Sensational Scones

     Barry is not much of a scone fan . . . execpt for these! They are moist, tender and packed with flavor. The recipe came from one of our favorite cooking magazines.

     We bought our first issue of CUISINE athome Magazine in March of 2000 at a cooking store in Manhattan, Kansas; it was their 19^th issue. We’ve subscribed to the magazine ever since and have fouund some wonderful recipes – they provide detailed instructions and lots of step-by-step photos + related cooking advice.

     This is one of those recipes that we found – our favorite version is Cran-Orange scones. 

Sensational Cran-Orange Scones   Makes 8 large scones or 16 to 18 smaller ones

Dried cranberries cut into
small pieces.

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cold, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 cup chopped dried cranberries (or use dried currant or any dried fruit chopped into small pieces or mini chocolate chips or toasted nuts)

1 tablespoon orange or lemon zest, minced (lemon zest could be substituted)

1 cup heavy cream, cold

--

1 egg blended w/ 1 tablespoon water

Coarse or granulated sugar

1.     Preheat oven to 375°.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2.     Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3.     Blend in butter with your fingers, smashing cubes into flour -- dough should end up looking and feeling like very coarse cornmeal with some larger lumps of butter. 

(Although you can use a mixer, hands seem to be the best tool for this task.
A mixer warms the butter and one of the secrets to "good" scones, is chilled dough.)

4.     Add cranberries and zest; toss to combine. Add cream and mix together with your hands just until blended. Knead and pat dough into a large circle and cut into 8 wedges or . . .

·      divide dough into two rounds and cut each into 8 wedges or,

(I formed the dough into 2 rounds.)

·      divide dough into three rounds and cut each round into 6 pieces for a total of 18 smaller tea-size scones.

5.     Transfer to a baking sheet, spacing 2” apart. (I often make the scones the night before, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate; the next morning, simply proceed with the remaining directions.)

6.     Brush with egg and water mixture, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake 25 to 30 mintues or until golden brown and set. Cool briefly on racks; serve warm.

Baked and ready to serve.

We also have a recipe for Buttermilk Scones on our blog.