Yesterdish’s Orange Cranberry Scones

Hi friends, it’s Dori again. This week I’m sharing my recipe for orange cranberry scones.

I want to start by saying that these aren’t traditional scones — they are sweeter and more tender. They don’t demand butter or jam like traditional scones, though they a great with either. And while they pair well with coffee and tea, I like to serve them with champagne. Because champagne.

And I mean, who doesn’t love an excuse to drink before noon?

I’ve tried about 100 scone recipes. I recognize that sounds insane, but Adam and I became obsessed with scones a few years ago.

You can change the flavor by swapping out whatever you’re in the mood for. I really like to make them with chocolate chips and serve them with cherry jam

Right after we moved to the area, we discovered a baker that sold amazing scones and a farmers market. The market was only open on Saturday. We had to take two trains to get there. It closed at noon. They were sold out most of the time.

We went every weekend.

These really close to those and, because you do all the work ahead of time, you get to sleep in and stay in your pajamas.

The best part of these scones is the sugar crust. It adds just the right amount of crunch and sweetness. I actually learned the technique from my dad. My mom is an amazing cook, but my dad contributed a few dishes when she was working crazy hours. This is from one of my favorites. He used to make blueberry muffins with perfect sugar crusts. From Jiffy mixes. You know the ones in the small boxes with blue sides? I love those weirdo faux blueberries.
 

Note from Adam: Those blueberry bits are basically sugar, flavoring, and color held together by other sugar and chemistry. Natural dried blueberries wouldn’t work, largely for the same reasons we have to soak the cranberries in this recipe. When Jiffy mixes debuted in the 1930s, this was the state of the art. Meanwhile, a lot of products containing actual blueberries end up soaking the blueberries in some form of sugar syrup anyway so they’re not leathery when you bite into them. The modern state of the art is to include a can or pouch of blueberries in water, but I too still prefer the little sugar drops in the Jiffy mix.

 

Adding the sugar crust really did elevate boxed muffins, and it does the same thing for the scones. To make it, it’s important that you don’t use white sugar — it tends to absorb back into the scone. Raw sugar works really well — you can often find it in brown packets at large coffee chains that serve crappy scones.

(Not that I’m advocating stealing. Stealing is wrong.)

Just press the sugar into the scones after you painted them with heavy cream. And then bake. Magic.

This version of the recipe is for orange cranberry, but you can change the flavor by swapping out whatever you’re in the mood for. I really like to make them with chocolate chips and serve them with cherry jam. Or you could go the traditional route and add berries or currants. Just a note on the berries — fresh berries add a lot of moisture and can mess up your scones. If you do add berries, use frozen (I know, the horror!) or reduce the amount of cream.

One last thing about the recipe — they have to be frozen at least overnight, but they can stay frozen longer. Just cut them after the first night and individually wrap them. Then you can one out whenever you are feeling like a fancy breakfast. Just make sure to have some champagne chilled.

From Yesterdish’s recipe box.

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