Cranberry Tangerine Scones

I woke up wanting scones and so I made them. This recipe, with slight modification, comes from Ocean Spray.

Cranberry Tangerine Scones
Servings: 4 (2 scones each)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 27 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• a pinch plus of cinnamon (I used Ceylon)
• a pinch plus of ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup heavy cream, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Craisins (or other dried cranberries)
• zest from 1 tangerine
• extra sugar for sprinking before baking

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a 1/4 sheet pan with parchment.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter to dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender to work the butter into the dry goods. After 5 minutes or so the butter should be well cut into the dry goods and the dry goods should look grainy.
4. Add 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons cream, egg, Craisins and tangerine zest. Mix until dry ingredients are moist and the dough holds together when compressed..
5. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. Pat into a circle 3/4-inch thick; cut into 8 wedges.
6. Place on cookie sheet. Brush with the remaining heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake 12 minutes, rotating the sheet pan half way through.

Notes:
My husband prefers tangerines over oranges so that’s what we have in the house this time of year.

For me “a pinch plus” means something like a sixteenth of a teaspoon. I use the tip a teaspoon handle to reach into the jar, grab a small amount of the spice and add it to the bowl. Both spices here are really background notes that you may not taste in the final product. I think they help enhance the other flavors.

The directions from the original recipe suggest that the flour, et al and butter, once cut in, will look like small peas. Mine didn’t even after 10 minutes of hand blending with the pastry blender. It looked more like flour mixed with rice with some bigger pieces amid the flour. So don’t fret if you don’t see small peas.