Chocolate, Cranberries and Orange, O My!

Who knew Scones could be so sexy? I have a girlfriend that turned 45 this week. She is a working mom who is so stressed out and over scheduled when someone wished her a Happy Birthday she stared at them blankly insisting it wasn't her Birthday, until she realized it was! First of all, SHAME ON YOU CLAY! For not being the first one to wish your beautiful wife a Happy Birthday! Secondly, WHOA! If you are a woman turning 45, you deserve Chocolate! Seriously, it's an official rule!

So I had been taking a looky-Loo at Scone recipes recently and bought some cream just for that purpose, I decided to make Chocolate Chip Scones with dried cranberries and Orange Zest for a bit of pop.

I made a double batch because I have a meeting tonite at church, and I also used my tiny biscuit cutter so they were small enough for a person to eat in 2-3 bites.

Here's the adapted recipe I used"

2 cups regular white flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 TBSP baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup whipping or heavy cream-very cold

8 TBSP very cold butter cut into chunks

Approximmately 1 TBSP grated Orange zest

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 of chopped macadameia nuts

In food processor, pulse together flour, salt and baking powder. Add Orange Zest and Pulse a few seconds. Add in chilled butter pieces, and pulse intermitantly until butter pieces are pea sized. Remove from food processor and toss quickly with nuts, chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Gently stir in chilled Cream, adding a bit more cream if dough seems too dry, less it if seems very wet. Today my batter needed less(weather?) Chill dough in freezer for at least 10 minutes(becareful, too long and it will freeze and you will have to wait for it to thaw.)

Roll out dough to about 3/4 inch thickness and cut into triangles or use a biscuit cutter. I got about 40 mini's from my double batch. Sand tops with sugar and place on parchment lined or greased baking sheet and chill in freezer for another 10 minutes. Place baking sheet in 400 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes. They should look light golden brown on top. Best consumed the same day or stored in an airtight container.

Ok, let me just say these were SOOOOOOOOOO good! My kids got to test them and they were so ripped when I said only one sample per person-MEAN MOMMY!

(heh-heh!)

The combination of the Choclate with the Orange, cranberries and nuts was PERFECT. Please let me know if you try these how you liked them.

Hugs and Fresh Baked Goods,

Leslie