Cranberry White Chocolate Scones

I can’t speak from experience here since I’ve never tried (or even seen) one, but rumor has it that here in Utah, scones are gigantic deep fried concoctions.

I . . . I don’t know what to say about that.

I don’t doubt that they are delicious—I don’t see how they couldn’t be delicious, seeing as they’re deep fried and all—but that, to me, is not a scone. Maybe it could be called, I don’t know, a frone (fried scone)? Or a Utone (Utah scone)? NO WAIT I’VE GOT IT a Mormone (Mormon scone, obviously).

THIS, my friends, is what I grew up calling a scone.

I remember really disliking my mom’s scones when I was a child and even taking my brattiness to the limit by complaining when she made them, and Mom, if you’re reading, I sincerely apologize. As is the case with, oh, just about everything, I was wrong and you were right (a phrase I am eager to hear pass the lips of my own children someday). Scones are wonderful and I regret the bratty scone-hating errors of my youth.

And these scones in particular? They are delicious. Buttery and rich, filled with tart dried cranberries and melted, gooey white chocolate chips . . . they lasted all of 20 minutes here, which is especially embarrassing considering that 1/3 of the eaters in this household refused to touch them because they were apparently “vewwy so gwoss.” I can’t wait to read his scone-love apology blog post 20-some years from now.

These, like my recent Double Chocolate Cinnamon Banana Muffins, hail from our church cookbook which has so far proven to be more than worth the hefty $5 investment.

Cranberry White Chocolate Scones

adapted from my church cookbook; makes 8 scones

1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cubed
heaping 1/2 cup dried cranberries
heaping 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons half-and-half, divided
1 tablespoon raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add cubed butter and mix on low speed; stop mixing when there are still fairly large chunks of butter. Add the cranberries and white chocolate chips and stir gently. With the mixer on its lowest speed, slowly add 2/3 cup half-and-half, mixing just until the ingredients are moistened and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

With well-floured hands, scrape dough out of the bowl and onto the baking sheet. Press it out into a circle measuring roughly 7 inches across. Use a floured knife to cut the circle into eighths (don’t cut all the way through to the bottom of the dough—this is more of a deep indentation than a full cut). Brush the top of the dough with remaining 2 tablespoons half-and-half, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until the scones are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before slicing through.

I had a different recipe I was planning to post today, but it will have to wait because these bad boys strike me as vaguely Valentine-ish, maybe? I don’t know . . . the cranberries are sort of reddish, and there’s chocolate, so there you go. They’re love scones!