A Muse in My Kitchen
Cranberry Orange Scones
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!
- 1¾ cups unbleached flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon allspice, optional
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup low fat half and half
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 large egg
- the grated peel of 1 medium-to-large orange
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) a baking sheet.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, then add the butter, rubbing it in till the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Stir in the cranberries.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the half and half, orange juice, egg, and orange peel or oil. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir till the dough just comes together.
- Transfer the dough to a thoroughly floured work surface, knead it a couple of times, and shape it into a ½”-thick round, about 8″ across.
- Transfer the round to the prepared baking sheet. Brush with milk, and sprinkle with coarse white sugar, if desired.
- Cut the round in 8 wedges. Separate the wedges slightly.
- Bake the scones for about 15-18 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.
