Cranberry Orange Scones
It’s the holiday season which means I have to use up the cranberries I bought for Thanksgiving desserts. I made a batch of these very delicious cranberry orange scones for Thanksgiving morning, and they were gone faster than you could say, “gobble, gobble!” I’m happy to have enough cranberries left (after making a cranberry cake) to make these scones again.
The scones are rich, tender, and buttery; and they just melt in your mouth. You can’t ask for anything better with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning—or the afternoon for that matter. They’re quite frantastic!
If you have a food processor, the dough is super easy to throw together as the processor does all the work. If you don’t have a food processor, then you’ll have to use a little elbow grease to cut the butter into the flour mix and finish the dough by hand mixing in the whipping cream.
So, take advantage of those fresh cranberries at the supermarket before they’re gone until next fall!
Cranberry Orange Scones
Makes 8 scones
Ingredients for Scones
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 to 3 tbl. orange zest (I used 2 tbl.) – save the orange to get juice for the glaze
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 2/3 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
Ingredients for Glaze
- 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 to 3 tbl. orange juice (can also sub milk or half & half)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375o F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and set aside.
Place the flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse to combine.
Cut the butter into pieces and add to the food processor.
Pulse the food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
With the food processor running on low speed, stream in the cream.
When the dough has gathered itself into a ball, turn off the food processor and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead in the cranberries, and flatten the dough into a disc shape, about 6 to 7 inches wide and 3/4 of an inch thick. If the dough is too soft or sticky to handle, refrigerate it for 20 to 30 minutes or until it is easier to handle.
Cut the disc into 8 triangles and place on prepared cookie sheet allowing at least an inch between them.
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until set in the centers and slightly golden on the bottoms.
To make the glaze, stir the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice together until smooth, then drizzle over the scones.
The scones freeze beautifully so you could make them in advance of the holiday to free up time for other things. I freeze mine without the glaze. If you freeze them, take them out the night before you want to serve them and let them thaw overnight. The next morning, warm them for 4 to 5 minutes in a 350o F oven. While they’re heating, you can make the glaze which will take less than 5 minutes. Drizzle the glaze over the scones and serve warm.
Source: Adapted from Baking a Moment