Anna Sultana’s Lemon Cranberry Scones

We’ve been having cloudy skies recently.

Whenever it’s cloudy I crave lemon.

Especially in winter.

Along with craving lemon, I like extra servings of carbs during winter.

A few years ago I posted the recipe for Ma's Orange Cranberry Scones.

I recently posted Anna Sultana's Lemon Monkey Bread / Links for Eight Other Lemon Recipes.

A lemon recipe I missed posting was Ma’s Lemon Cranberry Scones.

Time to fix that.

Cranberries are too nutritious to just be served as a side dish during the holidays.

Raw cranberries have vitamin C, fibre and manganese.

About the holidays…

After the big day fresh cranberries are usually on sale.

When you get home you can put them in a bag and freeze them.

They will keep up to nine months and can be used in recipes without thawing.

Raw cranberries are said to help the cardiovascular and immune systems.

Some say they also can help prevent urinary tract infections.

Others say they don’t have that much of an effect.

But they can’t hurt and they do have nutrients.

Hints:

Chill your ingredients and equipment so that your scones will be light and fluffy.

If you don’t have cranberries, blueberries or raisins will also work.

Brushing the tops of the scones with the lemon glaze before baking will give them a crisp golden top.

If you don’t want the lemon glaze, you can ice the scones.

Combine in a small bowl

!/4 Cup confectioners’ sugar

3 Tablespoons lemon juice or water (more or less)

Drizzle over the scones.

If you don't want either the glaze or the icing, no problem.

                           Lemon Cranberry Scones

                       

grease a large cookie pan         

preheat oven to 375º F      

bake 20 minutes

Yield: 12 Scones

In a measuring cup beat together

2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Set aside.  It will be used for the glaze just before baking.

In a large bowl, mix together

3 Cups flour

1 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon salt

Cut in 

3/4 Cup unsalted butter, diced

Add

1/2 Cup chilled half and half cream

1 Cup cranberries (fresh, frozen or dried)

1/2 Cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

Toss with a fork until the dough comes together.

You can add more cream if the dough is dry.

Gather the dough into a ball and divide in half.

Knead one piece about 6 times and place it on the cookie pan.

Shape into a circle and flatten. 

Cut into 6 wedges.

Repeat with the second had of the dough.

Brush the tops with the lemon glaze.

Sprinkle with 

1/4 Cup dark brown sugar (optional)

Bake 20 minutes, until golden brown and a tester comes out clean.

Serve warm with butter, jam and tea

or clotted cream (in the dairy section of most supermarkets)