Cranberry Cream Scones

Rich cranberry scones made moist with cream and glistened with sugar.    

This year Sunny is hosting Thanksgiving at her home. There will be twenty-five of us AND it will be a sit-down dinner. I grew up in a house where Thanksgiving was always a sit-down dinner, so I’m glad Sunny’s carrying on the family tradition. No paper plates here!

Instead of dinner rolls, she thought cranberry scones would be a nice change. And cranberries are holiday-ish, so I thought that was a great idea, too. I told her she should serve the scones that I’ve been baking for us for years. When I make these for breakfast for my family, I make one big disc that I cut up like a pie. But, as a side dish for Thanksgiving, I thought using a biscuit cutter would make them more like the rolls they were replacing.

These scones are moist and creamy because of the heavy cream it uses, instead of milk. If you don’t want to use cream, it still tastes great with milk, but it will have a lighter texture. I’ve made them both ways, depending on what’s in the fridge. No cranberries? Raisins are scrummy, too!

Makes 11

• 2 cups flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 3 T sugar, divided
• ¼ tsp. cardamom
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• biscuit cutter (I used an oblong shaped cutter 2 X 2¼ inch)

Combine the flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl. 

Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the pieces are smaller than peas. Add the cranberries and toss.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Reserve a tablespoon for brushing the tops. Add the rest to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until dough sticks together. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead five or six times.

If the board is a bit sticky, dust with a little flour. Pat the dough into a one-inch thick circle. Cut out the scones with the biscuit cutter and place on a parchment-lined pan. Gather remaining dough and make more scones.

Brush the tops with the reserved cream mixture and dust with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake at 350 degrees in a convection oven for about 15 minutes until lightly golden.  For regular ovens, bake at 375 degrees for about the same time.