“The best scones I’ve ever had.”

That’s what my mother-in-law told my husband the other day.  I made her scones for breakfast the next morning when she spent the night around Christmas time.  I made the scones a month or so before for a morning meeting and since both Gavin and I loved them, I decided to make them for her.  I most certainly did not expect that her response would be that they were the best scones ever, especially not weeks after she ate them!  Anyway, with that kind of response, how could I hide this winning recipe?

I found the original recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog, but she adapted from Gourmet magazine.  I highly recommend, by the way, that you follow the Smitten Kitchen blog…lots of very good recipes!

Meyer Lemon and Fresh Cranberry Scones

Prep time: 20-30 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: I think I get something like 15-20 2-1/2″ scones out of this

Ingredients
1-1/2 TBSP freshly grated lemon zest (preferably from Meyer lemons)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar (plus 3 TBSP additional if using fresh cranberries)
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
3/4 stick (6 TBSP) cold butter (cut into bits)
1-1/4  cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse (you can apparently use dried cranberries, but I would definitely recommend using fresh if possible)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (I use one of those Silpats, which are amazing!)

2. Zest the lemons and chop fine.  Reserve the lemons for another use (perhaps Meyer Lemon Sorbet?)

3. In a food processor, pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal and transfer to a bowl.

4. In a small bowl, toss together fresh cranberries and 3 TBSP sugar and stir into flour mixture.  (If using dried fruit, just add to flour mixture without mixing with sugar first.)

5. In another small bowl, lightly beat egg and egg yolk and stir in cream.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

6. On a well-floured surface with floured hands, pat dough into a 1-inch thick round (mine is never usually round…it’s more blob like, but definitely 1″ thick or thereabouts) and with a 2-inch round cutter or a rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out as many rounds as possible, re-rolling scraps as necessary.  Arrange rounds about 1″ apart on baking sheet and bake in middle of oven 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden.

Viola!  The best scones you’ll ever have.  I think what makes these extra delicious is that they are coming right out of the oven, warm and soft like a biscuit.  I think this is what is wrong when you buy scones at a coffee house…they’ve been pre-made and are a long way from being fresh.  To that end, the Smitten Kitchen states that you can freeze the dough if you roll them out and then flash-freeze each of them.  I have not tried that, but I do something similar with cookie dough when I make cookies and I do have to say it is the way to go.