Cranberry Orange Scones

Scones.  Do you love them?  I'm a scones fan.  I think they are a perfect pastry to have with a piping hot cup of coffee or tea.  I like their flaky consistency and their not too sweet flavor.  Somehow when I'm eating a scone I feel like I'm only being a little bit bad.

Cranberry Orange Scone

For this recipe I went into test kitchen mode.  I had seen Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, make these scones on her television program on the Food Network.  What caught my eye was her technique.  When I make scones I usually cut in the butter by hand with a pastry cutter, or I use my food processor.  Both techniques work well, by the way.  Ina used her stand mixture during the entire scone making process.  I wanted to try it that way and see how it would work.

The  Cranberry Orange Scone recipe from the Food Network makes sixteen scones, so I cut the recipe in half.  You may want to make the whole recipe if you decide to try this, because you can freeze the dough and bake off as many as you need whenever you need them.  That way you can have warm scones in about 30 minutes any time you want.  Next time, that's what I'm doing.

These scones were easy to make and the stand mixer method work out very well.  It's faster than cutting in the butter by hand and requires less fuss and easier cleanup than using the food processor.  I recommend both the technique and the recipe.  I did make a couple of adjustments when I halved the recipe.  I used a whole tablespoon of orange zest instead of cutting the amount in half.  I wanted to be sure I could taste the orange flavor.  I also made the full amount of icing to drizzle over the scones.  Yum!

Cranberry Orange Scones
From Ina Garten

Cranberry Orange Scones

• 2 1/8 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top of the scones
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, diced
• 2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, mix 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Add the cold butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.  Combine the eggs and heavy cream in a small bowl.  On low speed add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and mix until combined.  It will be lumpy.  Toss the cranberries with the 1/8 cup of flour and add them to the dough.  Mix until blended.  Altogether this mixing process won't take more than three minutes.  It is very quick.

Cranberry Orange Scone Batter

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface.  I used my counter top covered with 1/4 cup of flour.  Flour your hands and knead the dough into a  ball.  It will only take a couple of pushes with your hands.  Pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. 

Form the Dough into a Rectangle

Ina uses a rolling pin, but I don't bother.  It's just one more thing to have to wash.  She also suggests using a round biscuit or cookie cutter.  I don't bother with that either.  I just cut the rectangle into eight portions.

Brush with Egg Wash

Place the scones on your prepared baking sheet.  Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake them for 20-25 minutes, until they are browned and firm to the touch. 

Bake until Browned

Cool them for about 5 minutes.  While they cool mix the confectioners' sugar and orange juice to make the icing.  I put the icing into a zip closure sandwich bag, snipped the corner and piped the icing over the scones.

Add Icing

These are delicious scones.  The consistency is moist and flaky, just the way I like them.  This recipe is a keeper.  You can get the printable cranberry orange scone recipe, for 8 scones by clicking the link.  Visit the Food Network for Ina Garten's original recipe.

Yummy Texture

Now, back to what I said about feeling like eating a scone isn't too bad for my diet.  Well, I ran this recipe through a calorie calculator and one of these scones is 436 calories.  So much for it being OK.   I'll be saving this recipe for special occasions.  Now I'm off for my 4 mile walk.

Enjoy!

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