Cranberry-Orange Scones

A friend was kind enough to pass on her scone recipe to me. They were so fantastic--not dry and heavy like many other scones--that I was tempted not to bring them into work as promised. I did manage to get most of them into work, and I also tried making my own variation by adding some dried cranberries and orange zest. These turned out yummy, too!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (a.k.a. orange zest)
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and grated orange peel. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture becomes coarse like cornmeal. Make a hole in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Mix until dough is sticky. Stir in dried cranberries.

Divide dough in half. Using one-half at a time, shape it into a 5-inch circle on a floured surface. Cut into pie wedges. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

For the plain scones, simply omit the dried cranberries and orange peel.