I seem to have had a love affair with the Starbucks Cranberry Orange scones. Scones are like little biscuits delicate and flaky. The perfect treat with your morning coffee. So after spending WAY too much of my money at Starbucks I decided to make my own. I have made scones for years, and they are easy as long as you follow the rules. Plus I knew these would make a wonderful Easter breakfast addition.
Bonus: You can freeze these for up to 3 months. Reheat them at 300 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Check the inside of the scone to make sure that it is warm.
Some tips on how to make the perfect scone:
- Keep it cool. Cold butter is a must!
- Don’t handle your dough too much (no need to kneed dough) the more you touch the dough, it will warm up from the heat of your hands.
- So how do you get the dough in the shape you want? Fold dough into a rectangle and use a ruler set to the side to make sure your shape is the size you want. If you bake on a regular basis, go buy an inexpensive plastic ruler and keep it with your baking utensils.
- Leave the edges of your scones alone after you cut them, if you pat the ends you will meld the edges and the scones will not rise. Cut them and only touch to transfer to baking sheet
- Don’t over bake. Scones don’t get golden brown all over only the edges. As soon as the edges start to get a light brown color and are firm to the touch, they are most likely done.
- When you remove scones from oven, transfer scones off pan to rack to cool. If you leave on the hot pan they could dry out.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Scones
Servings: 12
Ingredients
Scones:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour sifted + more for dusting work surface
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed (cold)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract or DAVE's syrup
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- Turbino sugar
[br]Icing:
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed orange juice
Instructions
Scones:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl stir together sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and orange zest, sugar, and salt.
- Add butter scattering cubes over dry ingredients.
- Mix with pulses until you end up with a coarse mixture with pea-sized lumps. Butter will still be visible.
- Add buttermilk, and orange juice and mix a few times.
- Add eggs one at a time and mix until dough starts to come together.
- Add cranberries and mix a few more times until blended throughout dough.
- Dust your countertop with a generous amount of flour and dump dough into a pile.
- Using your hands as little as possible, fold and pat the dough into a rectangle about 18" long and 5" wide and 11/2" thick.
- Cut dough into 12 triangles and transfer to baking sheet.
- Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with Turbino sugar.
- Bake for 28-35 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and pan and set on rack to cool, about 15 minutes.
Icing:
- In a small bowl combine confectioners sugar and orange juice. Stir until smooth. Add a bit more juice to thin.
- Drizzle Icing back and forth over scones.
