Cranberry Orange Scones

Cranberry Orange Scone

I think I made these more when I was a stay-at-home mom and I had friends over for "play dates" with the babies. Actually, it was more like "sanity dates" for the moms. Those were good times, making food for my mommy buddies weekly really did help me keep my sanity during those days at home when my boys were just babies. Good times, indeed. I don't have the occasion to make scones much these days since the kids are in school and I'm back to work; not to mention that we live in a different state altogether. I seem to be running out of blog material, though, so I pulled this one out. It's funny how the memories come back when I start making an old recipe.
These scones won second or third place in some quick bread competition at the Iowa State Fair a few years back. They're absolutely delicious; my idea of a scone, although I don't know if they're truly a British scone at all. I just know that they're delicious. Right out of the oven, the exterior is dry and crisp, while the interior is tender and buttery. The orange extract makes the difference, so don't leave that out.
I originally got this recipe from Epicurous.com, and it comes from Bon Appetit Magazine. I changed it up a little, made it a little more fattening by substituting buttermilk with half and half. At any rate, if you're looking for a tasty cranberry orange scone, I think this is the ticket. Give it a try.

Note: For a mini version of these gems, click here.

Cranberry Orange Scones
      --adapted from Epicurous.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup sugar (rounded)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon orange extract
• 1 cup half & half

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. (Parchment isn’t necessary, but it helps.)  
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. (By "sift" I mean put the ingredients in a large bowl and stir well with a whisk.) Mix in orange peel. 
Add butter and rub in with fingertips, or cut in with a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in dried cranberries. 
Measure half & half into glass measuring cup and add orange extract.   Add half & half, tossing with fork until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns. 
Cut ball of dough in half.  Form dough into 2 1-inch-thick rounds. Cut into 6 wedges each. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Brush with a little half and half and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.  
Bake at 375°F until tops of scones are golden brown, about 18-23 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 moderately sized scones.

I may have overdone it with the pics.