Cranberry Orange Scones

I hope wherever you may be spending your Thanksgiving is filled with love and good food and more than anything, thankfulness.  I will be spending the holiday and I'm sure eating a ridiculously rich dinner with my large family.  It's easy for me to get frustrated in the chaos of the holiday.  So many people going in so many directions (and so many sales to remind me that I haven't started on any Christmas shopping), but I will be doing my best to rest and take in the time I get to spend with nieces and nephews and brothers and sisters.  I hope you will too, whether it is time spent with sibling, parents, or friends, I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with those you care about.

An easy way to start off your Thanksgiving day would be with these cranberry orange scones.  I love a good scone, and the orange-y sweetness is a great complement to the slightly tart cranberries.  This could easily be made with fresh or dried cranberries and are would still be delicious without the orange extract if you don't have it on hand.  The best part is that these are very quick and easy to throw together, allowing you to get onto more important things like whipping together casseroles and basting turkeys.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Makes 8 scones

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time: 18-22 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar +2 tablespoons

1/2 cup cold butter

1 cup cranberries

zest of 1 orange (about 2 teaspoons)

1 cup very cold milk +1/4 cup (ideally full fat milk or even cream)

1 teaspoon orange extract

Ingredients for the Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

a dash of cream of tarter (will help glaze to set up)

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 400 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together your flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the brown sugar. 
3. Cut the cold butter into pea-sized chunks and add to your dry ingredients. Blend the butter in with a wooden spoon or stand mixer. A great idea would be to use a food processor or pastry blender like Ashley suggests (if only I had read that sooner). I ended up just using my hands to finish kneading this together; you want the butter blended in, but you don't want to over mix to the point where the butter starts to warm.
4. Mix in dried cranberries and orange zest.
5. Add the milk and orange extract and work the dough together by hand until just combined. Over mixing may produce some hard scones, which nobody likes.
6. Gather your dough into a ball and roll out onto a floured surface until about an inch thick.

7. Use a pizza cutter or a knife to cut the circle of dough into slices. You can always cut those slices in half for smaller scones. 
8. Move the scones to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the extra 1/4 cup of milk mixed with a teaspoon of vanilla on top of each scone. An option is to sprinkle the two additional tablespoons of sugar on top.
9. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a slightly golden color begins to appear on the corners. You can serve them warm for an quicker option or allow them to cool and add an orange glaze (that I promise is worth the few extra minutes.)
10. Create the glaze by whisking together the orange juice, powdered sugar, and cream of tarter.  The cream of tarter will allow the glaze to set up, it's okay to exclude it if you don't have it on hand or don't intend on waiting on the glaze to set up. Drizzle over the cooled scones and serve.

Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful Thanksgiving,