Almond cherry scones (with coconut sugar)
Grab a handful of dark red in-season cherries to make these buttery scones.
Almonds, cherries, and coconut sugar combine in these buttery scones perfect for breakfast with tea or coffee.
Mary Warrington/The Kitchen Paper
These last few days, being back in Portland, Ore., the weather has been perfect — chilly in the mornings and night (thank goodness!) and warm and sunny during the day. I’ve been riding my bike all over the place and actually getting misty-eyed as I ride through the streets of this town!
I’m also eating all the vegetables, as I mentioned yesterday, and all the berries! Cherries are on sale this week and I am probably going to end up with cherry juice splotched all over my white couch/chairs/rug/bed. Why did I decide to have an entirely white apartment?
These scones were an experiment after receiving a huge box of goodies from Nutiva (this post isn’t sponsored, but they did send me some awesome stuff). Mostly: I wanted to use coconut sugar. Yeah, it’s still sugar, but it’s supposed to be a little better for you than classic white refined sugar. So, I gave it a go! It’s grainy and dark reddish brown, so it’s definitely a little different to work with, but it all turned out perfectly! Plus: you cannot go wrong with delicious, dark, juicy, baked cherries.
Almond cherry scones (with coconut sugar)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup halved or chopped fresh cherries tossed in 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Whisk together (or pulse in a food processor) the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the butter cubes and pulse or cut into the flour mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and almond extract before adding it to the dry ingredients. Pulse or knead until just coming together.
5. Turn the dough out onto your countertop and press it into a large rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Press most of the cherries into half of the dough, then fold the other half over it and press so there is no visible seam. Press the remaining cherries into the top of the dough. Cut into 9 equal pieces and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are turning golden.
See related post on The Kitchen Paper: Strawberry swirl pound cake