Cranberry Orange Scones

Makes 12-16 scones

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 425F degree . Line a baking sheet with
parchment paper. (I use an oven safe silicon mat)

In a bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder,
baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Add the butter to the flour
mixture. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients all at once and stir until
a sticky dough forms. Stir in the cranberries and apricots just until
evenly distributed.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and turn the dough out
onto a lightly floured board. With floured hands, gently knead the
dough 8-10 strokes; the dough will be very soft. Press and pat the
dough into a loose rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Fold
the rectangle like a letter, overlapping the 2 short sides in the
middle, to make 3 layers. Pat out the dough into a thick rectangle.
Divide in half. Pat each portion into a round 3/4 inch thick
and 8 inches in diameter. Cut each round into 6 or 8 wedges.

Arrange the wedges, 2 inches apart, on the prepared sheet.
Bake until golden brown, 14-18 minutes (If cutting into 8, reduce baking time 2-3 minutes). Transfer to racks.

If desired, in a small bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar
with the orange juice until smooth. Adjust the consistency with
a little more juice, if needed; it should be thick but pourable.
With a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the hot scones. Let
stand for at least 10 minutes to set the glaze.

Serve the scones warm with butter (optional).

Adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Bread Cookbook