Cranberry Orange Scones

A word about Sourdough Adventures: It's not for everyone. But I started my starter a couple of years ago. My brother has surpassed my skills and crumb. Three of our family members jumped in the game this Christmas.

The time commitment of feeding the live beast is one thing. Finding ways to make magic of the discard is another beast altogether.

If you know, you know. Discard means you become a slave to the risen and fallen bubbles. If you haven't named your beast, do so NOW. If you're not in the game, ignore this post . . . or be inspired. These scones make it all worth it. More discard recipes to come.

From Amy Bakes Bread, my sourdough guru who taught me what I really kneaded to know. (See what I did there?)

As with all sourdough baking, you need to weigh EVERYTHING.

380 grams all-purpose flour, about 2 3/4 cups

65 grams granulated sugar, about 1/3 cup

13 grams baking powder, about 1 Tablespoon

4 grams salt, about 3/4 teaspoon

113 grams unsalted butter, cold, 8 Tablespoons

100 grams fresh cranberries, about 1 cup, roughly chopped in a blender

120 grams sourdough discard, about 1/2 cup

2 large eggs, about 100 grams

60 grams heavy cream, about 1/4 cup

40 grams milk, about 3 Tablespoons

4 grams vanilla extract, about 1 teaspoon

zest from one large orange, reserve a little for the glaze if desired

130 grams powdered sugar, about 1 cup

15 grams heavy cream, about 1 Tablespoon

30 grams orange juice, from one orange, about 2 Tablespoons

zest from an orange, about 1 teaspoon

~ DO NOT USE A MIXER. These are best when mixed as little as possible.

~ Whisk dry ingredients in one bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

~ Grate over the bowl (and in the sink!) a stick of frozen or COLD butter.

~ Toss butter in flour till fully coated. Don't use your hands and melt the COLD butter.

~ Chop cranberries in a food processor. 14 pulses should do it.

~ Coat cranberries in flour mixture then put this bowl in the fridge to keep butter cold.

~ Mix sourdough discard, eggs, cream, butter, vanilla, and orange zest together.

~ Amy also adds some of the juice from the orange; so did I.

~ Using a wooden spoon, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients till just some flour crumbs are left. DO NOT OVERMIX!

~ Put mixture onto parchment paper and fold over mixture to press in residual flour.

~ Don't over mix with your hands and melt the butter.

~ Preheat oven to 425 degrees if eating right away. (Or don't and freeze them! These bake and rise so magically from frozen!)

~ Pat the dough into a circle and then cut into 8 wedges.

~ Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and into the refrigerator if baking right away - into the freezer for an hour if saving for later.

~ From fridge, bake at 425 for 14 minutes.

~ From freezer, bake at 400 for 17 minutes.

~ While scones are baking, whisk together orange juice, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and orange zest. (in that order)

~ Drizzle icing over scones.