Cherry Vanilla Scones

I love a freshly baked batch of scones. Unlike many of the store bought scones you'll find that are closer to a cookie, a homemade scone is light, buttery, and flaky. I've made countless batches of scones with various types of dried fruits and nuts but the combination of sweet and tart dried cherries with hints of vanilla is by far my favorite. Perfect for a weekend breakfast or and upcoming bake sale, these scones will be a real crowd pleaser.

4 cups of all purpose flour
½ cup of granulated sugar (Additional needed for sprinkling)
2 tablespoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of lemon zest 
5 extra-large eggs
1 cup of heavy whipping cream 
1 teaspoon of good quality vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon of Vanilla bean paste
1½ cups of dried Cherries
4 tablespoons of flour

Sift together the flour, baking powder, the kosher salt, and the sugar into the mixing bowl.

The key to the perfect scone is very cold butter To achieve the perfect scone, we need cut the butter into small cubes and add the butter to the flour mixture. Mix the butter and the dry ingredients together until the mixture looks very coarse and the chunks of butter are about the size of a pea.

Crack four of the eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Add the vanilla to the eggs and mix with one cup of heavy cream. With the an electric mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream and egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dough comes together. The dough will look very wet and lumpy.

The next step is to toss the dried cherries and the lemon zest with 4 tablespoons of flour. Adding flour to the cherries and the zest will help them stick to the dough. Mix into the dough just until they are incorporated.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take the one remaining egg and beat together with 2 tablespoons of water or milk to make an egg wash. Sprinkle some flour down onto a clean and flat working surface. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and dump the dough out onto the floured area.

The dough is going to be wet, lump, and sticky. Using the rolling pin, roll out the dough so that it's about 3/4 inch thick (Just eyeball it). You will still see lumps of butter in the dough but that's what we're looking for. The butter will melt in the hot oven and the steam it releases will give us a buttery and flaky scone. Cut the scones out using a cookie/biscuit cutter or you can cut them into squares simply by using a knife.

Place the scones onto the baking sheet and lightly brush them with a little bit on an egg wash and sprinkle the top of the scones with sugar. The egg wash will help give the scones a bit of color and also allow the sugar to stick to the scone. Place the scones into the oven and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes. The tops will be golden brown and the scones will be firm to touch and you should see the bottom edges just starting to brown. Allow the scones to rest for a few minutes and transfer them to a serving tray or a storage container. They'll stay fresh for about 3 or 4 days