Maggie has a position which has allowed her a limited amount of travel to Europe. I was able to see Maggie a few days after she returned from Spain (and previous to that Italy). While the dish below was not inspired by her trips to those locations, I’m sure it was from her trips to England. Once again, here’s Maggie….
“I asked the maid in dulcet tone
To order me a buttered scone
The silly girl has been and gone
And ordered me a buttered scone.”
No matter how you pronounce it (most Brits say “skon”), a scone is yummy and satisfying. In British grocers, one can buy them in packages of six- usually with sultanas (raisins). I love the packaged ones as much as I do the homemade version. Well, almost. I’ve experimented with lots of recipes over the years, and settled upon the one shared below as my favorite. The buttermilk makes these creamy and wonderful. I substituted cinnamon for the orange juice in the glaze of the ones pictured here, but usually make the orange version.
Make sure you have a pot of tea brewed and ready as these come out of the oven. Drink tea with these scones. Lots of tea. Good tea. If the package says Lipton, don’t bother. Just have coffee then.
Cranberry Buttermilk Scones
What you need:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 ½ t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ t salt
¾ cup chilled butter cut into chunks
¾ cup dried cranberries
1 t grated fresh orange zest
1 cup buttermilk
Glaze
1T heavy cream
½ t grated orange zest
1T fresh squeezed orange juice
3T sugar
What you do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. (I use my pizza stone for scones).
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I take a whisk and mix it all up. Then place in a stand mixer with the plastic shield if you have one. If not, use a hand mixer and just go slowly. This could also be done in a food processor too. Turn the mixer on low, and begin adding chunks of cold butter until well blended. It will be quite dry. Mix in the cranberries and orange zest. Now add the buttermilk, slowly, until well blended. Now the dough will be pretty darn wet. Shape the dough into a big ball, and divide in half. Lightly flour a board, or my case, just the countertop, knead a bit with floured hands and shape into circles about ¾” thick.
Cut each circle into 8 wedges and place the wedges about ½” apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until the scones are golden brown. While the scones are baking prepare the glaze. Remove the scones from the oven and brush the tops with the glaze.
Serve with butter and jam, or honey. And tea. No crappy tea!
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
oh my goodness! yummy!
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Great recipe. These scones are lovely.
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Yes we Brits say ‘skon’ and a good scone requires a lot of skill to make well … these ones look great and I’d love one to eat with a cup of tea right now!!
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I completely agree!
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hehe, Lipton shouldn’t even be called tea. Taylor of Harrogate is a good British tea.
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Sounds delish. Can’t wait to make them. Love your comments about the tea. Funny!
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No-one visits my house without being served Scones with homemade strawberry jam and Cornish clotted cream! My Mum used to make the cream too but I don’t have the Aga so I use Rodda’s – the next best thing!
I really liked this post and the recipe and will try this variation, thank you! 🙂
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These look seriously good! Winter has just started here and these will be perfect for a lazy cozy weekend breakfast – with a large mug of quality tea!!
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Hi Ranting Chef! Thank you for liking my post.
The only scones I’ve tasted were from a large global coffee chain, and I was not impressed. I will try your recipe.
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yum!
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Love, love, love scones (and skons). Trying this today!
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I never would have thought of using a pizza stone. Mine’s a bit grungy though. Would you heat it up the same way as if you were making a pizza?
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Yes, just the same. I have even used it cold, and it has been great. Gives a nice consistency. I use it for cookies and biscuits too!
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This looks delicious! I love scones. What would you substitute buttermilk for? They sell no buttermilk in Sweden, but they do have all kinds of dairy sort of milkish products.
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Easy peasey!
Substitute for buttermilk:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm
Make your own buttermilk:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeyourowningredients/r/How-To-Make-Buttermilk.htm
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thanks for the tip! I should be making these scones soon 🙂
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Always makes me chuckle when is Brits are depicted as being posh but have to say you can’t beat a bloody good scone and these sound awesome!
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Fresh scones with home-ade jam and Cornish clotted cream – so good! Always eat them on the day they are made as they start to deteriorate after this. Try a fresh scone v. an ‘old scone’ – you’ll know the difference.
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I have always heard that scones are so difficult to make, but these look delicious and user friendly! I can’t wait to make them!
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Your scones are a classic !! I love dried cranberries in my scones a lot! 🙂
Your scones look utterly delicious! Yum!
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I have experimented with scones before, but not with a buttermilk recipe. Very excited to try this out!
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This recipe sounds delicious! Im always looking for a new addition to change up my scones and this one looks great! Thanks
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Look delicious! I think I’ll sub lemon for orange and try it soon since they might put me on a gluten free diet after the 27th!
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