Warm up with Cranberry Orange Scones

I know it's January and we are all supposed to be behaving ourselves, nutritionally speaking-- but it's also COLD outside and in the midst of all the yogurt and salads we are enjoying with a new love lately, here is a scone recipe I came up with over Christmas-- it would be great for any chilly morning or afternoon with a steaming cup of coffee or tea. If they seem a bit complicated, know that they come together very quickly.


Cranberry-Orange Scones
Makes 8 large or 16 small scones


2 cups of Flour
1/4 cup of sugar (I used raw, but regular is fine too)
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt 
Grated Zest of one Medium Orange

Pulse the above ingredients in your Food Processor several times to sift and combine.

Add 5-6 Tbs. of Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces and pulse again.
Add 2/3 cup of sweetened, dried cranberries and pulse again 2-3 times to incorporate.

In a small glass measuring cup, add one egg to 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream and whisk with a fork. (Now here's where I feel the need to explain-- I have ALWAYS made these with Half and Half instead of Heavy Cream even though the original recipe calls for cream. Always. Then, over Christmas, I found myself with cream and without half & half. So I bit the bullet, and can I just say--- WOW. It made a HUGE difference in the texture, and the fact that these scones lasted for days without drying out. However, I will say that the half & half is fine and makes a nice (though not quite as flaky) scone. So do whatever you wish. :)

Add liquid/ egg mixture all at once and pulse a few times to ensure it comes together. Your scone dough will be kind of crumbly but moist.

Dump out the dough directly onto a lightly floured surface or wax paper and pat it into a circle (divide into 2 circles if you wish to make small scones.) Form into a circle as best you can and then use a sharp knife to cut into 8 wedges. Move wedges to a Parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 425' for 12-15 minutes until just beginning to lightly brown.

Before Baking-- they are a bit flat

 

 They plump up nicely in the oven

Remove scones to a wire rack to cool for about 7 minutes and prepare glaze. These are perfectly yummy before the orange glaze, but it does add a whole other level of deliciousness! 

Orange Glaze

1 cup of Powdered sugar

1-2 tbs. of fresh orange juice (from the orange you zested. If your child ate the orange while you were making your scones, plain ole' OJ is fine too.) 

Mix the two together in a bowl until you get a nice thick-ish consistency. 

 Glaze consistency

Set your wire rack of scones right back on the pan you baked them on (so the parchment catches your excess glaze) and drizzle glaze over them. They will set up a bit in just a few minutes and be ready to eat! 

The finished product