Cran-Orange Scones

Many years ago I went overseas to India, and shortly after Western Europe. It was after one (or both...faulty memory) of these trips that my good friend treated me to homemade scones and homemade chai tea. I was having a hard time readjusting to no adventures and our small town...She then gifted me with the recipes. In all the years since then, I never made either recipe. Until this weekend.

Keep in mind, I don't own a KitchenAid mixer or any kind of electronic mixer. Instead, I do everything by hand, so pictures with dough consistency in the photos is going to be different.

This recipe is a lot easier than I thought it would be, and the results are deliciousness & a yummy smelling house. [For all of my baking, I use King Arthur Flour. I like their organic, all-purpose, and whole wheat flours. I use organic cane sugar as well.]

Per her info: You can freeze the prepped dough in squares, with a diagonal slice, pull/defrost, and bake if you want to have fresh baked scones.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients

Group 1: Group 2:

- 2 c of flour - 1/2 c white chocolate chips

- 7 tsp sugar - 1/2 c dried cranberries

- 1 Tbsp orange zest (aka grate orange peel). - 1/4 c orange juice

- 2 tsp baking powder - 1 egg

- 1/2 tsp (I use Himalayan)

- 1/4 tsp baking soda

- 1/3 c cold butter

Glaze (optional): 1/2 c confectioner sugar, 1 Tbsp orange juice

Prep Note:

If you're like me and are of the "waste not, want not" philosophy, squeeze the orange(s) grated used for your zest to provide the orange juice needed in Group 2 and for the glaze. I used 2 small oranges to get the desired amount of zest and ended up with a 1/3 c of OJ.

Instructions:

1) Group 1 ingredients - mix into crumbs, set aside. [If using your hand, a gentle opening/closing motion while hand-mixing will create the crumble/coarse mixture.]

2) Add Group 2 ingredients into Group 1, and form soft dough

2a) Mix in the Cranberries & White chocolate first

2b) Then add in the liquids (orange juice and egg).

3) On a floured surface, gently knead 6-8 times (those are her words, I definitely did more kneading than that because I had to use my hand to mix.)

4) Pat dough into 8 inch circle.

5) Cut into 10-16 wedges (depends on the size you'd like your scones to be).

6) Separate the wedges and place on an uncreased baking sheet. (If your pan is older and not a "non-stick" pan, lightly spray.)

7) *Brush with milk and **dip in sugar.

(Honest moment: *I don't own a culinary brush, so I ran down to the basement and grabbed a small-to-medium sized, packaged, paint brush. **I also just sprinkled the sugar over top, rather than dipping them in sugar.

8) Bake at 400 degrees F for ***12-15 minutes.

(***With my oven, I baked for 12, then turned the oven off and let them sit in the oven for the remaining 3 minutes.)

9) Drizzle the glaze over your warm scones.

Enjoy your tea-time!