Cheery Cherry Chocolate Chip Scones

Preheat your oven to 425F, making sure one rack in your oven is in the middle position.

Place the dried cherries in a bowl; add the hot water and almond extract and set aside to soak while you mix up the scone batter.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, 3 tablespoons of sugar and salt; stir to combine. Using a pastry cutter, cut in 5 tablespoons of cold cubed butter until the mixture looks like a coarse cornmeal with small butter chunks mixed in. Drain your cherries and press them into paper towels to remove all the liquid. Roughly chop and throw them into the flour mixture with your mini chocolate chips. Stir just until combined. Add the heavy whipping cream and stir just until mixture starts to clump into a large ball. It’s important not to over mix here. Scones are like biscuits…if you over mix them, they’ll turn out rubbery. Once most of the dough starts to clump together, place it onto a lightly floured surface. Pour the remaining crumbs onto the top and using your fingers, gently press it all together.

Form the dough into a circle about 1” thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place scones on an ungreased baking sheet. Before baking, slice the remaining butter into thin slices and place on the top of each scone. Bake on the middle rack of your oven for 5 minutes, allowing the butter to melt. Remove the pan from the oven and quickly sprinkle generously with the remaining sugar. Put them back in the oven and bake for 10 more minutes, or until scones are lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before serving. Makes 6 large or 8 medium scones, depending on the size of your biscuit cutter.

Here’s a quick tip – if you don’t have a biscuit cutter, save a small tomato sauce or tomato paste can from another recipe. Just use your can opener to open both ends (making sure there are no sharp edges) and wash thoroughly, removing the label. I keep a few different sizes in my kitchen, just in case.