Flaky Cranberry Orange Scones

A recipe adapted from this blueberry one of Tyler Florence's, these babies never let me down with their buttery flaky consistency and best eaten while they're cooling on the rack.  I can never wait to eat them!  I don't even need a glaze on them, they're perfect just the way they are and the cranberries add a really special tart tangy burst in every bite.

Cranberry Orange Scones:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• zest from one orange

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream, and sprinkle the orange zest into the mixture. Fold everything together just to incorporate (I usually fold it with a big spoon 6-8 times); do not overwork the dough. Fold the cranberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the cranberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.

Pour the crumbly mixture onto a lightly floured surface in a pile. It will look messy at this point but do not fret! Now press the dough with 2 hands into a rectangle about 12" long, by 3" wide, by 1 1/4" inches high. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an UN-greased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown.