Cranberry Orange Scones

From Ina Garten

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cranberry-orange-scones-recipe/index.html

• 2 1/8 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top of the scones
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, diced
• 2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, mix 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Add the cold butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream in a small bowl. On low speed add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and mix until combined. It will be lumpy. Toss the cranberries with the 1/8 cup of flour and add them to the dough. Mix until blended. Altogether this mixing process won't take more than three minutes. It is very quick.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface. I used my counter top covered with 1/4 cup of flour. Flour your hands and knead the dough into a ball. It will only take a couple of pushes with your hands. Pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Ina uses a rolling pin, but I don't bother. It's just one more thing to have to wash. She also suggests using a round biscuit or cookie cutter. I don't bother with that either. I just cut the rectangle into eight portions.

Place the scones on your prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake them for 20-25 minutes, until they are browned and firm to the touch. Cool them for about 5 minutes. While they cool mix the confectioners' sugar and orange juice to make the icing. I put the icing into a zip closure sandwich bag, snipped the corner and piped the icing over the scones.