Cherries are truly my favorite fruit. They are sweet, tart, crisp, and easy to bring to the beach or park to munch on! When I can’t get out to Wickham’s Fruit Farm in Cutchogue to pick my own, I look forward to getting pints at the Northport Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Try as I may to ration out cherries to eat later in the week or for future food projects, I almost always eat them in one sitting because they are Too good, and honestly, I have no self-control. I made sure to buy a few extra pints this time so I could make some sweet treats to share with you!
Prior to my gluten-free days, I loved scones so much (one of my favorites being the cinnamon scones at Robinson’s Tea Room). After switching to gluten-free eating, I thought my scone-eating days were over… until now. These scones are a cross between a scone and a chewy, thick cookie. The sweet and tart cherries are married with vanilla and chocolate, one of my favorite combinations. For this recipe, I use a mix of almond, tapioca, and oat flours. I make my own oat flour by blending gluten-free quick oats in a Nutribullet blender, but you can also buy oat flour on its own. If you don’t have tapioca flour, you could substitute cornstarch or rice flour. I haven’t tried this substitute for this recipe, but I’ve used it in many other recipes in the past. If you are using cornstarch or rice flour, start with half the amount that the recipe calls for, and add up to the full amount the recipe calls for if needed.
The key to getting the consistency right with these scones is the butter. I recommend using a rich, grass-fed butter like Kerrygold, that has just come out of the refrigerator. I add small chunks of butter to the dough, and smash them into the flour with a fork. The goal is to have some small pockets of butter interspersed throughout the dough to keep it moist while baking, but also have the butter somewhat mixed into the dough at the same time. If your dough feels a little too wet when you are moving it from your mixing bowl to the baking sheet, feel free to add a little more almond flour. The scones are topped with a vanilla icing drizzle to make it extra decadent and sweet, so these would be perfect with coffee or tea for breakfast, or a sweet snack later on in the day.
Chocolate Cherry Scones
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cup Almond Flour
- ¼ cup Tapioca Flour/Starch
- ½ cup Oat Flour
- 2 Tbsp. Sugar (I used Coconut Sugar)
- 1.5 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
- ¾ tsp. Baking Powder
- ¼ cup Full Fat Milk (I used Coconut Milk)
- 3-4 Tbsp. Cold Butter, chopped
- ¼ tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
- ¾ cup pitted Cherries, cut into quarters
- 1-2 oz. Dark Chocolate Bar, chopped
- ½ Tbsp. Butter
- Coconut Sugar for dusting
- ⅓ cup Powdered Sugar (for icing)
- Full Fat Milk to thin (for icing)
- ¼ tsp. Vanilla Extract (for icing)
Instructions:
Mix the tapioca flour, ¼ cup of the oat flour, salt, coconut sugar, baking powder and 1 + 1/4 cup of almond flour in a large bowl. Slowly add in a few cold butter chunks and smash the chunks with the back of a fork into the flour. You want there to still be some small flecks of butter in the dough, but have the butter be crushed enough so it’s somewhat mixed into the dough. Continue to do this with the remaining butter. Mix in the maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract with a fork until the wet ingredients are mostly combined into the flour. Next add the remaining almond and oat flour, gently mixing it into the dough so everything is combined but the dough is a little crumbly. Fold in the chocolate chunks and then very gently add the cherry pieces, trying to keep the dough from turning red from the cherries.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees and cover a baking sheet with parchment. Gently place the dough on the parchment and flatten the dough slightly, molding it into a circular shape so the dough is ¾-1” thick. Slice the scones into 8 wedges and separate the scones on the baking sheet so they are no longer touching. Brush the top and sides of each scone with a little melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the scones in the oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 5-10 minutes at 375 or 400 degrees. The tops of the scones should be slightly browned with a browned bottom. Remove the scones from the pan and allow them to fully cool.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a medium bowl and slowly drizzle in milk 1 teaspoon at a time and mix with a spoon. When the glaze is thin enough to drizzle with a spoon, drizzle the icing over the scones in whatever pattern you desire. If the icing becomes to thin, just whisk in a little more powdered sugar. Top with chopped chocolate and enjoy!
