Cherry Scones

While shopping the other day, we saw a display of fresh local cherries.  I grabbed a pound and added them to our basket with the intent to use them to make scones.  After sifting through countless recipes, I ended up going with my own adaptation of this Smitten Kitchen recipe.  I love everything that Deb makes, so I knew this was a safe choice.  I swapped out the cranberries in her original recipe for the fresh cherries I bought.  Also, I had no heavy cream in the house, and rather than go out and buy some, I replaced it with a container of vanilla yogurt I had in the fridge.  I normally get a little nervous about the idea of deviating from a baking recipe, since I know that it is much like a scientific process and exact measurements matter, but lucky for me, my scones turned out perfectly!  My adaptation is listed below, but visit her site and make the cranberry scones, too, because they look delicious!

Zest of 1 Lemon
2 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
6 tablespoons Cold Butter, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups Fresh Cherries, pitted and cut in half
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
6 ounces Vanilla Yogurt + 2 ounces Milk

Pit the cherries and cut them in half.  Put them in a small bowl and sprinkle them with 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar; set aside.  In a large bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and butter.  Using a pastry blender, mix until the mixture resembles coarse meal (alternatively, you can do this in a food processor).  Stir the cherries into the flour mixture.  In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and egg yolk.  Stir in the yogurt and milk.  Add the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface.  With well floured hands, pat the dough into a 1-inch thick round disc that is about 8-inches in diameter.  Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the disc into 8 wedges.  Place the wedges onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until the tops of the scones are golden brown.