Vegan cherry almond scones are lightly sweet, soft and pillowy without any butter, eggs or refined sugar. Check out this easy recipe for cherry almond scones now.
Recently Burken and I, my parents and another couple went up to Door County, Wisconsin for an extended weekend trip. We always have so much fun together, and this trip was no exception.
It was full of good food, drinks, boating and exploring. There are all of these tiny little towns in Door County with cute little shops and homemade goodness.
One day on the trip the girls decided to do a little more exploring, which included a stop for some cherry pancakes and cherry salsa. The restaurant we ended up at was called The Cookery. They had the most amazing pancakes, omelets, and homemade applesauce {which I think might have been my favorite!}.
At this adorable home turn restaurant, there were baked goods right when you walked in the door. One that caught my eye right away was a cherry almond scone. Door County is known for their cherries, and if you ever get the chance, make your way there in mid-July to mid-August for cherry picking.
I could tell that The Cookery did not skimp when it came to making everything from scratch. So I knew the scones likely were made with love, sugar and butter. None of these are bad things, but I wanted a slightly healthier version of scone. I mean I had just downed about a cup of homemade applesauce, it was time for something on the healthier side.
Vegan cherry almond scones: the healthier side
For a while, I’ve been wanting to create a vegan scone recipe. Meaning I couldn’t use any butter or heavy cream. How was I going to create a pillowy and soft vegan and dairy free cherry almond scone?
Coconut oil came to my rescue!
I typically use coconut oil in place of butter, but there was one catch. When making scones you typically cut cold cubed butter into a flour mixture. Coconut oil sits at room temperature, so it needed to firm up.
The easy solution to this? Scoop out the amount of coconut oil needed, place it in a bowl, and then in the freezer. It firms up nicely to mimic that same texture as cold butter.
What about the heavy cream you say? Well for this recipe I opted for full-fat coconut milk. The kind that comes in a can. This added fat helped to make the perfect chewy and light cherry almond scone.
Food processor to the rescue!
Because the coconut oil was frozen, I needed to find an easier way to “cut” it into the flour mixture. Typically one would use a pastry cutter, but I wanted to make this recipe easier. Enter the food processor.
All I had to do was place my sifted flour {necessary for light, melt in your mouth cherry almond scones} in the food processor. Then cut the frozen coconut oil into small chunks, just like you would with cubed butter.
Add the coconut oil to the running food processor and let it become a crumbly texture. Now we’re looking like traditional scone batter, but without the butter.
Slowly pour in the coconut milk with some pure maple syrup for a light malty sweetness that pairs so well with cherries and blend until a shaggy dough forms.
You don’t want to over-process at this point. Stop the food processor just before it all seems to come together. This should keep your dough from spreading when baked.
The cherry on top
Now while I would have loved to use fresh cherries, I just can’t bring myself to spend that much time pitting and chopping {as evidenced in this recipe}. So I again opted to use frozen pitted dark sweet cherries.
While frozen, I chopped them and then placed them in a strainer. Rinse with cold water until the water is almost clear. This way you’re not about to have soggy cherry scones.
Mix into your batter with a hefty amount of sliced almonds and wah-lah! Vegan cherry almond scones are ready to meet their oven maker.
These scones are my jam
While in Door County we stopped at this road side store, well more like giant barn, that sold cherry everything. One item I picked up while there was a chopped cherry jam {you can even order online…which I would highly suggest!}.
My-oh-my this stuff was good! Spread a little on top of these warm buttery {without the butter of course} scones and feel yourself being transported to Door County.
Looking for more vegan recipes? Check these out below!
Blueberry Chex Vegan Krispie Treats
- 1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour sifted
- 1 cup bread flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cardamom
- 1/3 cup raw cane {turbinado} sugar
- ½ cup coconut oil frozen, cubed*
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk**
- 1 cup frozen dark pitted cherries chopped
- ½ cup sliced almonds
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Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Stir in the sugar.
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Pour the mixture into the bowl of a food processor. With the food processor running, drop the cubed coconut oil through the feed chute until a crumbly texture forms.
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In a liquid measure cup stir together the pure maple syrup, vanilla, almond extract and coconut milk. With the food processor still running, slowly pour the mixture through the feed chute until the dough just starts to come together.***
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Return the dough back to the large bowl the flour was in.
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Place the chopped cherries in a colander and rinse with cold water until it runs a light pink color. Place on a paper towel to lightly dry.
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Mix the cherries and almonds into the dough.
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Shape the dough into one large ball and place on the prepared cookie sheet.
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Press into a circle about 8” in diameter.
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Bake for 10-15 minutes, remove and cut into 8 triangles. Place back in the oven and continue baking for an additional 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Remove and place cookie sheet on a wire rack to cool.
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Use a serrated knife and cut along the original cuts in the scones to serve. Top with jelly if desired.
*Note: spoon a ½ cup of coconut oil into a small bowl and freeze until firm. Then cube the frozen coconut oil like you would cube cold butter.
**Note: must be full fat. This mimics the fat of heavy cream to make a soft crumbly texture. Make sure to shake the can vigorously to get the coconut cream to mix into the milk.
***Note: don’t overmix the dough. This could lead to it spreading while baking. If your dough does spread, don’t worry. Just bake a few additional minutes until it’s nice and golden brown.
