Oh these scones. They were a labor of love for me. I made them not once, not twice, but three times before I got them just right. The first time they were too dense and not sweet enough. The second time they were a touch dry and I overcooked them by about five minutes thanks to a pesky almost three year old who turned the oven dial up 25 degrees to 375º when no one was looking (ahem… Benji). The third time I hit perfection. I halved the recipe, added a touch more butter and duct taped the oven dial to 350º.
And was it worth all the trouble you might ask? Yep, it definitely was. These little triangles of dough are perfect in every way. Pumpkin, cranberry and orange all rolled into one “seconds please” breakfast pastry. I used two parts white whole wheat flour and one part almond flour in mine to beef them up a bit, but white flour will also work just fine. The key to remember when attempting to bake a successful scone is minimal mixing. I knew this going in and I still over mixed on the first batch. I thought hand mixing would be best but when I talked to a fellow friend and culinary grad, they suggested using a mixer instead and running on low until the batter was just mixed; not a second more. Excellent advice.
To put together a batch of your own, you’ll want to begin by combining a heap of dry ingredients together. Tasty things like cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
Stir it all together and then cut in some cold, cubed butter.
Once you’ve cut in the butter, toss some cranberries into the bowl. Stir them into the dry and then add your wet ingredients. Mix until just combined and then toss your dough out onto a cutting board sprinkled generously with flour. Your dough may be a bit sticky but once you roll it around in the flour you’ll remedy the problem.
Now some people might use a rolling pin for this next step, but I just use my hands to shape the dough into a long rectangle. It may be a hot pile of whooey but I feel the less heavy manipulation I do to the dough, the less dense the finished product will be.
Cut it up, place your pieces on a greased cookie sheet and bake. Once they’ve cooled you’ll want to add the piece de résistance. I think you know where I’m headed. Cream cheese drizzle baby. I add a little fresh orange juice to the mix to give the scone an extra kiss. 🙂
And that’s that. Off you go to bake some scones. Correctly. On the first try. Without the help of a toddler. Yum.
- 3 Cups of Flour (I used 2 of White Whole Wheat and one of Almond)
- ¼ Cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ Cup White Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 11/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ Cup Dried Cranberries, Roughly Chopped
- 6 Tbsp Cold Butter, Cubed
- 2 Tbsp Plain Yogurt
- 7.5 Oz. Canned Pumpkin (1/2 of a 15 Oz. can)
- 1 Egg
- 4 Oz. Cream Cheese
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Fresh Orange Juice
- 1 tsp Orange Zest
- 2-3 Tbsp Heavy Cream depending on consistency desired
- Mix together the dry ingredients: the flour, sugars, baking powder, and spices.
- Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or a fork. It's ok to still have a few visible bits of butter floating around.
- Stir in the cranberries.
- Add in the remaining wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Dump dough out onto a floured cutting board and shape into a rectangle about 11/2" inches high by 3" wide. Length will vary.
- Cut the dough into triangles and place on a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the bottoms are brown with hints of golden brown cooked into the tops. Let cool.
- While the scones are cooling, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, orange juice and zest. Add cream and mix until you hit the desired consistency.
- Drizzle over the scones, let dry and enjoy.
Loved nibbling this down in the car
third time’s a charm! the glaze is the kicker for me–great touch!