Cranberry Orange Scones

These scones are quick and easy to whip up and have a nice bright flavor from the orange zest and tart cranberries. They come together quickly in a food processor (although you could mix the dry ingredients together first and then cut in the butter and stir in the wet ingredients until it forms a dough, but I love to whirl everything together in a food processor and be done).

These scones have a great texture, not too dry, just the perfect balance of slightly crumbly, but moist. They are of course, great with tea or coffee and can be enjoyed all day long, warm or cold.

Once the dough comes together, you pat it into circle, cut it into triangles and it's ready for the oven! If you want a little extra sweetness and sparkle you can sprinkle coarse sanding sugar or regular sugar over the dough round before baking.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup, plus 1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt

Zest from 2 oranges (and 1-2 T juice)
8 tablespoons butter cut into cubes, frozen
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 tsp coarse or regular sugar for decorating.

Directions
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange zest, 4-5 quick pulses. Stir dry mixture with a fork to make sure the ingredients are combine. Add chilled butter pieces and pulse until butter is pea-sized, about 6 pulses.

Add sour cream, egg and 1-2 tablespoons orange juice. Pulse until mixture forms large clumps and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Mix in cranberries.

On a floured surface knead dough 5-6 times to bring together. Pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place wedges on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart so the triangles bake evenly. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

* It's hard to get a nice orange flavor, but the zest from the two oranges plus some fresh juice helps. If you have some orange extract, you could try adding 1/4 tsp with the wet ingredients to really bring out the flavor, but it's not necessary.

* If you have a sweet tooth, you can drizzle the scones with an orange glaze made with powdered sugar and orange juice.