10 Pound Cherry Challenge: White Chocolate Cherry Scones

Do you have a to-bake list? Or a to-cook list? I have a few, and they’re so long that I don’t know if it’s humanly possible to ever get through them all. I add to them constantly, so basically my chances of ever reaching the bottom of the list are zero to none. When I found out I was getting a huge box of cherries in the mail, I was adding to that list big time with just about every cherry idea that struck me. And for once, because I was completely focused on a single ingredient for a whole week, I actually got to scratch a few things off the list. Yeah, it makes me feel pretty accomplished. :D But the other thing that was really fun was that I got to try all these different flavor pairings I had in mind. I had white chocolate on the list as a possibility, and at the last minute, I decided it had to happen. Cherries and white chocolate are most certainly meant to be together.

Sooo, I made scones. I LOVE scones when they’re just right, and these are (imho) just right – lightly crispy on the outside, with golden edges, and tender on the inside. The crumb is light and just slightly sweet, giving plenty of room for the flavors of those juicy roasted red cherries and sweet white chocolate chips to burst through. Normally, I’m a dark chocolate girl, so I’m pretty selective with the times that I use white chocolate. I knew it went perfectly with strawberries when I made this glorious bundt cake, so I was pretty sure that it would be perfect with fresh cherries as well, and it was SO perfect!

I have one more recipe coming up tomorrow for the 10 Pound Cherry Challenge (it’s fabbbulous), but I think I should just take a moment to thank my OXO Cherry Pitter for getting me through 10 pounds of cherries in a breeze. I thought it would be a royal pain pitting all of those cherries in such a short amount of time, but seriously you guys, this thing saved my life. Of course, I also have to thank the Northwest Cherry Growers for all of their irresistibly sweet, ripe cherries, because I wouldn’t have had these scones without them (or fruit crumbles, sweet rolls, and ice cream)!! It’s been a good week, food-wise. :)

And by the way, if you liked the cherry recipes you’ve seen this week, I would love your vote in the 10 Pound Cherry Challenge contest on OXO’s Facebook Page! The voting isn’t open yet, but I’ll be sure to give you details when it is!

In case you’re just tuning in, I’m taking part in a 10 Pound Cherry Challenge hosted by OXO and the Northwest Cherry Growers. This week will feature back-to-back cherry recipes on the blog, which will be entered into a contest along with the contributions from other participating bloggers. Be sure to follow along for more cherry goodness!

You can also check out what I’ve made so far…

Brown Butter Cherry Crumbles

Cherry Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Rolls

Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Update: The 10 Pound Cherry Challenge Contest is open for voting! I would love it if you’d vote for me by “liking” the photo for this recipe (and my other cherry recipes!) on OXO’s Facebook Page. Here’s the link  for this recipe’s photo. Voting is open until Friday, August 16th at 4PM EST. 

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White Chocolate Cherry Scones

Lightly-sweetened and tender scones with slightly crisp edges, loaded with white chocolate chips and fresh roasted cherries.

• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Total Time: 18 minutes
• Yield: 8 scones 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 7/8 ounces (1 1/4 cups) pitted bing cherries, cut into 1/5ths
• 1 3/4 ounces (1/4 cup) granulated sugar, divided
• 4 1/4 ounces (1/2 cup) milk (preferably whole milk)
• 2 1/8 ounces (1/4 cup) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 9 1/2 ounces (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, spoon and level*
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen and cut into small cubes
• 3 ounces (1/2 cup) white chocolate baking chips
• heavy cream, for brushing (about 2 tablespoons)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. In a fairly small, oven-safe dish, toss chopped cherries with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Roast in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until cherries have released some of their juices and are fragrant. Strain cherries from juices and transfer to a container to cool in refrigerator.** Reserve juices for another use. Once cherries have cooled, place in freezer while preparing scone dough.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine milk, cream, and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk together until smooth. Place in freezer while continuing with dough.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the cubed butter and cut in with a pastry cutter until no large pieces remain. Add white chocolate chips and cherries and toss in until well-dispersed and coated in flour mixture. Add the cold liquids in two parts, folding in just until the dough is moistened but not yet cohesive. It will be somewhat crumbly.
5. Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet, crumbs and all. Use hands to gently clump dough together just enough to form it into a 1″ thick round.*** Brush top and sides with cream and place in the freezer to chill for 1 hour.
6. Towards the end of the chilling period, preheat oven to 400ºF. Remove scones from freezer and use a bench scraper or knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles, like you would cut a pizza. Separate the scones out on the baking sheet.
7. Bake scones in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.****

Notes

*For this recipe, if you aren’t weighing your flour, it’s really important that you measure with the spoon-and-level method. Otherwise, you’ll almost certainly use too much and the scones won’t turn out right.

**To speed up the process of cooling the roasted cherries, spread them out in the container so they have more surface area for cooling.

***It will initially seem like the scones need more liquid, but if you’ve measured all your ingredients accurately (preferably by weight), the dough will come together. Add a bit more liquid only if you feel it’s absolutely necessary.

****While these scones will certainly still taste good the next day, they’re always best eaten freshly baked!

You can check out all the blogs participating in the #10lbcherrychallenge for more creative cherry-filled recipes:

http://www.thesweetsensations.com
http://www.girlichef.com
http://noblepig.com
http://hungrycouplenyc.blogspot.com/
http://appetiteforchina.com
http://eat-your-heart-out.net
http://www.nibblesandfeasts.com/
http://diethood.com/
http://www.blushandjelly.com
http://www.foodinjars.com
http://eat-drink-love.com
http://www.seaweedandsassafras.com
http://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/
www.tasteloveandnourish.com
www.mrsregueiro.com
Www.natashaskitchen.com
http://maedeforyou.blogspot.com/
52kitchenadventures.com
https://www.brighteyedbaker.com
http://sweet-remedy.com
http://www.panfusine.com/
http://www.meandmypinkmixer.com/

Disclosure: As part of my participation in the 10 Pound Challenge, I was sent cherries and tools from OXO and Northwest Cherry Growers. I was not compensated for writing this post and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.

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