Thumbprint Scone Recipe

// Jam Thumbprint Scone Recipe from WhipperBerry // 

So… funny story.  I apparently live under a rock. Not to long ago, I was thinking about fun ways to incorporate my favorite Smucker's Orchard's Finest® jams into some tasty baked goods, and a light bulb hit me… What about thumbprint scones, rather than thumbprint cookies. Many people love to add jam to their scones, why not bake it right in? I thought I was brilliant, no one else has even come up with this out of this world idea before. Like I said, apparently I live under a rock, because yes… Many other people have made thumbprint scones, including Starbucks. Wah, wah…

Ok, so maybe I'm a little late to the party, but don't you worry… This may be the BEST jam thumbprint scone recipe you will EVER find!! I took some of them over to my neighbor and she called me the next day… "Heather, I have to confess I ate 3 out of the 4 of those scones… they were aaaaamazing!"

Seriously, melt in your mouth good!

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Ree, The Pioneer Woman's new "The Pioneer Woman Cook's, A Year of Holidays" cookbook. She has a basic Perfect Cream Scone recipe that is a great scone base recipe. I made a few modifications to it to make it into the perfect jam thumbprint scone recipe and the rest is history!  Here's how you make them

Thumbprint Scone Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon for sprinkling on top of the cut scones before baking

4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup berry compound butter (or two sticks of regular butter)

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg

1 jar of Smucker's Orchard's Finest ® Jam

Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚

About an hour before you want to begin the baking process place your butter in the freezer. For this recipe, I love to use my berry compound butter which I keep in the freezer. It adds even more berry flavor to the scones, but it's not a deal breaker. If you want to use regular butter it won't be a big deal. Just make sure the butter is frozen before you begin the mixing process.

In  a large bowl combine your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Instead of sifting the dry ingredients together, I use a wire whisk and whisk the ingredients to fully combine them and break-up any clumps.

Remove the butter from the freezer and using a cheese grater, I grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture using the largest grater option. This is a fabulous trick that I learned and it works like a CHARM! No more needing to cut the butter into the dry mixture and the butter is the perfect size, texture and temperature.

Use a wooden spoon and stir the butter into the dry ingredients. Measure out your cream and add the egg. Whisk the egg into the cream and slowly combine into the dry ingredients and butter mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Combine just until the mixture comes together and be careful to not over mix. 

Pour mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and press together into a flat round disk. Roll out until the dough is roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a round biscuit cutter, cut the scones out and place on a parchment lined baking pan. Sprinkle the unbaked scones with a little bit of sugar and place in a 350˚ oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and using the back of a spoon (or your thumb, it's a little hot for me, so I opt to use the spoon. But, for the purists out there, you are more than welcome to use your thumb.)  press down the center of the scone. Add roughly a tablespoon of your favorite Orchard's Finest® Jam. For this round, I used their cherry, raspberry and triple berry jams…

Place the scones back in the oven for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the scones are LIGHTLY browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. These are best slightly cooled right out of the oven or within a few hours of baking. They have a nice crisp exterior and a creamy, light fluffy texture in the middle that just melts in your mouth. You can store in an air tight container for a few days. However, you will loose the light crisp of the outer texture. But, they are fabulous either way!

Yields 15-18 scones

When I was out at the Smucker's headquarters a few months I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Richard Smucker and I asked him, out of all of his jams and jellies which one is his favorite. He said at that moment his favorite was the Orchard's Finest® Red Tart Cherry and I would have to say that one is my favorite as well. I love how it has whole cherries in there and it's PERFECT for the thumbprint scones…

Look at those cherries!!

Give this recipe a go and let me know what you think. What will be your flavor of choice?

Disclaimer // This is NOT a sponsored post… I just love Smucker's!