Once upon a scone

After an unintentional year long hiatus (whoops!), I am back to bring you more goodies from the White Girl Bakery.

This post is devoted to scones. Yummy, delectable, melt-in-your-mouth, wonderful scones.

I have always had a love-hate relationship with scones, because they tend to be hit or miss when you get them in a coffee shop or restaurant. You could stumble upon a light, flavorful, moist wonderful scone that compliments the steaming tea in your mug...Or you could be stuck with a dry, crumbly, flavorless chunk of something pretending to be a scone that you NEED your steaming mug of tea to wash it down with.

When I first tasted this recipe, I fell in love. And ate about 3 in one sitting. My roommate and I were on a mini-vacation in Philadelphia, visiting my cousin, and we decided to put together an impromptu tea party to enjoy while watching Downton Abbey. The recipe is one that my cousin got from a man named Fred, who I have never met but will forever live in gratitude to.

It's simple, it's easy, and you will find yourself digging deep to find enough self control to not eat them all as soon as they come out of the oven.

Orange Cranberry Scones
(Yields 6 large, 8 medium, or 12 small scones)

Here's what you'll need: 

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar (2 if using plain yogurt)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
Zest of one orange
2 eggs
1/2 cup yogurt (vanilla or honey)
~1/4 cup craisins
milk and sugar to sprinkle on top

Here's what you do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. (This can be done in a food processor, although I prefer doing it by hand)

In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, yogurt, and orange zest. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Mix in craisins (I find doing this by hand is easier than with a spoon).

For large or medium sized scones, form all the dough into a disc approximately 1-1.5 inches thick. Score into 6 or 8 wedges respectively. For small scones, divide the dough and form into 2 discs. Score into 6 wedges each. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

All that's left is to invite a friend over, brew your favorite cup of tea, and press play on Downton Abbey.