Weeknight Baking // Cranberry Orange Scones

 

The hidden benefit of being stuck at home in the evenings for Roger's 6pm bedtime, is that on nights when I used to be busy with church, I get some me-time. I do miss going to the evening services with Dave, but I can't tell a lie, the solo time has been W O N D E R F U L. 

Last night I put on some comfy clothes, threw on some Needtobreathe, and sang along as I made scones. The recipe I used as a base for all that precise, leavening-and-fat-and-flour-ratio business uses fresh raspberries and all purpose flour, but I am almost out of regular flour so I mixed in whole wheat like no big deal. And we had no raspberries, so, I improvised, and I think it worked out.

R E C I P E

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Cranberry Orange Whole Wheat Scones

Adapted from Martha Stewart's "Fast Raspberry Scones" (which I am addicted to making!)

I N G R E D I E N T S

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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) frozen unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup dried cranberries

The zest of one orange (about a tablespoon), divided

M E T H O D

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Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/3 cup of the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or use your hands to pinch the butter into the flour until pea-sized pieces form. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, half of the orange zest, and egg yolk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk mixture into it a little at a time, folding the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until dough just comes together. 

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to about 1 inch thick. Press cranberries firmly into the dough and sprinkle remaining orange zest over the top. Fold dough in half and roll it back down to 1 inch, then fold and roll one more time. Gather and pat dough into a 1-inch-thick square (if you care about cutting uniform scones, which I obviously didn't) and cut squares or triangles out to form your scones. Place pieces, about 1 inch apart, on a large parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle tops with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake until golden brown, 12-16 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let scones cool slightly on wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

These little dudes would taste magical with lemon curd or maple butter. Or just eat them as is. I ate about 3 of them for breakfast this morning.

If I had more time I would have used the juice from the orange I zested and mixed it with confectioner's sugar to be a finishing glaze. Maybe next time.