KITCHEN - cranberry scones

I made these North Fork Table & Inn Scones (from Smitten Kitchen) on the night my Dad and Connie arrived. Since they were planning to head down to Moab bright and early, I thought the scones would be a nice quick breakfast. 

These are very light and tasty scones that I highly recommend. I used fresh cranberries instead of the recommended raisins and caraway seeds. Deb at Smitten Kitchen used raspberries.

Recipe - makes 12-16, however I made 2/3 of a recipe because I was running low on butter and came up with 8 good sized scones.

2 & 3/4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1 T aluminum free baking soda (I used what I had in the cupboard but this did spark a conversation about what the Al would do to fresh fruit - we didn't see any ill effects)
1 t baking soda (I actually forgot to add this but they still turned out light and fluffy)
6 oz butter, in 1/2-inch cubes
1 c golden raisins plus 1 T caraway seeds - or - 1 c fresh fruit - chopped
3/4 to 1 c buttermilk (use less if using fresh fruit)
turbinado, sanding sugar, or regular sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F.
Freeze the cubed butter for ~15 minutes. Place all ingredients except buttermilk, fruit, and sanding sugar in the food processor. Add the chilled butter and mix until the butter and flour mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add buttermilk and chopped fruit (could use mixer but I just mixed by hand). Mix until the dough just comes together - it'll be crumbly.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a couple of times. Roll our dough to approximately a 1-inch thickness (I just patted it out by hand). If making the full recipe - cute into squares and then again on the diagonal. As you can see, I made a circle and cut it into triangles.

Sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake on silicon mat or parchment paper for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned. They kept well for a few days in an air-tight container.

Here are my helpers!