Cherry scones with a light nutty flavour from the shredded coconut and sweetness from the candied cherries, these are quick and easy to make for snacks and picnics.
While I am a big fan of the traditional plain English scone, you can easily add flavour and texture by adding fruit or other additions to them.
I found a bag of desiccated coconut in the store cupboard along with some glacé cherries so the idea for these cherry scones took root.
With a few simple ingredients and their quick baking time, scones are one of the baking favourites I turn to again and again.
It helps that they are delicious and loved by all too, as I know they’ll be gone pretty quickly.
You don’t need any fancy equipment to make scones, in fact I made these without a cutter once as I couldn’t find one, and used the end of a tin instead.
If you don’t have a rolling pin, no fear, you can use anything cylindrical you can find, I used the side of the tin I used as my cutter that time too!
I do always make sure I brush the top of my scones with a little milk before baking.
It gives them a lovely golden brown colour so you just want to grab one and dive in.
How to serve scones
Scones are traditionally served for afternoon tea, and if you are in Devon or Cornwall or other British regions, it is very common to have them as part of a cream tea.
Here the question on everyone’s lips seems to be whether the cream or jam should go first.
Personally I see the cream as the replacement of butter so I’d have cream then jam, but who am I to judge?
Serving
These scones are perfect sliced and served warm with butter or just plain.
If you are a real cherry fan then some cherry jam might go well too.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, perfect as a shopping list or to use when gathering the ingredients together. The quantities are in the recipe card, scroll down for the full details.
- self raising flour
- butter
- caster sugar
- milk
- desiccated (shredded) coconut
- glacé (candied) cherries
Step by step
Place the flour in a bowl, and rub in the butter. Stir in the sugar then the milk to make a soft dough. Add the candied cherries/glacé cherries.
Mix gently. The dough will be soft.
Roll the dough out on a surface dusted with flour.
Cut out 9-10 medium scones using a cutter.
Place them on a lined baking sheet, sprinkle a little extra coconut onto each scone, and brush with milk.
Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C (fan) or until golden brown and baked through.
More to try
I have lots of different scone recipes on my site for you to try, from blackberry and berry scones to Nutella scones baked in a crockpot, see which kind catches your eye:
- blackberry, lemon and white chocolate scones
- lemon berry scones
- caramel scones
- giant Nutella scone baked in slow cooker
- giant strawberry scone baked in slow cooker
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Recipe
Cherry Coconut Scones
Ingredients
- 230 g (1 ½ cups) self raising flour
- 55 g (¼ cup) unsalted butter
- 25 g (5 tsp) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 175 ml (¾ cup) milk
- 70 g (2 ½ oz) desiccated coconut (shredded coconut)
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) glacé cherries (candied cherries)
- milk for brushing
Equipment
Video
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180℃ / 350℉.
- Place the flour in a bowl, and rub in the butter.230 g / 1 ½ cups self raising flour, 55 g / ¼ cup unsalted butter
- Stir in the sugar then the milk to make a soft dough.25 g / 5 tsp caster sugar (superfine sugar), 175 ml / ¾ cup milk
- Add the desiccated coconut and glacé cherries and mix gently.70 g / 2 ½ oz desiccated coconut (shredded coconut), 100 g / 3 ½ oz glacé cherries (candied cherries)
- Roll the dough out and cut out 9-10 medium scones using a cutter.
- Place them on a lined baking sheet, sprinkle on a little more desiccated coconut, and brush with milk.milk
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.
- Leave to cool on a tray and enjoy warm or cold.
Catherine Johnson says
Loved these scones. Recipe easy to follow, I replaced dairy milk with coconut milk and added a teaspoon of baking powder to help them rise. They came out of the oven looking perfect and tasted divine. Will definitely be baking these again.
bakingqueen74 says
brilliant, thanks for leaving your review Catherine!
Barry J says
A super recipe indeed filling the kitchen with the warm smell of coconut toasting on top of the scones in the oven.
As a lover of coconut I might experiment with coconut milk instead of dairy milk for the next batch.
Very many thanks for the recipe – a winner indeed!
bakingqueen74 says
So glad you loved it Barry!
Evelyn says
What is castor sugar?
bakingqueen74 says
Caster sugar is a fine granulated sugar widely available here in the UK. In the USA it would be called superfine sugar, but as you didn’t say where you are I don’t know if that helps.