Easy Orange Cranberry Scones
A straightforward way to make an english classic... with cranberries!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more work surface, 250g
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 orange medium to large
- ½ cup cold butter
- ½ cup heavy cream 120ml
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup dried cranberries 125g
Optional
- 1 Tablespoon heavy cream 15ml
- extra sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, together in a large bowl. Zest the orange over the bowl and whisk it into the flour mixture. Add the butter to the flour mixture and combine with a pastry blender until there are only pea-sized crumbs. (See recipe notes if you do not have a pastry blender)
- In a liquid measuring cup that holds at least 1 cup, whisk ½ cup heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract together. Drizzle over the flour mixture, add the cranberries, then mix it all together until there are no dry patches of flour. (It should look like a big sticky clump. I usually end up having to press things together toward the end)
- Use your hands to work the dough into a ball in the bowl. Add flour as needed. (If it seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream, but be sparing). Press into a 9-inch disc and, with a butter knife or pizza cutter cut into 8 wedges.
- Place scones on a lightly floured baking sheet with a splat mat. Try to space them equally from one another. I alternate which scones are pointing up and which are pointing down to maximize space.
- Optional: Brush the top and sides of the scones lightly with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
- Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden brown and tops are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool so you don't burn your mouth.
Notes
- If you do not have a pastry blender, use two forks or two knives, whatever you feel most comfortable and efficient using. I would recommend getting a pastry blender, but I also just recently bought one after literal years saying I needed one, so I can also respect the fork life if that's where you're at.
- If you are not sure how big a 9-inch circle is, just pull out a cake pan and try to get it about that size. It's not an exact science! You can be a bit under or over, but that's about the size we're shooting for. I use a large silicone pastry mat whenever I do baking with any counter work. It has tons of guides for helping you measure out stuff and, best of all, it keeps your counter clean while you work! It is a bit of a pain to clean though, so I try to keep it floured enough that I can just wipe it off and put it back away when I'm done.
- You can do this recipe using the same amount of fresh or frozen cranberries (per Sally), but I never have those around my house so we just use dried cranberries here. Besides, if you crush the fresh or frozen cranberries you can end up with unwanted moisture in your dough, and we want a nice crumbly scone. Dried cranberries are just easier!
