The pairing of orange and cranberry is a teatime classic and makes a great grab-and-go breakfast to get you through your work week (and then some). These scones are great on their own, but to kick up the flavor a bit I highly recommend the orange glaze and orange butter. The orange butter is also great for topping French Toast, but you will have to wait for the official Cotton Candy French Toast recipe. I promise it will be posted soon.
- 2 cups flour
- 10 teaspoons sugar – divided
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup cold butter
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup half & half
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sift flour, 7 teaspoons of sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into large mixing bowl. Add orange zest. Cut butter into small cubes and then using a pastry cutter (dough blender) cut in butter until flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl combine cranberries, milk, and orange juice (I prefer to use fresh squeezed from the zested oranges and of course a jadite reamer works perfectly). Whisk egg into cranberry liquid mixture and then fold liquid into dry ingredients. This will result in a soft dough. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and then knead a few times until dough firms up a bit. Shape dough into an eight inch circle and then using a pizza cutter or a large chef knife cut into 8 wedges. Do not separate wedges, but transfer the whole circle onto a parchment-lined baking sheet for baking. Brush the top with milk and then sprinkle with remaining sugar (I like to use castor sugar for this, as it is a bit finer than regular granulated sugar and gives a bit more glisten to the finished scones). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until scones are golden brown. Transfer baked scones to a wire rack to cool.
Optional, finish the scones with an orange glaze by mixing 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar with 1 tablespoon orange juice.
To compliment these scones, I highly recommend some orange butter. Combine 1/2 cup of softened butter with 2-3 tablespoons of orange marmalade (to taste).
