Kira Grogg's Blogg
Half-batch orange chocolate cranberry cream scones
18 March, 2017
Long recipe title = many sources of deliciousness.
The following recipe is based on this one from smitten kitchen. This is by far the best scone base I've found (to my taste). I was looking for a recipe that mimicked the insanely moist scones one can buy at Lazy Jane's in Madison, WI. Lazy Jane's has hands down the best scones ever, and frankly my favorite breakfast baked good.
Because my baking is mostly eaten by me alone (and occasionally a little help from my husband or friends), I like to make smaller batches. Thus I present to you, a half-batch of scones (4-6 scones) with basic directions. You'll find a lot more use of teaspoons. The key to these creamy scones is the generous dose of heavy cream (obvs).
The recipe
Oven to 425°F. (Don't be like me so be sure it doesn't creep up to 450°F)
1 cups (130 grams) flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2.5 tablespoons (35 grams) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Zest of 1 orange
~1/4 cup (30 g) dried cranberries, chopped
~1/4 cup (30 g) mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup - 1 teaspoon heavy cream
~2-3 teaspoons orange juice, divided
powdered sugar
orange extract (optional)
Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In food processor or with a pastry cutter, blend in the butter until distributed and crumbly. Add in chopped cranberries or other dried fruit and orange zest. Blend a little bit more.
Move flour mixture to a bowl and mix in the mini chips. Add in not quite a half cup of heavy cream and one teaspoon of orange juice. I have had trouble with dough being too wet, so I usually add slightly less cream and only add more if needed.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface (been using a silpat mat for this). Pat into a rectangle about 3/4 - 1in thick and cut out circles (I used 7 cm and 6 cm cutters). Collect scraps, squish together, and repeat until all the dough is used. Cutting with a sharp cutter is important so as to not crimp the sides and impede rising.
Bake on lined (silpat or parchment paper) baking sheet for 10-12 minutes. They should be a bit golden, but don't over bake or they will no longer be moist. Cool on a rack.
Mix remaining ~teaspoon of orange juice and enough powdered sugar to make a runny glaze. I never bother to measure for glazes. I just gradually add more sugar or liquid until I get the right consistency. For these I added just a dash of orange extract and orange food coloring to make the glaze extra orange-flavored and orange-colored. Drip glaze over cooled scones.
Eat. Enjoy. (Then maybe exercise...)
This recipe should make about 4 properly sized scones, or 6 slightly flatter scones, or 8 if you use a smaller cutter for some of them.
The results
Someday I will learn how to take a proper photo, but here they are:
(There is a gap on the plate because I already ate the baby one made from the last few scraps.)
As you can see I am not a very consistent baker as far as size goes. Different widths were intentional (what if someone wants just a little bit of scone?), different heights were not :\ Bottoms are definitely darker than I intended (I'm blaming the cheap oven in my apartment that can't keep a proper temperature).
I added some orange food coloring to the drizzle. Normally I would have left it natural but I just got a new pack of colors and wanted to try them out (they are very vibrant). And....I just realized it looks like I drizzled melted cheese on a biscuit.... eh, still tasty!
Scones and tea anyone?
Update:
I made these same scones but this time with lime and dried apricots. I wasn't sure about those two flavors, but they work for me.
I zested two limes and used lime juice instead of orange juice. I combined the lime juice with the cream to create a sort of buttermilk-cream. (Extra acid often needs more leavening agent--baking powder or soda--so adding in a 1/2 t of baking soda is another possible change to make.) Instead of cranberries, I chopped some dried apricots since i just bought a carton and added those to the dry mixture before mixing in the cream.
Of course I added in food coloring (a little light green and a little yellow) to the powder sugar and lime juice icing.
Update #2:
Using the same recipe base, I made an almond version. Turned out very tasty. Basically I substituted everything orange for everything almond. Instead of 1T of orange juice, I used a generous 1/8 t of almond extract (probably could have done with a little bit more), and instead of orange zest I added about 2T of sliced almonds to the flour mixture and ground them up in the food processor before adding the butter. More almonds probably would not have been amiss, but that was all I had on hand. If you don't over-grind, there will be a few fun crunchy almond bits at the end.
This time I shaped the dough into a large circle and then sliced into wedges using a pastry cutter. Advantage of this method is no scraps to deal it!
For the glaze, instead of orange juice I used milk and about another 1/8 t of almond extract (or enough to get the flavor you want). This time I avoided the impulse to add food coloring! I would have sprinkled some sliced almonds on top if I'd had any, just for a little bit more of an interesting finish.