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These are the easiest cherry scones you’ll ever make. Fresh cherries and citrus zest are folded into a tender, buttery dough flavored with vanilla and almond. All you need is one bowl and a baking pan. In under an hour, you’ll be pulling warm cherry scones from the oven.
I am called the Scone Queen. This is only due to your recipe. Thank You!
What I love about scones is that you can wake up, decide to bake a batch for breakfast, and be eating them warm in just over an hour. While classic sweet scones are often made with dried fruit and a simple vanilla glaze, nothing beats the taste of homemade fresh fruit scones. The combination of flaky, buttery dough and chunks of warm, jammy fruit makes this hands down one of the best morning treats.
Since you’re obviously a scone lover, check out my buttermilk bacon and cheese scones for a savory breakfast or these glazed pumpkin scones for fall.
Ingredients for Bakery Style Scones
- All Purpose Flour: I tested this recipe with King Arthur All Purpose Flour which has a protein level of 11.7%. This is on the high side and closer to a low protein bread flour.
- Note: Using an all purpose flour with a lower protein percentage can change the final texture of the scone.
- Fresh Cherries: Opt for ripe, sweet cherries like Bing or Rainier are the best cherries for scones. They impart natural sweetness and juiciness to the scones. The firmness of these varieties helps maintain their shape during baking, preventing excessive bleeding into the dough. Use ripe cherries and make sure to remove the stem and pit.
- Frozen Cherry Scones: Frozen cherries can have extra moisture and may make the dough too soggy. To remove some of the added water from the ice and condensation, let the frozen cherries thaw to room temperature on paper towels before adding them into the mix. The paper towels will help soak up any additional moisture.
- Fresh Lemon and Orange Zest: I love the combo of both lemon and orange zest for bright, aromatic citrus notes that complement the sweet cherries.
- Pure Vanilla Extract and Almond Extract: Vanilla extract adds a warm, sweet undertone that enhances the richness of the scone, while almond extract introduces a subtle nutty flavor that pairs exceptionally well with cherries, reminiscent of classic cherry almond desserts.
- Heavy Cream: With a high fat content of 33-35%, heavy cream creates a lovely moist and tender crumb.
- Note: Brushing the tops of the scones with heavy cream before baking gives them a golden-brown finish without the need of egg wash.
How to Make Fresh Cherry Scones Step-by-Step
Scones are one of those easy mix and bake breakfast quick breads that can be made by hand. I mix everything together in a large bowl, then pat it into a circle on a floured surface. It’s also endlessly customizable. So if blackberry, raspberry, or blueberry scones are more your style, just swap the cherries for equal weight of your favorite fruit.
- Toss chopped cherries with 1.5 Tbsp flour to soak up extra juices.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients, sugar, and citrus zest in a large bowl.
- Work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the texture resembles cornmeal. It’s ok if a few pea sized chunks are left.
- Stir the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, almond extract and cream together in a cup. Create a well in the dry flour, pour in the liquid and mix into a shaggy dough with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Add in the flour coated chopped cherries and gently disperse them throughout the shaggy scone dough.
- Transfer the mixture to a floured surface and bring the dough together with your hands. Pat into a circle and cut into triangles with a sharp knife or bench scraper.
- Transfer the scones to a parchment paper lined baking tray, spacing several inches apart. Brush the tops with a thin coating of cream and a sprinkle of sparkling or coarse sugar.
- Bake on the middle oven rack until scones are puffed and golden brown.
Jenn’s Homemade Scone Tips
- Pick up a cherry pitter, to make removing the pits so much easier. Trust me on this one! I’ve used everything from chopsticks to skewers to remove the pits and I’ll never go back.
- Make sure the heavy cream, egg, egg yolk, and butter are cold when adding them to the scone dough.
- Don’t overwork the dough or the cherries will bleed too much and make everything soggy.
- Dress up your scones by adding in 1/4 cup of chopped dark chocolate for chocolate cherry scones.
- After you brush the tops with heavy cream, add a few sliced almonds for a crunchy nut topping.
- Line your baking tray with two layers of parchment paper to absorb excess juices and prevent the bottom of the scones from over browning.
- If you have leftover cherries use them to make cherry crumble or a cherry pie.
Hot to Store Scones
- Room Temp: Store scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also wrap them in aluminum foil and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Allow scones to cool completely before placing them in a freezer safe airtight plastic bag with a piece of parchment paper between them to prevent then from sticking to each other. Scones will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
★★★★★ Please leave a star rating and review below if you make this recipe! THANK YOU!!
Fresh Cherry Scones Recipe
Cherry Scones Recipe with fresh cherries and heavy cream, flavored with orange, lemon, vanilla, and almond.
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Ingredients
Cherries
- 120 grams (¾ cup) fresh pitted cherries, chopped into 3/4-inch (2cm) chunks
- 1.5 Tbsp all purpose flour
Scone Dough
- 313 grams (2.5 cups) all purpose flour, 11.7% protein
- 67 grams (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 15 grams (1 tablespoon) baking powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 84 grams (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 120 grams (½ cup) cold heavy cream, 33-35% fat
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 50 grams (1 large) large egg
- 20 grams (1 large) egg yolk
Scone Toppings
- heavy cream
- turbinado or sparkling sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Prep the Cherries
- Place the chopped cherries in a medium bowl and with the flour for an even coating. This will help to absorb any excess juice.1.5 Tbsp all purpose flour, 120 grams fresh pitted cherries
Make the Scone Dough
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, orange zest, and salt.313 grams all purpose flour, 67 grams granulated sugar, 15 grams baking powder, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 2 teaspoons orange zest, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Cut in cold butter cubes with pastry cutter and/or fingers until resembles cornmeal.84 grams unsalted butter
- Place flour mixture in freezer for 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl whisk together egg, egg yolk, cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract.120 grams cold heavy cream, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 50 grams large egg, 20 grams egg yolk, 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Remove flour mixture from freezer, then pour in the egg and cream mixture. Stir together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Mix in the cherries and any leftover flour, to form a shaggy dough.
- Place the dough on a well floured surface and gently bring the dough together with your hands to combine any loose flour. Careful not to overwork the dough.120 grams fresh pitted cherries
- Using floured hands, gently pat the dough into an 7 to 8-inch circle about 1-inch thick. Cut the circle in half with a bench scraper or sharp knife and then each half into thirds for a total of six triangles.
- The dough is more moist than traditional scone dough, so I use a pie server or flat spatula to transfer the scones onto the baking sheet, spacing them 1.5-2 inches apart.
- Use the remaining heavy cream to paint a thin coating on top of the scones. Generously sprinkle with coarse or sparkling sugar.heavy cream
Bake
- Chill the cherry scones in the fridge for about 15 minutes while the oven preheats.turbinado or sparkling sugar
- Preheat conventional oven to 400℉ (200℃) no fan.
- Place pan on the middle oven rack and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden on the edges.
- Let pan cool on baking rack for 10 minutes before removing scones and eating!!
Notes
- Ingredients Used
- Flour: King Arthur All Purpose Flour 11.7% protein
- Butter: American Style Butter 80% butterfat or European Style Butter 82% butterfat (my preferred brand is President)
- How to Store Cherry Scones: Store scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days.
- Freeze Scones: You can definitely freeze scones after they have been baked and completely cooled. Place them in a freezer-safe airtight plastic bag with a piece of parchment paper between them to prevent then from sticking to each other. Scones will stay fresh in freezer for up to 3 months.
- Cherry Type: Fresh sweet or sour cherries that are ripe but still firm work best.
- Frozen cherries can have extra moisture and may make the dough too soggy. To remove some of the added water from ice and condensation, let the frozen cherries thaw to room temperature on a few paper towels before adding into the mix. The paper towels will help soak up any additional moisture.
- Amount of Cherries: I have made this recipe with 120-150 grams (3/4-1 cup) of fresh cherries chopped anywhere from quarters to smaller chunks. If using dried fruit, I recommend using 128 grams (1 cup) cut into chunks.
Tried this recipe?Mention @twocupsflour or tag #twocupsflour!
Hello I made these cherry scones , I topped them with Crème Fraiche and cherry preserves, need I say more…… absolute deliciousness. My question is can I make this recipe with blueberries or raspberries? Cherries are seasonal where I live but I can get the others year round . If I change the to a different berry does anything else in the recipe need to change?
Best scones ever , thanks for sharing
Yum my family loved them! Will definitely make again
It didn’t seem to have enough liquid. I couldn’t even need it as it was too dry. Checked the ingredients twice and I had all the measurements correct. Not sure what went wrong!
Hi Natasha, It should be pretty moist with the juice from the fresh cherries and the heavy cream. Were your cherries ripe? You can also always add more cream as needed to get the right texture.
Hi
Made them this June with sour cherries, sweet cherries and lastly black currants. Today will be black currants and slightly under ripe plums knocked off by birds. Yummy
I made them tonight with soft dried cherries. They look great! Didn’t have almond extract so I used Amaretto. They smell amazing!
well they are in the oven and i too used frozen bing cherries with my nordicware mini scone pan. liked the fact you said “of course substitute whole milk for heavy cream”. i used 1/2 whole fat yogurt and 1/2 whole milk….didnt see your comment before substituting.
looking forward to tasting.
Super tasty! Love the citrus “pop” from the zest, and the almond extract adds a lovely nutty base. I used frozen bing cherries and only cut them in half (while frozen). Turned out great!
Hi Sandy!!
I’m so glad you liked them!!
can i use dried cherries?
Yes 🙂 But, you may need to add more heavy cream, as the juice from the fresh cherries adds lots of moisture.
I use dried cherries. I simply rehydrate them. Let them sit in VERY hot water for a few minutes. Drain well. This may not be proper but it has worked well in this recipe. Cool the cherries and mix into dry ingredients before combining. They are moist and tender every time.
Yummy recipe! What can I substitute for the heavy whipping cream?
Thank you!
Hi Cindy! You can swap the heavy whipping cream for whole milk.
Hi there ! What steps would I change if using frozen cherries ?
Thank You !
You can use frozen cherries too! Just let them thaw to room temp on a few paper towels before adding into the mix:)