Bursting with flavor, these scones are at the top of my breakfast list!
Make and eat fresh or freeze and eat later.
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It's just a bit less than a week until Christmas and this is quite possibly my favorite week of the year. Right in front of our annual summer vacation and somewhere hovering around our upcoming February tropical vacation {yes, the passports have arrived!}.
So yes, this week, I love it! I love how our kids are so excited. They rush to eat their little mini piece of chocolate after breakfast each morning from their Advent calendar and they ate their weight in sugar cookies this past weekend while dowsing them in sprinkles.
I vote to have Christmas music on 24/7 and everyone rolls their eyes. I've already made up our Christmas lasagna and stuck it in the freezer. Needless to say, I'm excited.
I also love how this year on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we are at home. All day. With no where to be or to go.
I'm debating on baking up these scones again for Christmas morning. The kids LOVED them the first time around and they just seem Christmas-ey to me. They are bursting with fresh, juicy cranberries and are studded with mini chocolate chips.
And did I mention the butter? All scones are good because of the butter in every bite. Plus, I topped them with an amazing almond glaze. Because every scone needs a glaze.
These are soft, yet a bit crunchy on the edges, a bit salty, a bit sweet and all around delicious. I limited myself to one half of one. It was hard. Incredibly hard. In fact, I'm still thinking about them.
And can I just say scones are the perfect gift?
I wrapped a few of these up, packaged them in wax paper and a cute little Santa gift bag and delivered them to two of my great local friends. They've been supportive of this little food blog for many years, sharing my recipes, telling their friends about it, so I felt it was fitting to give them a little token of gratification.
Maybe I delivered them right smack dab in the middle of their diet...one being on a 10-day cleanse. Needless to say, she cheated.
Ha.
Chocolate Cranberry Scones
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. oatmeal
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 T. lemon zest
1/2 c. cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 c. fresh, chopped cranberries {or 1/2 c. dried}
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
1 egg
1/2 c. heavy cream or 2% milk
1 t. vanilla
Icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
juice of one lemon
1 t. almond extract
splash of milk, if needed
1. In a bowl combine the dry ingredients; flour, oatmeal, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.
2. Cube the cold butter into small pieces and put into the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or fork, combine until the butter is the size of small peas.
3. Add in the chopped cranberries and chocolate chips.
4. Pour in the beaten egg, vanilla and cream/milk and gently stir together until just combined.
5. Using a bit extra flour, turn the dough on the counter and knead just four times, no more, no less. Pat the dough into a flat circle, about 1 in thick.
6. Cut into 8 slices and lay on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes at 400 degrees and allow to cool.
8. In a bowl combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, extract and milk {if too think}. Put a small Ziploc bag into a cup and pour the icing into the baggie. Seal and cut a small slit on the corner. Drizzle the icing back and forth over the scones.
