Orange Cranberry Scones

Today is the first day back to "reality" after the long holiday break but it's OK (mostly) and I'm excited to get a fresh start (sort of)...  At least I can say that we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves over the break.  We had that fun Christmas weekend out at Montauk, we visited family and we ate and drank well.  Yesterday was spent vegging out in our jammies and watching movies.  We ate the leftover New Year's Eve brisket, we ate creamy potato soup, we finished off the holiday cheesecake and we ate these scones.

Brian loves something a little sweet with his morning coffee and my scones are high on his list.  This generously portioned orange and cranberry version is more tender than an average scone and topped with amazingly fragrant orange sugar.  I love mine in the afternoon with some Greek yogurt but either way, a batch of these, fresh from the oven, makes the house smell heavenly.  And we have a couple left over to ease back into work mode this morning.  Enjoy!




Ingredients
3 Cups all purpose flour
3/4 Cup sugar (reserve 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 Sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1" pieces
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1/2 Cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Cup cranberries
2 Tablespoon orange zest, divided

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles course crumbs.  In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, buttermilk, orange juice, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the orange zest.  Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture, add the cranberries and blend just until combined.

This dough is quite sticky and will make a very moist and tender scone.  Rather than trying to shape and cut it, I spooned the dough into a 9" pie dish that had been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Add the remaining tablespoon of orange zest into a bowl along with the 2 tablespoons of reserved sugar and mix.  Sprinkle the mixture on top of the scone batter and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 8 generous scones.