Sconed to Death

I've had traumatic experiences with biscuits and scones.

What can I say? I'm a super efficient kneader and, before I know it, I've got hard little rocks instead of moist, delicious scones. But I decided, since it's literally been years since I last attempted either of the confections, that I need to get over my fear and try out some scones. Also, I've been missing bread and bread-y things lately - to the extent that I woofed down a whole pizza for lunch. I'll chalk that up to a "metabolism booster" and run it off later or tomorrow hehe :P

Either way you can't combine 'classy' and 'morning pastry' without getting a scone. These delicious, moist little guys were a basic cream scone recipe with slightly more sugar, zest and cranberries. Who doesn't love dried cranberries?

Cranberry Orange Scones

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream, plus additional for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

6 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Warm the water in the microwave and pour over the cranberries to rehydrate them. Let them set for 15 minutes, but the longer the better.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk the cream, egg, orange zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the cranberries and the cream mixture into the flour mixture until it forms a sticky, but hopefully manageable, dough.

Knead the dough gently for, like, 30 seconds. Don't knead to much or this shit will get tough. Pat the dough into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Cut dough with a round biscuit cutter (although you could always freehand triangles with a knife - don't go crazy and buy special stuff for this). Gather the scraps and gently, super gently reform into a round and cut out the rest of the scones. Using a 1 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter, I got about 8 out.

Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat. Brush with a little extra cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden and delicious.

These guys are awesome and not terribly sweet. :)


I feel like this recipe could easily be altered for use with blueberries or most any fruit