Cranberry Orange Scones with Orange Honey Butter

Holiday baking isn't just about cookies over the holidays! I'm the kind of person who likes to find any excuse to eat treats all day long, so while I love dipping a cookie in some coffee, there's nothing like having dessert for breakfast! With that in mind, I took the classic flavour combination of orange and cranberry that I so often put in my holiday biscotti, and infused them into one of my favourite go-to scone recipes! I love this recipe because it's super easy to whip together, plus it's just as lovely to gift to a special someone as are cookies!

To take this recipe to the next level, I like to serve it with an Orange and Honey butter, to kick up that citrus flavour just a touch, while also adding another hint of sweetness, to otherwise not overly sweet scones.

Adapted slightly from Bon Appetit
Ingredients:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting surface)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 heaping tsp orange zest
1 tsp Metro Irresistibles Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup fresh cranberries
Egg Wash
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
Orange Honey Butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-2 heaping Tbsp orange zest (use more or less depending on how punchy you want it)
2 Tbsp Metro Irresistibles Organics Pure Honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. In a large bowl, whisk sugar baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour to combine.
3. Add the cubes of butter to the dry mixture and toss to coat.
4. Using your fingers or pastry blender, work the butter into the flour, breaking it down until only pea-sized pieces of butter remain.
5. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, and add the beaten egg, cream, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Mix the wet ingredients with a fork, incorporating dry ingredients a little at a time, until a shaggy dough is formed. Gently fold in the cranberries. Lightly knead until dough comes together. Don't over-mix the dough! Don't worry if it looks a little dry. 
6. Flour your table and turn dough onto surface. Pat into a 1-inch thick round, and cut into 8 even wedges. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. In a small bowl, make the egg wash by whisking together 1 egg and 2 Tbsp water.
8. Using a pastry brush, brush tops of scones with egg wash mixture.
9. Bake scones until golden-brown, 25-30 minutes.

Honey Butter

1. In a medium bowl, or bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together softened butter with orange zest and honey until light and fluffy. Serve at room temperature with Cranberry Orange Scones. 

This post was created in partnership with Metro Ontario.

Listening To:

Earl Sweatshirt - Cold Summers