DOOR COUNTY CHERRY SCONES

My inspiration for making these Door County Cherry Scones came from a bread called the Door County Bread that used to be baked in a local bakery in Illinois.  They used dark tangy cherries and walnuts in it and only baked it for a short time during the holiday season. The name was for the tart Montmorency cherries that they used in their bread.  This type of cherry grows mostly in Door County, Wisconsin and Michigan. I never quite understood why this bread was not a year round item in that bakery and always had a hard time waiting for the holidays to have it.  So these scones were created!

The Door County Cherry Scones are exceptionally moist. They are perfect for breakfast or a mid-day snack with coffee, tea or milk.  They are also wonderful with some sweet butter and jam. I use walnuts in two forms in this recipe: A finer texture to blend in with the flour to give an overall moistness to these scones, but I also like to have some chunks of walnuts for a texture reminiscent of the chunky walnut bread that I used to have. To add some sweet to the tangy dried cherries, I have added dark chocolate morsels.

Some of the walnuts are processed into small pieces and are added to the flour and sugar mixture. The rest of the walnuts are coarsely chopped and will be added later.

Butter is placed in the freezer for a few minutes for easier grating. It is added to the bowl with dry ingredients.

Use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse meal

Add the dark chocolate, dried cherries and coarsely chopped walnuts

Use a fork to mix the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients until uniformly moist. The dough will be very sticky, don’t give up!! Form it into a ball and transfer it to a lightly floured surface,

coat the palm of your hands with little flour and flatten it to a 1-inch thick disk

Score, then cut the disk into 8 equal wedges

Use a spatula to transfer the wedges to the parchment covered baking sheet and sprinkle the tops with Turbinado sugar and bake.

Let the scones cool a bit before serving them, I never do!!

Enjoy these tender Door County Cherry Scones with a hot cup of coffee or tea.  They also taste really good with sweet butter and jam. Yum!

DOOR COUNTY CHERRY WALNUT SCONES

 

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Prep Time: 20 min
Bake Time: 20-25 min
Bake in Preheated 400 F second setting from the bottom
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
Yield: 8 scones

Author: Homa

Recipe type: Breakfast/Brunch/Teatime Snack

Ingredients

• ¾ cup walnuts, divided
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 ounces sweet butter, placed in the freezer for 15 minutes and grated
• ⅓ cup dried tart cherries, I use the Kirkland brand tart Montmorency cherries
• ⅓ cup dark chocolate morsels
• ⅔ cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 TBSP kirsch (sweet cherry brandy), or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 TBSP flour for the work surface
• 1 TBSP Turbinado (coarse raw sugar) for sprinkling over the scones

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, set the rack on the second setting from the bottom. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place 4 ounces butter in the freezer for about 15 minutes to get semi hard, for easier grating.
3. Coarsely chop ⅓ cup of the walnuts to pea-sized pieces, set aside.
4. Process the rest of the walnuts in a food processor with 5-6 pulse actions until chopped into very small pieces. Add to a medium bowl.
5. Add the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the bowl with walnuts and stir to combine.
6. Use a coarse grater to grate the very cold butter over the flour and walnut mixture. Using your fingers work the butter into the rest of the ingredients.
7. Add the ⅓ cup coarsely chopped walnuts, dried cherries and dark chocolate morsels to the bowl and stir until coated with the rest of the ingredients.
8. In a small bowl use a whisk to blend the sour cream, egg and Kirsch brandy or vanilla extract.
9. Use a fork to mix the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients until uniformly moist. Use your fingers to form the dough into a ball. The dough is very sticky.
10. Transfer the ball of dough to a flat surface that has been sprinkled with 1-2 TBSP flour. Coat the palm of your hands with some flour and flatten the dough into a 1-inch thick disk. Cut the disk into 8 equal wedges.
11. Use a spatula to transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet, leaving enough space between them so they don’t stick together during baking. You might want to form the wedges with your fingertips to a more uniform shape after placing them on the baking sheet, if needed. Sprinkle the tops with 1 TBSP Turbinado sugar.
12. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
13. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and cool the scones over a rack for 30-40 minutes.
14. Enjoy these scones with a hot cup of coffee or tea. They also taste amazing with sweet butter and jam.
15. These scones can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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