Cranberry Orange Scones

There is something about oranges that spells Christmas to me. It probably has something to do with the fact that my Mom used to compensate for the tragic error of making huge Christmas stockings for us by putting at least one or two large oranges it them to help fill them up. And then over Thanksgiving my sister Anna very thoughtfully ate a delicious looking homemade scone right in front of my face via video Skype. Which led me to start thinking about scones. Put it all together and this morning found me trying out a recipe for cranberry orange scones. Usually I'll test a new recipe a time or two before posting it here, but these are so good they deserve an early posting.

Cranberry Orange Scones
via Coffee Works Blog
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp grated orange peel [the key is to chop the peel after zesting so you don't end up flossing your teeth with the orange peel]
3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup buttermilk [I used whole milk]
1/2 cup orange juice - high pulp [I just squeezed the juice out of the oranges I zested]
3 tsp orange cream yogurt [I omitted and compensated with more whole milk]

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Mix in orange peel. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces, and mix into the flour using your fingers. [Or cut in butter using a pastry blender]. Add the dried cranberries.

Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl - orange juice, buttermilk, and yogurt. Slowly add the liquid to the flour/butter, mixing with a fork until you get moist clumpy dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a large log, about an inch and a half thick and cut into a triangular scone shape. Lay the cut scones, about 2 inches apart, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 400° or until the tops are golden brown.

The blog has recommendations for a glaze and special orange marmalade butter, but I found these to be delicious by themselves.