Cranberry Orange Scones

For the past couple of weeks it's been quite obvious that I'm on the lookout for fall. I've been sort of rushing it by making warm dishes and baking... which must mean that I'm desperate because I'm not much of a baker. One thing that I was dying to try to make for the first time was scones - but a very specific type. I wanted to make the kind that they have at my school, the ones that I'm borderline addicted to and go amazing with 50 cent coffee, not nasty 50 cent coffee, but the kind of 50 cent coffee I look forward to and will go across campus to get whether I'm running late or not. That last statement is very, very true. Anyway my school has cranberry scones for a dollar that are responsible for turning me into a scone lover. Not to throw any "major coffee companies" (cough cough) under the bus but all I've ever had are dry scones which never made me a fan. I finally worked up the energy, I mean courage, to try to make them myself.

What You'll Need:

4 C + 1/4 C flour

1/4 C sugar

2 Tbl baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 Tbl orange zest

3/4 C cold diced butter

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 C cream

1 C dried cranberries

1 egg beaten w/ 2 Tbl water

1/2 C confectioners sugar + 2 T

4 tsp orange juice

Start by preheating your oven to 400. In a large bowl mix the the 4 cups of flour, the sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add your diced butter. According to Ina Garten, this should be done in a mixer but I don't have one because they're freaking expensive. I know, I know I'm probably breaking some sort of baking rule again. I just used a dough cutter to roughly mix (more like incorporate) the butter throughout. You'll want the butter to be crumbly. The dough cutter did a fabulous job.

In a separate bowl, mix your cranberries with the 1/4 cup of flour and toss together. Add these to the big bowl.

Lightly beat 4 eggs together with the cream. Add this to the big bowl. The reason that I added this after the cranberries is because I figured the cranberries would mix easier in flour than the dough so I did that first. I ended up being right.

When everything is carefully mixed, it's time to get messy! Roll the dough into a ball. Flour a large surface and a rolling pin so you can roll out the dough. Roll it out until it's 3/4 of an inch thick.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment foil. I thought I would only need one tray but I wasn't sure how they would bake so I spaced them out and ended up using to cookie sheets.

 

Use a biscuit cutter or anything that's around 3" in diameter to cut out your scones. I don't own a biscuit cutter so I used a normal plastic cup. It worked just fine. 

Keep rolling out the scones until all of the dough is done. This batch should make about 14-16 scones. Of course I got 17.

Make a quick egg wash (one egg with water) and lightly brush the tops of the scones. After this step sprinkle sugar on the top of your scones and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. I literally used the last granule of sugar for the dough so I didn't have any extra but I wouldn't recommend skipping this step.

When the scones are done put them on a cooling rack. While you wait, make can make your glaze - yum!! This is the easiest thing to make too. Start by mixing your confectioners sugar and orange juice. If it's not the consistency you like add more of whatever you need. I eventually gave up when it wasn't as thick as I wanted. Confectioners sugar isn't my favorite taste so adding more to make it thicker wasn't my idea of good eats. What I didn't realized was that it wouldn't really make a difference because the scones were phenomenal already! When it's how you want it drizzle it over your cooled scones.

Foodie heaven!

 I would have eaten more as soon as they were done but considering I started making these around 9 pm, and the true test was how they would taste with coffee, I only had one.

The next morning I couldn't wait to try my little meal (when you're in college this is considered a meal) and in true everyday fashion, I was running really late. I'm talking about and hour and a half late to get on the road to my parents' house. But it was so worth it! They were exactly what I wanted! I have to admit that I might prefer them with my Dunkin Donuts brand coffee a little more than the 50 cent coffee but could you blame me? The centers were perfectly cooked (baked?) and they actually had a hint of orange. I wasn't sure if they would be too orangy. I was nervous because I didn't use a lot of sugar either when making these so I was afraid they wouldn't be sweet enough but the cranberries add the perfect amount of sweetness. It was definitely the best breakfast I've had in a while. Even as a snack, I can't resist them. I don't think you'll be able to either!