March 2013; Scones Month – Cranberry and Lemon Scones

One of my favourite combination of ingredients are cranberries and lemon. They just smell like Christmas all over. I actually made these scones during Christmas last year. I just had my second baby and was going through the confinement period for almost the whole of December. During that time, I was rather bummed having to miss out the festivities and Christmas feasting. Looking at photos of my fellow bloggers posting their delicious meals didn’t help either.

So, just to cheer myself up, I made these to at least reminisce even just for a little the Christmas mood. But they turned out better than I had hoped. These scones were fluffy and yummy. Sprinkling sugar on top gave it that little crunch factor. I cut them out rather small so I would say they’re like mini scones. Mini means MORE! 🙂

But whatever the size, I can’t think of why I didn’t use these combinations sooner. Currently, after making these scones, I think I prefer them to raisins. But if you’re not a fan of cranberries, you can just as easily substitute it with other fruits or raisins.

CRANBERRY AND LEMON SCONES RECIPE
(makes about 16 to 18 scones)

Ingredients;

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons, cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice.
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup buttermilk (more or less)

Extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)
1 beaten egg for egg-wash

Steps;

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Mix your dry ingredients together. Sieve flour with baking powder, sugar and salt.
2. Rub the cold butter or use a food processor to pulse the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a sandy mixture. Turn it out into a huge, deep bowl.
3. Add the lemon zest, juice and dried cranberries. Mix with your hands. Slowly pour in the buttermilk a little at a time while working the mixture into a mouldable dough. It shouldn’t be too sticky but not too dry either.
4. Tip it out onto a floured surface. Do not knead it anymore at this point. Just shape it out to about an inch flat.
5. Use cutters to cut out the scones. I used quite a small one (about 5cm).
6. Lay them on a lined tray. Brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle the sugar over them to give it that crunchy exterior.
7. Bake for 15 to 20 mins. Eat while they’re warm.

Enjoy!