Cranberry Scones

What comes to mind when you think of scones?  Prim and proper people dipping dried, tasteless biscuits in tea?  I used to work at a bakery where scones were sold and those scones were some of the driest, hardest, tasteless things I'd ever seen.  I had no desire to eat a scone after that.  Then one day my Grandma made scones for breakfast when I came to visit.  Yum!  Like me, eliminate your scone misconception by trying this recipe!  The scones are fluffy and flaky...exactly what you want in a baked good (but not in a friend! ;)).

2 c. flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c. cold butter
1 c. cranberries (fresh or dried; any berry would work)
3/4 c. buttermilk (you can also use milk that you sour with a splash of vinegar, OR simply use plain milk)
**optional** 1 egg white + additional sugar; brush the egg white on top of the scone wedges, and sprinkle with sugar before baking.


I always use dried cranberries when I make this recipe--I tend to have those on hand all the time.  The first thing I do is to soak the cup of cranberries in hot water to soften them up a bit.  After all, you're going to be baking them, so you don't want them getting hard and crunchy in your scones!

Throw all your dried ingredients into a bowl.  You'll notice that one of the ingredients in this recipe is nutmeg.

Not everyone cares for the taste of nutmeg; if it's something you dislike, then omit it.  But I think it's worthwhile to give it a try in this recipe to see if you like how the flavors blend.  I have a good-sized container of nutmeg because I make these scones so often, and I also use it at times in my white sauce to give it a different flavor.

I like how the nutmeg gives little flecks of color to the dry ingredients:

Add your butter.  Slicing it into small squares like this makes it really easy to work with.  (A food processor makes it even easier, if you prefer.)

Cut the butter in until coarse crumbs are what you see:

Add the soaked cranberries:

And then your milk:

As stated earlier, if you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can go ahead and add a splash of vinegar to regular milk to sour it, OR just use plain milk as it is.  I typically go with the plain milk route.  All the soured milk does is give it a slightly tangy taste and likely makes it a bit flakier, but the difference isn't noticeable.

Next, you want to stir the ingredients together just until the dough is moistened:

Dump this mixture onto a lightly floured surface, coat your hands with a little flour if your dough is extra sticky, and gently knead the ball of dough 6-8 times until it is a tight ball:

Pat the dough down with your hand to about 1/4" thickness.  You want it to be in a circle shape:

Next, cut your dough into 12 wedges.  You can use a pizza cutter if you want to.  I usually use my big chef's knife as I find my dough sticks a bit too much to the pizza cutter as I roll it through.

Place the wedges onto a cookie sheet.  If you've floured your work surface well enough, the dough should be easy to work with.

Bake for 12-15 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven, until your scones are golden brown:

Allow them to cool just a bit; you may want to place them on a cooling rack so that the bottoms don't get soggy.  In this house, all the scones are snarfed down within the first 10 minutes of being removed from the oven, so there isn't a need to dirty up another kitchen item.

Serve warm as your main breakfast course, or as a side to scrambled eggs and a fresh piece of fruit.

Soft and flaky: