Cranberry Scones

Makes 10 scones

Recipe from Annie’s Eats

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

I thought these were just "scrummy" as Mary Berry would say.  I love that I can make and freeze the dough and then pop them in the oven when hunger strikes.  

1 ½ Tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup plus 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces

1 ¼ cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

1 cup heavy cream

Sparkling sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling over the top

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

In a food processor, combine the lemon zest, flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Pulse briefly to blend.  Add in the cold butter pieces and pulse again briefly until the mixture resembles coarse meal and the butter pieces are no larger than peas.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl. (You can do this part using pastry blender or two knives if you don’t have a food processor.)

In a small bowl, toss together the chopped cranberries with the remaining 3 Tablespoons sugar.  Stir this in to the flour-butter mixture.

In another small bowl, combine the egg, egg yolk and cream; whisk to blend.  Add the liquid ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula or wooden spoon just until all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Be careful not to overwork the dough. 

Using a 2 ½ to 3 inch dough scoop, scoop out the batter and drop onto the prepared baking sheet 2-3 inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with the sparkling sugar.

To freeze before baking, flash freeze at this point.  Place the baking sheet with the shaped scones into the freezer and chill until frozen.  Transfer the frozen scone dough to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag and store until read to bake.)

Bake in the preheated oven until light golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  If baking from the freezer, bake the frozen scones for 20-25 minutes.)

By my calculations, one of 10 scones is 367 calories.