Cherry scones recipe

These cherry scones are ideal for a sweet treat in the afternoon. 

No afternoon tea is complete without a scone, and these cherry scones are the perfect choice. They’re a wonderful combination of light, fluffy and sweet without being too filling so there will be lots of room left for finger sandwiches and other treats. We’ve used glacé cherries in our cherry scones recipe, but you can use fresh ones - just be sure to de-stone them before adding them to the mixture. You can use this same recipe to make just plain classic scones, blueberry scones and sultana scones as well. Simply swap out the cherries for your fruit of choice. 

Ingredients

• 125ml (4fl oz) milk
• 1 medium egg
• 250g (8oz) plain flour
• 3tsp baking powder
• 60g (2oz) butter
• 60g (2oz) caster sugar
• 100g (3½ oz) glacé cherries
• 5-6cm (2-2¼ in) fluted round cutter
• Baking sheet, buttered

Method

1. Add milk to egg to make 150ml (¼ pint). Reserve about 1-2 tbsp mixture for the glaze. Tip all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and whizz in bursts until the ingredients bind together. Take care not to over-mix it or the cherries will be too finely chopped. Alternatively, tip the flour and baking powder into a bowl, and rub in the butter. Roughly chop the cherries and add them with the other ingredients, mixing with a round-bladed knife until a dough is formed.
2. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm (¾in) thick and use cutter to stamp out scones. Re-roll trimmings and cut out more scones until dough is used up. Place them on the baking sheet.
3. Brush the glaze over the top of the scones, then bake them in the centre of the oven at 220°C (230°F, gas mark 7) for about 15-18 mins, or until they have risen and are a light golden colour.
4. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or cold with butter.

Top tips for making cherry scones:

 To make sure that the scones rise every time, keep the mixture in the fridge as cold as possible, until they are ready to go in the oven. Then serve fresh.

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• Classic scones recipe (opens in new tab)
• Gluten-free scones recipe (opens in new tab)
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