I did something silly last November. I wanted to save myself a trip to the local produce market, so I picked up a bag of cranberries at Costco. Oh, Costco. How I love thee. But really? Who in the world needs 3 pounds of fresh cranberries!?! Apparently, not I. I came home to find that I already had several bags of cranberries in the freezer from the previous year. Oh, dear. That’s a lot of cranberries.
We are in the business of cleaning out our freezer to make room for this year’s pig and I absolutely have to find a way to use all these berries. On the plus side, cranberry and orange make a delightful combination, which is great news in light of the 80 pounds of oranges that my friend’s dad just dropped off. On the minus side, Brant detests cranberries. Oh, dear.
I borrowed heavily from a blueberry-lemon scone recipe when developing this scone recipe. Blueberries and lemons are a classic combination, so I figured I could easily substitute cranberries and orange for a similarly successful treat. Cranberries are more tart than blueberries, though, so I added a bit more sugar to the batter. The author’s idea of a crumb topping was brilliant. I tend to find scones to be rather dry and plain. They’re often too rich for breakfast, not sweet enough for dessert. The strudel topping turned these scones into something suitable for breakfast, dessert, snack, or anything in between.
I have made these scones twice – actually, three times… but I’m not counting the time when I forgot to add baking powder and thus ended up with a ginormous scone pancake that had the texture of rubber. Needless to say, I should not be allowed to cook before 9 in the morning. Both times that I have served these, they have disappeared in minutes and I got rave reviews from people saying they are the best scones ever. Brant really has no idea of what he’s missing!
cranberry orange scones with strudel topping
recipe adapted from Simply Scones by Leslie Weiner and Barbara Albrightscones
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
crumb topping
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled
Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly butter an 11-inch diameter circle in the center of a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, stir together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives used scissor fashion, cut the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and zest. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. The dough will be sticky. With lightly floured hands, gently knead in the cranberries until evenly distributed.
With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into a 9-inch diameter circle in the center of the prepared baking sheet.
To prepare the topping, in a small bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut the butter into 1-2-inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives used scissors fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the dough to cover. Press crumb topping lightly into the dough. With a serrated knife, cut the circle into 8 wedges.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean.
Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Then transfer the scones to the wire rack to cool. Re-cut into wedges. Serve warm, or cool completely and store in an airtight container.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Michelle // Feb 15, 2011 at 2:59 pm
These really are the best scones ever… and the true test is… you don’t need to have coffee or tea to help get them down… they are sooo good on their own!
Sorry to my family who really didn’t get to have any because I ate most of them myself… I will try and share next time!
2 LeAnn // Feb 15, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I’ll have Brant’s! Those look GOOD. My only attempt at scones was a failure… these will be my second attempt.
3 Jessica // Feb 15, 2011 at 10:19 pm
These sound amazing! Scones are one of my favorite breakfasts!
4 Lisa @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies // Feb 19, 2011 at 8:54 am
That crumb topping sounds like a great touch for scones. I bet it really took them to the next level. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog called “Sweets for a Saturday” and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link your scones up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-saturday-5.html