the cherries are the star here! Mix together the flour, sugars, oatmeal, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and then cut in butter. In a smaller measuring cup, blend together the Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. The wet ingredients are added to the dry, the cherries are folded in, and I added a sweet streusel to the top. Who doesn’t like a little added sweetness? For good measure, I finished the warm scones with a drizzle of icing. These Fresh Cherry Cobbler Scones are amazing and so easy to throw together!
A couple of tips:
First, do not over knead the dough! We do not want too much gluten development, as we are not creating sandwich bread. We want tender scones. The scones should be about 3/4 of an inch thick when you pat them out, and approximately 8 inches in diameter.
Secondly, do not try to add the streusel topping after you have cut the scones apart. It is too hard! Add the topping, then cut the scones into eight pieces and transfer to your baking sheet. You will be rewarded with streusel on each scone instead of lovely bits of buttery goodness left on your counter!
Now, you absolutely do not have to add the quick icing to the warm scones. However, I would HIGHLY recommend it! The beautiful drizzle takes these Cherry Cobbler Scones to the next level. 🙂
The tart pie cherries, sweet streusel, and hint of almond flavor make these scones seem fussy and fancy, but they are neither. Cherry Cobbler Scones are, however, a recipe that I will proudly serve to my friends and family during pie cherry season. (I even have several bags of frozen cherries in the freezer! I simply froze one cup amounts of cherries in individual bags, and I will fold the frozen cherries into the scone batter this winter when I can’t have fresh cherries. Yay!!!)
Please consider trying these Cherry Cobbler Scones with your fresh cherry harvest. Truly, they are fabulously tasty and make mornings much sweeter! They would be the perfect addition to a summer brunch or afternoon tea.
If you have favorite recipes for tart cherries, please share! I’d love to have some new ideas for our summer bounty. Have a great week!
Ingredients
- 2 c. flour
- 1/4 c. oatmeal
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 T. baking powder
- 6 T. cold butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 c. Greek yogurt
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1/4 t. almond extract
- 1 c. pitted sour cherries
- 1 T. milk
- 2 T. brown sugar
- 2 T. oatmeal
- 2 T. flour
- 2 T. butter
- 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 2 t. milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, sugars, salt, and baking powder until well mixed.
- Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture contains small pieces of butter (no larger than a pea) evenly distributed throughout.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, eggs, and extracts. Mix well.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, folding together gently until mixed.
- Fold in cherries.
- Dump mixture onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 6-8 times until dough comes together and forms a ball.
- Pat dough into an 8 inch diameter circle approximately 3/4 of an inch thick.
- Using a pastry brush, brush 1 T. of milk over dough.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, oatmeal, and flour for the streusel. Using a fork or your fingers, work the 2 T. of butter into the mixture until evenly mixed. Spread mixture over dough. Press down lightly.
- Cut dough into eight scones and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until scones are golden brown.
- After removing scones from oven, mix together powdered sugar and 2 t. milk in a small bowl until icing is smooth. Drizzle over warm scones.
Notes
Be sure to use very cold butter and do not over work dough. If using frozen fruit, blend into dough while still frozen to prevent juice from staining the dough.
