Dark Chocolate Chip and Cherry Pistachio Scones

These dark Chocolate Chip, Cherry Pistachio Scones are light, flaky and studded with dried cherries, pistachios and dark chocolate chips.

I love making scones.

It gives me a chance to get my hands dirty {you should see my camera!} and bust out my rolling pin.

Today’s post makes it 4 scone recipes on this blog, that’s almost as many grilled cheese recipes. Okay so not really.

Scones {in my unprofessional opinion} are fancy biscuits. I think someone decided to mix in fruits, nuts and/or chocolate and deemed them un-biscuit-worthy and titled them scones. I think I may Wikipedia-ing this afterward to see if I’m right.

Anywho I was first turned on to scones via my bff when she begged me to make her these scones. Before that post the only thing I ever heard about scones is that they were as hard and bland as hockey pucks. I’m not sure where that stereotype came from and how it lodged itself into my brain but I’ll have you know that’s a nasty little rumor and so very untrue. Scones are fabulously flaky and perfect with tea or coffee or of course wine.

First things first you’re gonna need a couple handfuls of dried cherries. If you can’t find dried cherries try cranberries.

Grab a knife and give them a rough chop.

Same with pistachios, about a 1/4 cup… you can totally eye-ball the amount as there no such thing as too pistachio-y right?

Give those a rough chop as well.

Throw both the chopped cherries and pistachios into a small bowl…

And toss them with an eighth of a cup of flour and scoot them off to the side.

In a small bowl or one cup measure, crack two eggs.

Beat them slightly with a fork…

Pour a half cup of milk, half and half or even heavy cream. Whichever you have on hand or prefer.

And simply stir the two together. Again, put this aside for just a moment.

In a large bowl combine: two cups of all purpose flour…

… and an eighth cup of sugar. I don’t like overly sweet scones… plus we’re gonna dunk these in a glaze later so there’s some added sweetness later on.

1 tablespoon of baking powder…

And lastly a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Give those a quick stir…

Then grab the cubed butter out of the fridge and dump it in.

Grab a pastry cutter, two forks or you could even do this in your Kitchen Aid… just blend or cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbly sand.

Pour in the egg and milk mixture…

…and stir until just combined.

Toss in the cherries and pistachios…

…and a heaping 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips. Which are totally optional… but these do add a creamy sweetness that was amazing. PS not in a million years could I recreate this shot.

Finally stir those into the scone dough. I popped this back into the fridge while I cleaned up a bit and then floured my board and rolling pin.

And I also made a quick egg wash of 1 whole egg and two tablespoons of milk. This will give the tops of the scones a deep golden sheen.

PSA: Speaking of rolling pins… you have to check out Vermont Rolling Pins. All of their rolling pins are made out of best of the best hardwoods {cherry, maple and walnut}! They have 11 different styles and types, from the classic French rolling pin {above} to a beautiful beehive rolling pin and then there’s my next purchase, a pasta rolling pin. I see a slight obsession starting to take over here. These exquisite pins make great gifts and come delivered to you cleverly wrapped!

Knead the dough into a ball and place on a well floured surface.

With a well floured rolling pin start-a-rolling.

Roll the dough out to a half inch thickness.

Flour a 3-inch biscuit cutter and press into the dough to make as many scones as possible.

Make sure to press firmly so they don’t stick to each other.

Place the scones on a lined, rimmed baking sheet and brush with the egg wash.

I used the leftover scraps to make as many scones as possible… keep going until the dough runs out!

Bake the scones for 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through. My oven runs hot so check on these while they bake. Immediately remove the scones to a wire rack to cool.

While I was patiently waiting, I made a quick glaze consisting of 1/4 {heaping} powdered sugar, two tablespoons of milk and a splash of vanilla.

Dunk the tops of the scones in the glaze…

You can wait and let the glaze harden…

But why would you want to?

Serve warm… or room temperature. With coffee or tea. With a fork or dive in with bare fingers… nobody will judge.

All I can say is: OH-ma-LAWD… it’s a good thing I stopped at three one.

Enjoy! And if you give these Cherry Pistachio Scones a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

My cookbook Simply Scratch : 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy is now available! CLICK HERE for details and THANK YOU in advance! 

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Yield: 12 servings

Dark Chocolate Chip, Cherry and Pistachio Scones

Light, flaky and studded with dried cherries, pistachios and dark chocolate chips.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 18 minutes mins

Additional Time: 12 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Ingredients

FOR THE SCONES:

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup whole milk, half & half or heavy cream can be used too
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped dried cherries
• 1/4 cup chopped shelled pistachios
• 1/2 (heaping) cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons whole milk

FOR THE GLAZE:

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 splash pure vanilla extract

Instructions 

MAKE THE SCONES:

• Preheat your oven to 400° and line a rimmed baking sheet.
• Combine the chopped cherries and pistachios in a small bowl and toss with an eighth cup of all purpose flour and set aside.
• Combine the two eggs and the 1/2 cup of milk in a small bowl, set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the remaining two cups of flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Drop in the cold butter and using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse, wet sand.
• Add the egg/milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the nuts, cherries and dark chocolate chips.
• Flour a clean surface and rolling pin. Drop the dough down on to the floured surface and knead into a ball. Use your rolling pin and roll the dough out to a half-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cutter and cut as many circles of dough you can. Use the scraps to make more scones.
• Whisk together one whole egg and two tablespoons whole milk to make the egg wash.
• Brush with the egg wash and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden, rotate the pan halfway through baking. Remove the scones immediately to a wire rack and let cool.

MAKE THE GLAZE:

• Combine the glaze ingredients and when the scones have cooled, dunk the tops into the glaze.

Serving: 1scone, Calories: 263kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 79mg, Sodium: 327mg, Potassium: 92mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 633IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 97mg, Iron: 2mg

Author: Laurie McNamara

Course: Breads & Baked Goods

Cuisine: French

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