Yes, it’s Christmas Eve and I’m writing a blog post.
I had a few free minutes and wanted to share with you this fantastic recipe I made this afternoon.
So easy. So delicious. So festive!
I found the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website.
I switched it up a bit but found many great baking tidbits on this site.
Typically for Christmas morning breakfast, I have gone the lighter route since the rest of the day will be laden with food…not to mention the night before! We will have these scones with make-your-own mini frittatas!
Quickly here for I have to move onto Christmas Eve dinner…
Cut flour and dry ingredients together with a pastry cutter or your hands. Once again, I found my hands work better here. Don’t worry, I wash them thoroughly!
Throw in the dried cranberries. I increased the amount from the original recipe….let’s not be skimpy here!
Mix together the wet ingredients – half and half, orange juice, orange rind, egg…
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together only stirring until moistened…very important for the flakiness!
Put on a floured board, knead a few times to get a shape…then shape into a 8 inch thick circle and cut into 8 wedges.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Brush with milk or half and half .
Sprinkle with coarse white sugar (which I didn’t have) so I sprinkled with a sugar cinnamon mix.
Now here’s the secret to a great scone:
Freeze the scone for 30 minutes. According to King Arthur Flour, freezing the scones before baking relaxes the gluten in the flour, which makes the scones more tender and allows them to rise higher. It also chills the fat, which will make the scones a bit flakier.
Remove from freezer. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 15 – 18 minutes until golden brown.
A festive way to start Christmas morning…
Oh…gotta run…
My daughter from California just pulled up in the driveway!
Happy Holidays my friends!
Christmas, Christmas baking, Christmas morning recipes, cranberries, flour, King Arthur Flour, oranges, scones Baking, Holidays, Sweet Stuff
Those look amazing. Have a great Christmas.
Thanks Greg! A very Happy Holiday to you and your wife!
Hmmm… these look delicious but what could be substituted for half &half?? I live in Mexico and I’ve not been able to find half&half. The regular milk here is similar to 2% (a little fattier), and there is a heavy type of cream I’ve had success with whipping.
Thanks!
Hi Catherine – You can easily sub the half and half out with milk or whipping cream! It really depends on if you’re watching the fat content. We had them this morning as ‘leftovers’ from Christmas and they were just as flavorful! You will enjoy them!