Christmas came early this year!

Cranberry-orange scones with an orange glaze

Well, friends, Christmas came a little early this year.

Mom and dad were visiting for the weekend and mom insisted on buying my present now. I told her that I don’t want to buy a KitchenAid stand mixer before I get married – they are too expensive and take up too much counter space and are perfect for wedding registries or first-house warmings.

Well, she declared that she has ‘given up hope’ that wedding bells will ring any time soon. Her lost hope turned into my…

It is brushed nickel with metal attachments and I love it!

The first thing I made with the KitchenAid was Ina Garten’s cranberry-orange scones with an orange glaze. Yum! I have been wanting to make these for years, but didn’t because the thick dough seems to need heavy machinery to mix. In fact, I ended up halfing the recipe and it still yielded nine scones, which was plenty for us.

They are wonderful: light and flaky, with a wonderful orange zest aroma. The cranberries were a nice tart surprise. And the simple orange glaze? Beautiful!

Ingredients (this is the full recipe, so twice as much as I made)

4 c. plus 1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 T baking powder

2 tsp. salt

1 T orange zest

3/4 lb. cold unsalted butter, diced

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 c. cold cream

1 c. dried cranberries

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with splash of milk)

Glaze: 1/2 c. powdered sugar mixed with 2 T fresh oj

Oven at 400.

Mix 4 c. flour with sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add butter and mix on low until the butter is pea-sized.

Combine eggs and cream. Add to the mixer on low, mix until just blended. This will be a very lumpy, wet dough.

Combine cranberries and remaining flour, add to mixer on low.

Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead into a ball. Roll to 3/4 in. thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter (I used a drinking glass), cut out scones. Gather dough and repeat until all is gone.

Place scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I forgot the parchment and they didn’t stick).

Brush the scone tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20-25 min. until the tops are browned and the scones are firm to the touch. Cool for 15 min. on wire rack, then drizzle with glaze.

I’m sorry to say these are going fast at my house. I am NOT, however, sorry to say that I’ll never look at store-bought scones the same way.

Flaky, buttery, yum

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go gaze at my new piece of kitchen machinery! Enjoy, friends. xoxo

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