Sconies

I am a cookie fanatic. I estimate that I spend approximately one-third of my life thinking about chocolate, and half of that time is spent thinking about cookies with chocolate. So when I started baking scones a few years ago, I kept thinking there had to be a way to retain the creamy crumbliness of a scone and still make it yummier . . . like a cookie. So over time, my scones became more cookie-like -- sweeter, moister, more chocolatey -- and of course, I threw in my very favorite dried fruit: cherries.

Sconies are some of my favorite things to make (and it took me a long time to decide whether or not to share this recipe). It only takes me a few minutes to whip up a batch, and they always seem to hit the spot, whether it's 7 a.m. or 10 p.m. Savor them with a cup of tea or coffee, or treat them like the cookie cousins they are and wash them down with a tall glass of milk.

Sconies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into very small cubes

2/3 cup dried Montmorency cherries

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

Coarse sugar, for dusting

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Scatter butter cubes across the flour mixture and use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add dried cherries and chocolate chips.

Stir in the cream with a rubber spatula until a soft dough begins to form (there will be lots of floury crumbs). Then, to bring it all together, reach your hands into the bowl and knead the floury bits into the moist dough until just combined. (If you prefer, you could turn the mixture out onto the counter and knead it together there.)

Turn the dough out onto a counter (or into a 9-inch pie plate) and form the dough into a 9-inch disc. Cut the disc into 8 wedges and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place sconies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees just before placing sconies in the oven and bake until the tops are just beginning to turn golden in spots and they are nicely browned on the bottom (usually about 12 minutes, but I watch them carefully).

Eat them with people you love.