Gingerbread Orange Scones

mysweetsundaymornings:

I really think that I made scones this week because I desperately wanted to eat all of them.  I made a lot of scones, some for TTF, some for work but I think it’s pretty safe to say I consumed my fair share of scones.  In the spirit of December, I went with gingerbread.  I’m not typically a fan of gingerbread cookies but seriously, the gingerbread in these scones made my apartment smell of light and fluffy gingerbread  for two days.  There is absolutely wrong with that any it made me want to make gingerbread all the time.  Anyway, once I decided on gingerbread, I saw Joy the Baker’s gingerbread post, I thought orange would be the perfect addition to these scones.  This also taught me that scones are the blondies of morning pastries…that may sound ridiculous but if you’ll recall from here, you can put anything in blondies…I’m pretty sure there is nothing you could put in scones that wouldn’t be amazing: toffee, chocolate chips, dried fruit, caramel, pumpkin; pretty much anything delicious. Hope you enjoy these scones!

Gingerbread Orange Scones
Recipe adapted from Art & Soul of Baking Buttermilk Scones, idea from Joy the Baker 
Yields 8 scones (Note: I tripled the recipe so if you’re making one recipe, you will have significantly less dough than pictured below.)

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp. ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
Zest of 1 orange (Note: I used about a 1/3 of an orange for zest and the flavor was barely noticeable. I recommend using one orange)
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into small cubes (must be cold!)
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. buttermilk
2 tbs. unsulfured molasses
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbs. sugar

Tools:
Baking sheet with silcone mat or parchment paper
Food processor or large bowl with pastry knife (I like doing it by hand rather than the food processor, however you have to move quickly to keep the butter cold)
Pastry knife
Small mixing bowl
Spatula
Pastry brush
Knife

Directions: 
(*Note directions are given without food processor, however I used the food processor to start the process and finished by hand, which I preferred in the end - use whichever works for you!) 

Preheat oven to 425˚ F.   In a large bowl, place flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk together or blend in food processor.  

Add cubes of butter and cut into mixture with pastry knife until butter is in small pieces throughout the flour mixture. 
 

In a small mixing bowl mix the buttermilk and molasses together until the milk is a deep, rich color. Pour mixture into flour/butter mixture until the dough begins to hold together.  Eventually, use your hands to mix the dough and continue to press dough together until all flour is combined and no longer visible.  You should still see chunks of butter throughout, which is normal.

Lightly dust work surface (I did this on the cookie sheet) with flour and pat/knead dough into a circle, about 7 inches in diameter and one inch thick.  Cut the circle into 8 pieces.  Place pieces about two inches apart on prepared cookie sheet with silicone mat.
 

Brush the top of the scone wedges with egg and sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar between each wedge.

Place in oven and bake for 14 to 17 minutes (mine took exactly 14 minutes) until firm to the touch and golden.  Let cool before serving. Enjoy!!