Whipped Cream Scones With Chocolate and Cherries

Whipped Cream Scones With Chocolate and Cherries
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(506)
Notes
Read community notes

Chocolate and cherry is a classic combination, but how these scones come together is what makes them really special: Lightly whipping the cream before folding it into the dough creates tiny air bubbles that result in a scone that leans more toward cake than bread. They also develop a delicate, crackly crust and a melt-in-your-mouth creaminess. On top of the chocolate chunks, tart cherries and the fluffiness, here’s another reason to love these scones: The dough is made by hand and doesn’t require rolling or cutting, meaning less mess in the kitchen.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
  • Print Options


Advertisement


Ingredients

Yield:12 scones
  • 2cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
  • ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
  • 1tablespoon baking powder
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾cup/180 milliliters heavy whipping cream, chilled
  • ½cup/115 grams salted butter (1 stick), cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
  • 3ounces/85 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • ½cup/75 grams dried tart cherries
  • Sparkling sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

253 calories; 15 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 157 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the cream in a medium bowl until thickened to the consistency of pancake batter.

  3. Step 3

    Toss the butter in the flour mixture to coat, then press the cubes flat using your fingers. Add the chocolate and cherries and toss until well coated. Add the whipped cream and rake through the dry ingredients with fingers spread wide on one hand while rotating the bowl with the other hand. Keep mixing, scraping clumps off your hand as needed, until all the dry bits are moistened and form large, shaggy clumps.

  4. Step 4

    Gently gather small handfuls of dough (about ¼ cup each) and gently roll into 12 balls. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.

  5. Step 5

    Sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if using, and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool, about 5 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
506 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

These are great. I made them before school on Valentine's Day and they were a big hit. Two notes: I used semisweet mini chips to save time and it worked fine, although bittersweet chocolate might have more of a kick. I also found that there wasn't quite enough cream in the folding-in step. Next time I'll probably increase it by 1 tbsp or so.

I make a variation of these all the time using 1 1/4 cup cream and omitting the butter entirely. (From an old Marion Cunningham Cunningham recipe!) it’s a great basis for a variety of flavor combinations grated lemon zest, chopped candied ginger, oranges zest and chocolate chips, espresso powder dissolved in a tablespoon of warm cream, with hazelnuts or chocolate chips, or tablespoon of matcha- endless varieties! I also just pat it down to a large circle and cut wedges 8-10, bake for 12 mins.

These are great and fast, but make sure not to overwork the butter because they will spread too much. Scones are very similar to American biscuits.

These were just ok. I felt there was too much salt, but I'm not sure why. The recipe doesn't call for much and my butter was unsalted. The rest of my family disagrees with me though, so I may be the outlier.

I am cutting and pasting the review from Rachel from three years ago because it is exactly what I would write today. In addition to Rachel's great observations, I would say these are very easy and quick to make. "These are great... Two notes: I used semisweet mini chips to save time and it worked fine, although bittersweet chocolate might have more of a kick. I also found that there wasn't quite enough cream in the folding-in step. Next time I'll probably increase it by 1 tbsp or so."

Easy to make and pretty tasty. The kosher salt left pieces of salt that were too large. The cherries burned a little and added nothing. I would leave out next time and add grated orange zest instead. The bittersweet chocolate was too bitter. I'll try semisweet next time.

Good night, these are amazing! Best scones I have ever made or even tasted! Definitely going to be using this recipe over and over!

Delicious but hands down the Stickiest scone dough I have ever struggled to put on a baking sheet, somehow.

These were easy and delicious. The only change I made was halved the sugar. Not terribly sweet, but also didn't need to be. My husband (who has much more of a sweet tooth than I do) ate like 5 in one sitting, so I think you can adjust the sugar to your liking. These will be on repeat for me to grab a couple in the morning for breakfast. Love!

Excellent recipe! I made several batches and gave to neighbors as Christmas gifts. They all raved!

This has been my go-to scone recipe for some time but I find the 20 minute bake time too long. I just took mine out after 17 minutes and the bottoms were still darker than I would have liked. I recommend starting to check after 15 minutes if you have a hot oven.

Used a full cup of heavy whipping cream and rolled into 15 balls. After baking the recommended 20 minutes the scones came out fabulously, soft and buttery on the inside and almost crunchy on the outside. The flavors are classic scone- a bit sweet and a bit savory. Glad I used the “tart” cherries as the extra sweetness is helpful to round out the salt and bitterness of the chocolate. This is one I will be making again!

The bottoms seems to burn owing to the chocolate.

I only had enough cream to make 2, but I pared down the recipe and it worked just fine, in case anyone wakes up craving these and only has 1/4 heavy cream left. I used chopped semi-sweet discs of chocolate and it worked great. These were melt in your mouth delicious! I used the gram measurements and didn't find them to be dry.

I substituted apricots and pecans for the chocolate and cherries, and they were delicous!

These were great. I agree that they could use more cream, though. My dough was a little crumbly, still, so I had to manhandle it a bit to get it in balls, which made them spread a little when baking. I used milk chocolate, dried cranberries, and unsalted butter because it's what we had on hand, and it was still really good, but I imagine they're even better with the proper ingredients.

Delicious combination al be it a bit dry. Made these with my granddaughter and months later she still asks if we can make them again. We will.

Very easy, tasty, made it as a breakfast treat during school week.

I love these scones!! So easy!! And Scrumptious! I use the full cup of heavy whipping cream and have no problems. More than 1/3 of dark chocolate bits overwhelms the recipe.

I am cutting and pasting the review from Rachel from three years ago because it is exactly what I would write today. In addition to Rachel's great observations, I would say these are very easy and quick to make. "These are great... Two notes: I used semisweet mini chips to save time and it worked fine, although bittersweet chocolate might have more of a kick. I also found that there wasn't quite enough cream in the folding-in step. Next time I'll probably increase it by 1 tbsp or so."

I just cut the butter into the dry ingredients which saved me a lot of time fiddling and I got a lovely texture. I also used a mixer for the cream and folded it in with a spatula, no problems there either. I think the bottom line is just having a general view not to overwork the dough. The dough seemed a bit dry but I didn't add any liquid and they held together, the butter pulling everything in, and baked beautifully. I think they would have been tough with more liquid.

These are great. I halved the recipe to test it but made it as written with the exceptions suggested by others of a little more cream, and shorter bake (15 min). I also made them double size so got 4 from the halved recipe. I completely agree with SJ's assessment: "shatteringly short (almost shortbread-like) on the outside, with a soft, baking powder biscuit-y center". Wish I had made the full recipe. There's always tomorrow.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.