Heart-Shaped Dried Cherry and Chocolate Chip Scones

Cut these out with a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make a wonderful Valentine’s Day breakfast. Or, cut into wedges or circles for breakfast anytime! These can be made and cut out the night before, stored on the baking sheet (covered with plastic wrap) in the refrigerator overnight, and baked off in the morning. The orange zest in the dough gives an added zip to the scones, and goes well with the chocolate and cherries.

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2002

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup coarsely chopped dried tart cherries
2/3 cup chilled buttermilk
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Milk (for glaze)

Directions

Whisk flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. Add butter and grated orange zest; rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Mix in chocolate chips and dried cherries. Whisk buttermilk, egg yolk, and vanilla extract in small bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients; stir with fork until dough comes together in moist clumps. Gather dough into ball and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Press the dough out to 3/4 inch thickness, and using a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the scones. Gather the scraps, gently press out the dough again and cut out additional scones. Transfer the cut scones to a baking sheet lined with parchment papaer, spacing 1 inch apart. At this point, you can cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you want, brush scones lightly with milk and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until scones are crusty on top, about 15 minutes (or up to 20 minutes if refrigerated).
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 12.