Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Orange Cranberry Scones

Orange Cranberry Scones

Today is the first day back to "reality" after the long holiday break but it's OK (mostly) and I'm excited to get a fresh start (sort of)...  At least I can say that we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves over the break.  We had that fun Christmas weekend out at Montauk, we visited family and we ate and drank well.  Yesterday was spent vegging out in our jammies and watching movies.  We ate the leftover New Year's Eve brisket, we ate creamy potato soup, we finished off the holiday cheesecake and we ate these scones.

Orange Cranberry Scones
Brian loves something a little sweet with his morning coffee and my scones are high on his list.  This generously portioned orange and cranberry version is more tender than an average scone and topped with amazingly fragrant orange sugar.  I love mine in the afternoon with some Greek yogurt but either way, a batch of these, fresh from the oven, makes the house smell heavenly.  And we have a couple left over to ease back into work mode this morning.  Enjoy!




Ingredients
3 Cups all purpose flour
3/4 Cup sugar (reserve 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 Sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1" pieces
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1/2 Cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Cup cranberries
2 Tablespoon orange zest, divided

Orange Cranberry Scones
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles course crumbs.  In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, buttermilk, orange juice, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the orange zest.  Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture, add the cranberries and blend just until combined.

This dough is quite sticky and will make a very moist and tender scone.  Rather than trying to shape and cut it, I spooned the dough into a 9" pie dish that had been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Add the remaining tablespoon of orange zest into a bowl along with the 2 tablespoons of reserved sugar and mix.  Sprinkle the mixture on top of the scone batter and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 8 generous scones.

20 comments:

  1. oh I really love scones for breakfast :) these sound especially good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have 2 more days till I'm back to reality. Which means I should make scones to celebrate. YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awwww that sounds like such a nice New Year! Yay scones!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a lovely vacation you guys have had! Those scones are gorgeous - may I have tea with mine? I can't help it - such my Grammie's girl! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOVE scones! Especially with cranberries! Swoon!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your scones are gorgeous! Happy new year to you, and I look forward to seeing what you post this year.

    ReplyDelete
  7. now i'm craving scones, these sound perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  8. *sniffle* you ate them? All of them? No crumbs or anything for me to poke my finger into? Dang... guess it's time to bake! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think you are reading my mind. I was looking in the pantry yesterday and thought of how long it has been since I had a good scone. These look super good.

    ReplyDelete
  10. These look delicious - I love orange and cranberry together. Just the other day I was thinking about how I would like to make scones - this looks like the perfect recipe to start with!

    ReplyDelete
  11. So glad to hear you had a good holiday. Your scones sound delicious. I love orange and cranberry together too. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh mt God, Mike and I were just talking about how there is nothing better than a relaxing morning, a cup of coffee, and soemthing sweet! He is going to love these!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh good, I'm not the only one who started the new year off with a sweets post. :-) Also I never thought to put scones in a pie dish. So clever!

    ReplyDelete
  14. These scones look deliciously amazing. Something sweet like this always makes for a great day. Glad to hear you such a nice holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, these look phenomenal, Anita...you can just tell how moist they are from the photos. Nothing worse than a dried out old scone! Great way to start the day :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Scones are an intimidating food for me....Your scones look gorgeous. And the flavors of choice sound amazing. Thank you for sharing at Foodie Friends Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love scones and these look especially delicious. Thanks so much for sharing at Weekend Potluck.
    ~Kim

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love scones and seem to be on a cranberry kick lately! I will be making these for my daughter and myself!

    Cynthia at http://FeedingBig.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. It sounds like you guys had a great holiday! These scones look delish & definitely help getting back to reality! Would love one with my coffee right now!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Very Nice,Special made for your trip.Get A cheapest bus ticket from http://bustickets.vishvabhraman.com upto 15% discount on all bus booking
    Get special coupon code on www.vishvabhraman.com/
    Use Special Coupon Code VBSP12

    ReplyDelete

We'd love to hear from you!