Can you believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone already??
Taylor and I were blessed to be with all of our family this year. Last year we couldn’t get enough time off to travel, so we were only able to be with one side. This year, miraculously, ALMOST everyone was here in Southern California (missed you A + Y!)
Not only did we get to see all of our family, but we got to do the entire thing twice! My family did the big feast on Thursday, and Taylor’s family celebrated on Friday.
Basically, I gained about 90 lbs in 2 days.
Everyone’s fridges are full of leftovers, and I have been really struggling not to eat pie for breakfast every day.
I hope that you were able to be with family, and that you got some much needed rest. I didn’t do any work on the blog for 3 days straight, and I feel so much more refreshed and so excited for CHRISTMAS!
I’m listening to Christmas Radio on pandora now. The lid is off. The tree is up. The christmas music streaming has begun in earnest, and no longer in secret! 🙂
How better to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season than by making a batch of these Cranberry Scones with Orange Mascarpone!?
The spread is so amazing. Don’t skip the sweet, citrus flavored mascarpone. It turns an already tasty scone into an amazing treat, and it’s so easy to throw together. It only takes 5 minutes!
These scones are perfect for Christmas morning, a holiday brunch, or just anytime you need a sweet and flaky treat!
I really debated between fresh and dried cranberries. I was leaning toward fresh, mainly because of the more pleasing aesthetic quality, but when it really came down to it, I really prefer the taste of the dried (sweetened) cranberries. The fresh ones are just SO tart, it takes a lot of fussing to get them to taste how I want them, and I don’t think these scones were the right place for fussing.
The absolute best tip I ever got for making scones was to grate the butter into the flour mixture with a cheese grater. The best flaky baked goods are made with the coldest butter, and grating the butter helps you to get it into the flour fast, before is starts to soften too much. Plus, the pieces are small enough that you will only have to use the pasty cutter for a couple of minutes before the dough gets to that nice crumbly texture.
Use any type of cheese grater that has large holes. The box graters are the easiest to use.
Whenever my family gets together for brunch at my parents’ house, it’s always my duty to make scones. I’ve made just about 1,000 variations, using the same basic recipe. Usually, I just use whatever fresh fruit or berries my mom has gotten from the farmer’s market that weekend.
This seasonal twist is one of my favorite variations yet. It’s up there with fresh blackberry and cinnamon apple scones. The mascarpone spread is a newer thing that my mother-in-law introduced me to, and it just brings the scones up to a whole new level of delicious decadence.
I find that there really is nothing better than scones, coffee, and gathering with friends and family.
- FOR THE SCONES:
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar + 2 tbl
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups half & half + 2 tbl
- ½ pound unsalted butter (2 sticks, cold)
- 1 ½ cup dried, sweetened cranberries
- 2 tsp orange zest
- FOR THE MASCARPONE:
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese
- 1 tbl orange zest
- 1 tbl honey
- FOR THE SCONES:
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Grease two rimmed baking sheets, or cover with parchment paper.
- With a wooden spoon or stiff spatula, combine flour, ⅔ cup sugar, baking powder, ginger and salt.
- Grate cold butter into the flour mixture.
- Cut butter into flour with pastry cutter until dough resembles course crumbs.
- Add cranberries to flour mixture gently fold them in.
- Make a well in the center of flour mixture and pour in 2 cups half and half.
- Mix until dough just comes together, being careful not to over mix.
- Tumble dough onto well floured surface and knead only a few times.
- Pull the rounded sides of dough in on themselves so the sides are straight.
- Pat the dough down to about ½" thickness.
- Push the sides of dough with a bench scraper to get straighter edges.
- Cut dough in half lengthwise, then each half into thirds, and each third diagonally into two scones.
- Using bench scraper, transfer individual scones to baking sheets.
- Brush with remaining half and half and sprinkle with remaining sugar.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until just browned.
- Cool for five minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Best served warm with mascarpone spread.
- Enjoy within two days.
- FOR THE MASCARPONE:
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add all ingredients and mix on lowest speed until fully combined.
- Increase speed to medium and mix for one to two minutes, or until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Spread on warm scones.
- Keep refrigerated and eat within one week.
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