Cranberry Almond Scones

This recipe is based on the Cherry Almond Scone recipe from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook. I didn’t have any dried cherries and truth be told I prefer dried cranberries. Plus my kids won’t eat whole nuts in anything so I had to sneak them in as ground almonds shhhhh. I also used buttermilk instead of cream to brush the tops of the scones (no cream in house) and I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar because who doesn’t like cinnamon sugar right? Right! Oh and I used the zest of a whole lemon, not just 1 tsp.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Zest of one whole lemon (it helps to have a good mandolin grater)
1/2 tsp of kosher salt (if you use table salt cut it down to 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp baking soda
10 Tbsp butter (the original recipe calls for unsalted butter but I just cut the salt a bit and used regular butter)
1/2 c. dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. ground almonds
1 c. buttermilk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
Buttermilk for brushing the tops of the scones
Cinnamon sugar for dusting the tops of the scones

Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, salt and baking soda and ground almonds. Cut the butter into the dry mixture using a pastry blender if you have one or the ol’ two knives trick. Blend until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in the chopped cranberries.
2. Mix the buttermilk with the vanilla and almond extract and add to the dry mixture using a spatula to mix until the dough comes together (don’t over mix). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it lightly until the wet ingredients are just incorporated. Shape the dough into a 9″ disk about 1″ thick and cut it into 8 even wedges.
3. Put the scones on your baking sheet, brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Make 10 minutes, rotate the pan and reduce the oven to 350F. Continue baking another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm with butter and jam…or just plain. They are freaking delicious.