Monday Menu ~ Cranberry Orange Scones

This past week while wandering around the produce section at the grocery store I happened to find some fresh cranberries. I grabbed a few bags with the plan of freezing some and then making some bread with the others. But then I thought that bread seemed like more work… cutting it all that once it’s baked as opposed to something that you can just pick up and take a bite out of.

Muffins… no… I only had one pan that makes the jumbo sized muffins and I didn’t want to use the little ones.

Finally, it came to me. Scones! I honestly have no idea why it took me so long to think of them because I love them! In just about any form I will eat a scone… sweet or savory.

I set out to make the most amazing cranberry orange scone ever and after scouring the internet for the most perfect recipe I finally found two that were close to what I wanted. I did what any other brave baker would do… I combined them. So thanks to Smitten Kitchen and Two Peas & Their Pod for creating inspiring recipes.

Ingredients

3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter – I used unsalted butter & Melt (coconut oil) spread
1 tbsp fresh grated orange zest
1 1/4 c fresh cranberries – chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk/half & half/heavy cream
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper.

You’ll need to use a food processor to chop up the cranberries or you can do it by hand but it takes a little bit longer. I love my food processor… it makes so many jobs a lot easier on me and actually a bit less messy since I don’t have things flying all over the counter and floor.

With a micro plane or veggie peeler remove the zest from the lemon. If you used the veggie peeler you’ll need to finely chop it up.

In a large bowl or food processer mix the dry ingredients, orange peel, and butter until it resembles course sand.

In a small bowl beat the eggs, vanilla, milk, and orange juice. Gently fold the wet ingredients and cranberries into the dry just until it’s combined. It will look a little lumpy but that’s okay.

Scoop out of the bowl onto a prepared baking sheet.  I was able to get 12 good sized scones out of this recipe but you can make them as small or as big as you’d like.

Just a quick note… this dough is pretty wet & sticky so that means rolling it out and cutting is into neat squares, triangles, or using a round cutter is almost impossible. I know this to be true because I tried and failed.

Bake for about 15 – 18 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.

If you want to make a bit of glaze for them mix together some orange juice and powered sugar and then drizzle over top of them

The end result is a very moist and tender scone that is truly delicious!