Holiday Party 1

Holiday Party 2

Ingredients:  4 cups plus 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar plus additional for sprinkling, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon grated orange zest, 3/4 pound cold unsalted butter (diced, 4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten, 1 cup cold heavy cream, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk for an egg wash, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar plus 2 tablespoons, 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice.

I would like to preface the recipe by saying how much I love the fresh ingredients of oranges and cranberries!

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

2.  In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flower, 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange zest.

3.  Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas:

4.  Combine the eggs and heavy cream and with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the flour and butter mixture.  Mix until just blended.  The dough will look lumpy!  Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough and mix on low speed until blended.

5.  Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead into a ball.  Flour our hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4 inch thick.

6.  Flour a 3 inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough.  Place the scones on a baking pan.  Collect the scraps neatly and roll them out to cut more circles for scones:

7.  Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes.  You’ll know your scones are ready when the tops are beautifully browned and are firm to touch =)

8.  Let the scones stand for 15 minutes, then create the icing for the scones by whisking together the confectioners sugar and orange juice.  Then simply use your whisk and drizzle the icing on the scones.

9.  To package these (or any breakfast treats for your guests), you can use small bakers boxes, cellophane bags, etc.  We’ve chosen to use bakers boxes for our scones:

10.  To make it more personal, affix some labels or stickers that thank your guests for coming and ask them to enjoy their sweet treats!  Special thanks to Post Etiquette for creating these bands for us!

Simply place your perfectly packaged treats in a basket or on a table near the exit door and your guests will be thrilled to take one for their ride home.

Enjoy!  Hope your weekend will be a baking adventure of breakfast goodness!

Happy Friday all!  Michelle and Dave, the countdown to the last 24 hours starts now!