Cherry Almond Scones

These are the English type of scone not the yummy deep-fried kind you smear honey butter all over.  I am not saying that these aren't yummy as well, actually I really enjoy a good English scone.  Jamie has a recipe posted for Blueberry Scones and I love Great Harvests Raspberry White Chocolate Scones.  This recipe is from The Kitchen Sink Recipes which is one of the food blogs that I follow.  I have cherries from Steve's Moms tree and I keep trying to find other uses besides drying them.  Two substitutions that I made were using milk and vinegar instead of buttermilk and I used Demerara sugar instead of Turbinado because it is what I have on hand. 225 calories for 12 or 150 calories if you make 18.

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, in 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup pitted and chopped cherries
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon almond extract
Turbinado or sanding sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Place cubed butter in freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and baking soda.  Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (or two knives or your finger tips) until the flour-butter mixture is the texture of coarse cornmeal.  Stir in the buttermilk and fruit.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a couple times. Roll dough out to approximately one-inch thickness and cut into squares. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional).

Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned.