I took a traditional scone recipe and changed it a bit by adding fresh chunks of apples and dried cranberries for a flavor blast. It turned out to be a delicious scone recipe! These were baked as rounds instead of a standard wedge and I dressed a few of them with cranberry and powdered sugar glaze to make them ideal to serve at tea time.
My Apple Cranberry Scones incorporate mix and match dishes, tea pot, creamer and sugar bowl along with a retro polished steel serving platter and a vintage tablecloth to add a touch of old-fashioned charm to our tea. We served chilled cranberry juice and English breakfast tea along with our scones.
The setting includes Gibson dishes. The teapot and creamer are bone china pattern “Soho” by Linea. The polished steel serving platter is circa early 1950’s. The coasters for the candles are depression clear glass plates. To frame our afternoon tea service we set the table with a vintage, whimsical, hen house scene tablecloth and vintage white napkins with red embroidery.
These scones are a fantastic addition for an early afternoon tea because they are simply prepared and present beautifully. The scones are made without eggs so the roosters and chickens have nothing to fear from us, so enjoy our apple cranberry scones because they are simply scrumptious!
Apple Cranberry Scones Recipe
Ingredients – Makes approximately 20 scones
2 cups flour
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter cubed
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 Granny Smith apple cubed in ½ inch pieces
¾ cup dried cranberries
1 cup buttermilk
Cinnamon sugar
Preheat oven to 375°F
In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add cold cubed butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in rolled oats, apples and cranberries and mix well. Add the buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon until dough begins to hold together. (The dough may be a bit dry, if so then add an additional tablespoon or two of buttermilk until the dough holds together.) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and press together to make a disk. Pat the disk with floured hands until it is ½ inch thick. You can cut the disk into wedges or use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. I used a 2 ½ inch round cutter. Place scones onto a large baking sheet, paint the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake at 375°F until golden brown, 20 – 30 minutes. Serve warm out of the oven or at room temperature. Enjoy!
Note: For a touch of variety, I added a cranberry glaze to several of the scones after they had cooled for 5 minutes.
