We are now entering what I like to call hell week. The last week of school before Christmas. Every child I know is currently insane. Every parent I know is pushed to their limit. Teachers can’t wait for school to get out. I’m wondering how much stuff can arrive from Amazon in the next few days before UPS alerts the authorities that I may be a hoarder. Somehow we have four non-urgent appointments with medical professionals this week. I’m wondering how long I can hold off an actual grocery shopping trip. I want to lock myself at home in my favorite yoga pants and listen to Christmas music and bake. But, see, I have no groceries, so it’s gotta be something I can make with things I already have at home.
If any of you are in the same boat, I give you the gift of these Orange Cranberry Scones.
By the way, if you’re looking at those and thinking, “That’s not a scone!”, I’ve been there. You can read about it here. You can also find a recipe for Utah scones here.
You’ll need some all-purpose flour, cold butter, an egg, full-fat sour cream, baking soda, baking, powder, salt, dried cranberries (like Craisins), the zest of 1 orange, full-fat sour cream, and an egg.
Preheat oven to 400. Place baking rack in the middle-low position. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the orange zest
and cranberries and whisk together again. Grate the frozen butter (a food processor makes that job super easy, but you can also just do it on a regular box grater). Toss the grated butter into the flour mixture and combine it with your fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and egg. Drizzle it over the flour mixture and then toss the mixture together with a fork until everything appears moistened. Gently press the dough into a ball–it will take some time and some parts of the dough will be more moist than other parts, but continue pressing together until it forms a ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough or it will become tough.
Lightly flour a surface (you can use the lined baking sheet if you want) and place the dough on top of the floured surface. Press into an 8″ disc
and cut into equal wedges with a butter knife. Separate the wedges and place them evenly on the baking sheet.
Lightly sprinkle the tops with reserved sugar.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Orange Cranberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
- 1/3 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt decrease to 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter
- Zest of 1 orange I love my Microplane for this job!
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries like Craisins
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the orange zest and cranberries and whisk together again. Grate the frozen butter (a food processor makes that job super easy, but you can also just do it on a regular box grater). Toss the grated butter into the flour mixture and combine it with your fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and egg. Drizzle it over the flour mixture and then toss the mixture together with a fork until everything appears moistened. Gently press the dough into a ball–it will take some time and some parts of the dough will be more moist than other parts, but continue pressing together until it forms a ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough or it will become tough.
- Lightly flour a surface (you can use the lined baking sheet if you want) and place the dough on top of the floured surface. Press into an 8″ disc and cut into equal wedges with a butter knife. Separate the wedges and place them evenly on the baking sheet. Lightly sprinkle the tops with reserved sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Questions & Reviews
I love this receipe! It’s spring time so I exchanged the christmassy orange and cranberry for a lighter lemon and poppy seed. Yum! I also made a little bit of lemon glaze to drizzle on top. I can’t wait to experiment with more flavors.
Yum! Cranberry and orange is my favorite! Would I be able to use fresh cranberries? Or would that change the consistency? Thanks!
I haven’t tried them using fresh cranberries—you’d need to chop them and then toss them in a couple tablespoons of flour (and maybe a bit of sugar) to soak up the extra moisture. Definitely something to experiment with (but not on Christmas morning, just in case! ?)
That is an awesome recipe! I haven`t tried it just yet, buy I`m sure that it will be a yummy!!!! Could you please tell me if I can change orange zest for tangerines zest?
Sure! You might need to use 2-3 tangerines depending on how big they are.
Yaaassss! I am feeling it this week too. It’s been crazy! My oldest had not one, but two sports team Christmas parties last night and of course he got bags of candy and treats at both of them. I am trying hard to keep some normalcy and routine this week even though it is busier than normal. Yesterday I made this simple slow cooker chicken dinner (https://www.homeecathome.com/the-home-economist/easy-one-pot-slow-cooker-chicken-dinner?fbclid=IwAR1Zzntyw_Pl6QBatiaTUeJ1R7Kr_P2eSn_bB1-_6UAndcRzadDiKG0dNWA) only I used sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes. All I did was put chicken, peeled, chunked sweet potatoes, and carrots in the slow cooker on low with fresh ground salt and pepper. It was delicious and we had a nice dinner on a crazy busy day. We only had about 30 minutes between activities to sit down as a family, but we still had family dinner.
Cancel your non urgent medical appointments. Reschedule in January or February when you will be bored anyway (comparatively). You can do this. Good luck!
❤️❤️