Cranberry Scones

There were a bunch of factors involved in the decision to make these scones. One was the fact that I've been craving the flaky, crumbly, not too sweet goodness that is scones for quite some time now. Second is the two bags of fresh cranberries that I picked up from my local grocery. I didn't know that I'd actually use them but I saw them for the first time and so grabbed a couple of bags. Who would resist that? I immediately stashed them in the freezer for someone else to use. I remembered seeing a recipe for Cranberry Scones in A Passion for Baking, the only all-purpose baking book I have with me until I return to Israel next week-- can't wait!!! These were a breeze to put together, replacing milk for the cream. Shaves some calories and besides, cream isn't always on hand for impulse baking. Other than that, the recipe was quite simple to put together. The dough was a bit tricky to handle, so in the beginning I cut circles out but when that failed I resorted to a cookie scoop to scoop the rest. I quite like the result... a bit lumpy, a bit craggy looking... just like I remember. Did I mention I burned a couple? Yea. So those ended up in the trash but the rest were really good. I didn't realize just how tart fresh cranberries are-- I was a cranberry virgin before, and they really are eye squintingly tart. The baking made them less tart in a soft, pleasing manner. However, I did find that the cranberries that stick out of the top remained tart, so be wary. These would be great with some jam.. I'm not a fan of butter, for breakfast. I hope to make more scones soon. So little effort, but so worth the end result.

Cranberry Scones

adapted from A Passion for Baking

3 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 cup butter or margarine cut into chunks

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/3- 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries, chopped

Ruby red jewels. So pretty!

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Add your desired fat,

and rub in the pieces as if you were making pie crust.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and milk, and stir until a wet dough is formed.

In come the cranberries!

Fold into the batter; the berries tint it a nice pink.

I started cutting out the dough... but then resorted to the cookie/muffin scoop method which I like better.

You can tell which scones were formed using which method. Here they are ready to bake.

Preheat your oven to 425.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until they are golden. Be careful not to overbake..