Today’s cranberry scone recipe is inspired by a lifetime ago. A lifetime ago I worked at a coffee shop in sunny Burbank, California. It was a tiny, one-barista-type coffee shop where the morning coffee maker decided on the brew, decided on the signage, set the baked goods out in the morning, and knew just about every person that came in the door.
It was my sweet spot. I can still remember Rick and Karen’s order, Ian and Nancy’s order, how the thrift store lady from next door would casually show up at closing time looking for leftover croissants.
What I also remember were these Red Raspberry Cornmeal Scones we’d order from a local bakery. They were coarsely textured, golden yellow, with a sweet jam center. Sidenote: I would always set one aside for myself and I’m fuzzy on whether or not I actually payed for one ever. Apologies.
These scones were inspired by this lifetime ago. Took me long enough + a can of cranberry sauce.
In other festive holiday scone news: Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Brown Butter Glaze
Like pie crust, this cranberry scone recipe require cold butter.
It helps with lift and texture… and we all want our scones a little lifted and textured.
Instead of cubing my butter (you know the old dice and slice), lately I’ve been grating my butter on a box. The result is fine, cold butter shreds and clean hands. Satisfaction.
To the cold butter confetti, I added a cup of cornmeal.
I used, regular ol’, mostly fine ground cornmeal. If you want to get into fancy coarse polenta territory, be my guest, you’ll just have a more moist and more coarsely textured scone… ya dig?
All-purpose flour, 2 cups to the big bowl of cornmeal and butter.
Granulated sugar. I used three tablespoons but you sure could use four if you’re feeling the spirit.
Baking powder and salt.
This is how we bake.
Fluff and stir.
Fluff and stir.
A cup of cold buttermilk and a wooden spoon to bring this cranberry scone recipe together.
The dough will be thick, but still moist and just a touch sticky.
I like to think that good bakers have one dirty hand and one relatively clean hand.
Who knows if I’m right. Maybe I’m just justifying my one dirty hand- it’s a hard worker though.
The dough is rolled to a 3/4-inch thickness… a rough rectangle shape… then folded into thirds.
Turn the dough a quarter turn (and if that confuses you, you’re not alone, just spin the dough around on the counter until it feels sorta right) then roll again. Fold again. Roll again and fold again.
Roll again.
No more folding. We’ve done our duty.
Roll into an 8-inch rectangle and slice into 8 squares.
On a parchment lined baking sheet for some quality oven time.
But first a small indentation in each scone. Not down to the pan, just a spot in the scone to hold cranberry sauce.
Cranberry sauce. Maybe it’s canned. Maybe it’s leftover from Thanksgiving.
Nothing too fussy, use whatcha got, even if that means your favorite jam – this cranberry scone recipe can be anything!
While the scones bake, orange juice and vanilla extract are added to powdered sugar to make a thick glaze.
Into a ziplock bag and striped over juuuust warm scones.
And a smidge of unbaked cranberry sauce on top!
Festive and easy and cozy enough for a holiday weekend breakfast. Plus we used up some leftovers!
Follow this with a leftover turkey sandwich for lunch and yes… everything is just about right.
Print
Cranberry Cornmeal Scones
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 34 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones 1x
- Category: breakfast
Description
An easy holiday brunch scone recipe using leftover cranberry sauce.
Ingredients
For the Scones
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, grated on a box grater
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- 3/4 cup canned or homemade cranberry sauce
- 1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)
For the Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice, plus more if necessary
- dash of vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, grate cold butter (using the coarse side of the box grater) into the bowl. Add flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Toss to combine.
- Create a well in the butter and flour mixture and add the buttermilk. Use a wooden spoon to toss the wet ingredient with the dry, creating a thick but moist dough.
- Transfer dough to a well floured work surface. Roll to a 3/4-inch thickness and fold the dough in thirds. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and again roll the dough to a 3/4-inch thickness, fold the dough in thirds, and repeat one more time. Three rolls and folds.
- Roll the dough one final time into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thickness. Trim the edges if necessary and cut 8 scone squares.
- Place on prepared baking sheet and use your finger to press and indentation into the center of each scone. You won’t press through to the sheet pan, just create an indentation.
- Spoon cranberry sauce into each indentation keeping the sauce flush with the edges of the scone, not really heaping.
- If you’d like, brush the top of each scone lightly with a beaten egg. This will help the scones brown a bit more. Not totally necessary. I forgot this step.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
- While the scones bake, make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice and vanilla extract. The glaze should be thick but still pourable. Add a dash more orange juice until you get the right consistency. Spoon the glaze into a ziplock bag and set aside.
- Glaze the scones once they’re mostly cooled by snipping a tiny corner off the ziplock bag and drizzling in stripes. Add a bit more fresh cranberry sauce atop the finished scones and enjoy!
Photos with my dear Jon Melendez.
42 Responses
Joy, these were delicious, and a salve for my post-Thanksgiving withdrawal. :)
I love coffee shop stories. While I’m glad I’ve “retired” from barista-ing, I will always hold my time working in coffee close to my heart. I learned how to love coffee, I learned a ton about baking (definite perk of being the barista at a bakery), and I fell in love with my hubs while making him Americanos.
I’ve been playing with these and thought you might like the tweak I made. When I made them for my parents, my mom wanted cranberry sauce in every bite, so on the last roll and fold, I rolled out the dough thinner and spread cranberry sauce across the center section of the dough. I then folded it, and cut it. The rest I did the same – little dollop of cranberry sauce in the middle, bake and frost. Yummy!
The other thing I discovered is that the cut scone can be frozen and baked one or two at a time meaning I get them fresh-baked each day :-)
These are gorgeous!
Not only am i trying to catch up a bit on bloggers I follow – I’m also trying to clear up old emails and found that I had ‘flagged’ this one. And I’m sooo glad I didn’t delete it by accident. ; o )
Can these be frozen after baking?
Oops – just saw your reply to my previous question
What a delicious looking scones:-)
Will these freeze?
Yes!
I always found scones to be too bland without jam and cream. This is a great way to use up cranberry sauce. I always struggle to pair cranberry sauce with anything other than poultry.
Tasty and festive… I froze the butter and grated it through the food processor. I found the mixture kind of dry with one cup of buttermilk, so I added about two tablespoons more. Was it just my flour/corn meal drier than average?
I think adding a few tablespoons more is totally feasible. Depending on the flour and cornmeal, they can be more absorbent than expected. I’m glad it worked out!
yum! these look/sound amazing
I love the laminated-style scone idea!
Usually scones (in BC, Canada at least) are gently worked together, providing a tender but VERY crumbly texture. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe – I’ve got a bushel of apples that need to be cooked. Perhaps an apple-butter variation?
Cheers!
That sounds delicious! Let me know how it goes!
So good! Next time I think I’ll add some orange zest to the dough.
if we use corse polenta , will it effect the crisp outside of the scone? what textual difrence will it make? and which would be better?
This looks like a real winner of a recipe. I love the idea of pre adding the jam to the scones! Will definitely try these out soon!!
Cornmeal + baked goods = best thing ever. These look amazing!
Can these sit out on the counter or should I refrigerate them?
They can sit out on the counter for a few days.
Yum, these look and sound delicious! I will have to give them a try!
Rachael xx.
https://theteacozykitchen.blogspot.co.uk/
I’ve loved this site for a cool minute now and I cannot wait to make these! I’ve also lived in Burbank for a couple of years, what was the name of the coffee shop?
Simply Coffee
love that pretty pink bowl – care to share the source? The scones look delish, too. :)
What a delicious looking scone! I love the idea of adding jam or cranberry sauce into the scone like a thumbprint cookie. Totally eliminates the need for jam on a scone!
Same question as another commenter above… should the butter be from the refrigerator, or freezer? (love the suggestion to grate it BTW)
Freezer is great, but my butter just came cold straight from the refrigerator and grating the butter quickly… I didn’t have any melting issues.
what a sweet story! I loved reading that! I would also love all of these scones. In my mouth. Right now. I can’t wait to make them!
https://www.searedandshameless.com
Yes to all of this but the canned cranberry sauce!! That is a no no in my world, because homemade is so delish and so simple!
I usually make my own cranberry sauce but I want to offer a simple option for folks, ya know?
I love making cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving but always seem to end up with so much. I’ll absolutely make these come Friday.
Is there a good way to print this recipe from iPhone? When I print from the blog, I get 2 pages blank & rest is all on left side of paper. Other cooking sites have 1 page with recipe. In other sites I can save to safari & print later.
Still learning how to use tech! Any help is appreciated.
I don’t have a print from iphone option but I can look into that for all of us. Right now when I use the Print option within the recipe box, I’m getting two printed pages. I’m sorry you’re having trouble. I’ll look into it!
Um, these look good… but I really love your beautiful kitchen towel! :) Can I ask where you bought it?
It’s an older towel in my collection. I think it was from Anthropologie.
Is butter cold enough for grating straight from the fridge, or should it spend some time in the freezer first?
Good recipe, thank you for sharing. I will try as soon as possible.
These look so delicious! And how simple! Love it!
Love the folding technique for scones. Sort of like a rough puff pastry. I can’t wait to try these.
Oh wow, those look amazing!! I love using cranberries in festive baking. Wish I could have a scone now, haha. xxx
Once again I’m sad my baking skills are not outstanding as I would love to try out these scones :)
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com