Dreamy Cranberry Cream Scones

The weekend is just around the corner. I am really looking forward to it as I have some nice programs lined up. But other then that, my usual weekend morning is to wake up a little earlier, to whip up a delicious breakfast for my family. I bet most of us are tired of eating breads or cereal every morning, so a change of menu would be a nice treat. Today I have a fabulous recipe that you can make for your love ones. It is a really nice and simple scone recipe that I am sure anyone can whip up; Cranberry Cream Scones.

These scones might look ordinary, but they are actually very good and quite addictive to eat. ;) I got the recipe from one of my favourite cookbook "The America's Test Kitchen : Family Baking Book". It was really easy to whip up and you can even prep the dough the night before, store in fridge and just pop it in the oven to bake the following morning, easy! I too saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen too and was really sure this recipe rocks! (^o^)

If you don't have cranberries at home, you can simply replace it with raisins or even chocolate chips. :) Here is the recipe, with slight modifications:

Ingredients for Cranberry Cream Scones:

240g all purpose flour
3 tbsp caster sugar (I used 30g confectioner's sugar)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
72g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1/2 cup cranberries/ raisins/ chocolate chips
240ml dairy heavy cream (I used 180ml cream + 60g sour cream)

• In the electric mixer bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, confectioner's sugar and salt. Then add in the cold cubed butter and beat the mixture with the flat beater till it resembles bread crumbs.
• Then pour in the cream and sour cream to the butter mixture. Then gently fold in till the dough comes together. Bear in mind that you do not over mix it.

• Turn the dough and any floury bits onto a floured counter and knead till it forms a rough and slightly sticky dough call. Then flatten the dough into 1 inch thick. lightly dust the surface
• Use a 2" round cutter (Mine is a 1 7/8", odd size I know) or any size you fancy, dip the cutter in some flour and cut out the rounds. Placed the cut out doughs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat till all the dough has been cut out.

• Preheat the oven to 210C.
• You can either bake the scones or chill it overnight and bake it in the next morning. If you are baking now, brush the scone tops with cream and sprinkle some coarse sugar on top.

• Then place them in the preheated oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes till they are light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on rack before serving.

I actually doubled the recipe and brought it to my daughter's school for a special breakfast event. The teachers and girls loved it and so did I! Those that tasted it, all claim it's really good. Even my MIL whom is not familiar what a scones is, said it's very tasty. ;)

This scone recipe is going into my favourite bake list. It's light and flavorful and the slight tang from the cranberries is a great contrast. Even though I replaced some of the cream with sour cream, the taste is still fantastic. But feel free to use all the cream in the recipe, I'm sure it's even more heavenly...well if you don't mind the calories, heehee. :P

Okay, signing off now, have a great weekend folks!