Orange English Scones in honor of Saint Thomas More

A classic English recipe in honor of Saint Thomas More, whose feast day is June 22nd.

PREP: 15 min

COOK: 15 min

CHILL: 10 min

TOTAL: 40 min

SERVINGS: 8 regular scones; 16 mini

Orange Scones

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

• ¼ - 1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on sweetness preference)

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 4 tablespoons salted butter cold, grate the butter and place in freezer or cut into small cubes, keep in fridge until ready to use

• ½ cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon Orange zest grated from one orange

• 1-2 tablespoons orange juice fresh squeezed

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Orange Vanilla Butter Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon butter melted

• 1 orange zested

• ½ orange Juiced, use as much or as little to get a smooth consistency.

Instructions

Scones

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour (1 ¾ cups), granulated sugar (¼ cup), baking powder (2 tsp) and salt (¼ tsp) together.

• Toss frozen, grated butter (4 TBL) into flour mixture and using a pastry cutter or your hands quickly mix until it resembles coarse crumbs.

• In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the heavy cream (½ cup), vanilla bean paste or extract (1 tsp), egg (1), orange zest (1 TBL) and orange juice (1-2 TBL).

  Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Gently mix together with a fork until the dough just comes together, forming a shaggy dough.

  
  

• Turn out the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, using the parchment to help form the dough into disc (about 8 inches), about ½ – ¾-inch thick. If the dough is really dry, add a little splash of orange juice or heavy cream.

• Using a bench scraper or large knife cut the disc in half, then quarters, then again cutting the quarters in half; making 8 large scones.

• Separate scones barely away from the other, closer to one another will yield a more evenly raised scone, further apart they will appear more rustic. Freeze or refrigerate scones to firm the butter back up for about 10-30 minutes, now is a great time to preheat the oven to 400° F (204°C).

• Bake scones until lightly golden brown on the bottom, about 13-15 minutes, 13 will be softer, 15 more firm. Remove to a rack to cool completely.

Orange Butter Glaze

• In a wide bowl (large enough to dunk a scone) mix together the powdered sugar (1 cup), orange zest (1 orange), melted butter (1 TBL), vanilla bean paste (½ tsp) whisk in just enough orange juice to get a smooth pourable consistency; whisk until smooth.

• Once scones are cool, one at a time, carefully pick up and dip scone top into the orange glaze to coat, then return to the rack to set the glaze.

• Store scones on counter in airtight container up to 5 days. Scones may also be frozen 3-4 months when stored properly.

Enjoy! And be sure to tag @quiminimo on IG if you share a photo so we can see!