Cranberry-Orange Scones with Citrus Glaze

Start off your day with these super thick and amazingly flavorful cranberry-orange scones

 drizzled with a  sweet lemon/orange glaze

Let's wake up to these bright and absolutely flavorful scones, bursting with fresh cranberries and juicy oranges. 
I simply love the flavor combination of oranges and cranberries. The sweet and the tangy, complementing and enhancing each other. Just like peanut butter and jelly, or chocolate and pretzels. So good by themselves and yet, so much better together. A match made in heaven :)

These scones are buttery, crumbly and perfectly dense. Not as heavy (or dry) as your average scone. 
Super thick with just the right amount of crispy on the outside, and soft and a bit cakey on the inside. Each bite explodes with the sweet and tangy cranberry and orange flavor. The sugary lemon/orange glaze on top is an added bonus that makes these scone sweeter, slightly moist and kinda sticky. Who doesn't love a bit of stickiness anyways?!?! Licking the sugary glaze off my fingers is always my favorite part!

This recipe is quick and easy. Just make sure to remember to place the stick of butter in the freezer about 30 to 45 minutes before you start with the recipe. Shred the butter using a mandoline, grater or food processor. The tiny pieces of cold butter make the scones airy and soft on the inside when baking. So make sure to work quickly and don't over mix the dough. 
You can use fresh cranberries if they are in season.Or frozen one work even better, helping with keeping the dough cold until it gets in the oven. This recipe makes 8 huge scones. If you like smaller serving size, shape the dough into a square of about 9 inch sides, cut in 9 smaller squares (think tic-tac-toe grid), and then cut each square diagonally in half (two triangles per square). This way you'll end up with 18 perfectly triangular smaller scones.
And here is my quick video on how to make these, or the step-by-step recipe (with pictures of course!) down below.


This recipe first appeared on Cooking with Manuela in April 2016

INGREDIENTS:

YIELD: 8 large scones                                   PRINTABLE RECIPE

1. • 1 stick (4 oz, 115 gr) of unsalted butter, frozen
   • 2 cups (300 gr) of all-purpose  flour
   • 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar
   • 1 tablespoon of baking powder
   • a pinch of salt
   • 1 large egg
   • 1/2 cup ( 150 ml ) of heavy cream
   • 1 orange (zest and juice)
   • 1 1/2 cup (150 gr) of frozen (or fresh) cranberries
   For the glaze:
   
   • 1 cup of powdered sugar
   • 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice
   • 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

PREPARATION

TIME: 1 hour

1. If you haven't done so, place the butter in the freezer for maybe 30 to 45 minutes before you start with the recipe. If you don't have time, use the butter cold from the refrigerator.
When ready to start with the recipe, preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C).

2. Shred the frozen butter using a mandoline, grater or your food processor.

3. In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the shredded butter into the flour and mix quickly with a fork until you get a coarse mixture.

4. Add the egg,the orange zest and orange juice to the bowl. Mix and add the  heavy cream until just combined. You can use a fork or whisk.

5. Gently fold in the cranberries with a spoon.

6. Move the dough onto a counter and make it into a 9 in (23 cm) disc. Cut in 8 wedges. Move onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 400° F (205° C) for 20-25 minutes until pale golden.

7. For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, the orange and the lemon juices. Wait for the scones to cool off and drizzle on top. You can re-glaze before serving if you'd like.