Fresh Cranberry and Orange Scones

I happened to have fresh cranberries and oranges in my fridge this week and I wanted to use them up. They make such a nice flavor combination and fresh cranberries also happen to be very good for you. For some reason, I also had hot tea on my mind at the time, and there's nothing quite as delicious as hot tea and freshly made scones. 

The recipe below is a combination of several recipes. There are some variations you can take, such as using all white flour instead of white and whole wheat. You can skip the glaze and instead add a little bit more sugar in the recipe. You can use all buttermilk for the liquid. 

I really wanted to make clotted cream to go with these (I guess I was feeling very English this week) but discovered that while it is very easy, it is also very time-consuming to make clotted cream. It requires leaving heavy cream in a pan in your oven at 180 degrees for 8 or more hours! I suppose in the chilly English countryside leaving your oven on all day to make clotted cream might be a cozy perk--even if it is on a very low temperature. Considering the still-80-degree Southern days we've been having, I decided to skip the clotted cream.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1 1/2 sticks cold butter (diced into small chunks)

3/4 cup fresh cranberries (chopped, and tossed with 1 tablespoon sugar)

1 cup liquid (I used juice from one orange plus buttermilk, to equal 1 cup)

Glaze:

Juice from one orange, plus a few teaspoons confectioners sugar, whisked together 

(adjust for desired sweetness)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.

Add grated orange peel.

Add butter, and use your fingers to combine with the flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal.

Stir in the cranberries. 

Gradually add the liquid, and with a fork stir until the mixture comes together in moist clumps.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface, knead lightly about 4 times, and shape into a round disc that is 1 inch thick.

Cut into 10 wedges and bake on parchment paper for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, transfer to a cooling rack, and drizzle each scone with a little bit of glaze.

(Note: If you want to skip the glaze, dial up the sugar in the recipe to about 1/2 cup, or a little bit more if you like sweeter scones.)

(Pictured here is hot coffee, which is also delicious with fresh scones, but hot tea is the classic combination. Try it with both!)