INA GARTEN'S CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES

In New Bern, there is a local bakery that has the absolute best cranberry orange scones. They're loaded with cranberries and have a nice orange flavor; you can have them with or w/o the orange frosting drizzle; and the scone, itself, is rich, buttery and dense. In short, they taste like a scone and not like a biscuit.

When I saw Ina Garten make scones, I thought, if anyone would come close to that recipe, it would be she. So I decided to try her scones. I used some coconut flour for part of the flour, to add some fiber; a bit of orange juice concentrate for more orange flavor and some toasted pecans. Ina used her KitchenAid mixer; I used my Cuisinart.

These scones are even better than our local bakery's -- they're lighter and richer. But I will never make them again. They are just too good -- and too overloaded with fat. I'm reprinting the adapted recipe, as I made it. Thankfully, I cut the recipe to 1/4, but still managed to do some serious hip damage with these bad boys. If you're feeling like you need some comfort in the morning -- or any time of the day -- this is where you can get it.

Ina Garten's Cranberry Orange Scones, adapted 1/4 recipe
Rating: 10 out of 10
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour, scooped (I put 2 Tbsp. coconut flour in the bottom of the cup, then added the all-purpose flour.)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. finely grated orange zest
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) frozen unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp. frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries + 1 Tbsp. AP flour
1/4 cup toasted broken pecans

Preheat oven to 400F. In work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Pulse to mix. Add the diced butter and pulse with quick, short motions, till butter is the size of small peas. Stir egg, heavy cream and OJ concentrate together in a small dish or bowl and add to the flour/butter mixture with short, quick pulses, till mixture forms a dough. Combine cranberries, 1 Tbsp. flour and pecans and add to work bowl. Pulse briefly to combine into dough.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it lightly into a ball, being sure you work to distribute the nuts and cranberries evenly throughout. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4" thick. You should still see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick. Flour a 2-1/4" round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles. (Instead of re-rolling, as I cut circles, I realigned the pieces by pushing them up and into the dough.)

Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash or cream; sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. (I used a toothpick inserted in center to check doneness, as you would for a cake.) Cool scones for 15 minutes on a wire rack. If you want a drizzled frosting, whisk together 2 Tbsp. 10X sugar with 1 tsp. orange juice and drizzle it over the partly cooled scones.

Yield: will vary according to the size of the cutter and the thickness of the dough. I got 8 scones from this recipe.