Holiday Scones

Oh no. More pumpkin? Sorry, but I just couldn't resist this recipe. And if you like pumpkin, you won't be able to either.
My daughter-in-law gave me a wonderful cookbook for my birthday a couple weeks ago.

 It's a delight and what's really a coincidence is my daughter took one look at it and exclaimed "I go there all the time....they're fabulous!"

And they have a chapter on scones. I love scones. Any time, any place. For breakfast, for tea, for a snack. Lashed with butter and perhaps honey or homemade jam. But these scones are wonderful all by themselves. Not too sweet. Melt in your mouth delicious. They are indeed seasonal, but there were some other scone recipes in this cookbook that I can't wait to try. At any rate, I am going to freeze these for when the kids are here over the holidays. It's very difficult to sit typing when they are in the kitchen still warm and the house smells divine. But I am going to resist taste-testing more than one!

Spiced Pumpkin Scones with Fresh Cranberries
From Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup sugar
½ pound plus 6 tablespoons (2 ¾ sticks)cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 large eggs
¾ cup cold buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
½ cup golden raisins

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°, place rack in the center and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Dump all the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Do not overmix. Dump the crumbs into a large bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the buttermilk, purée and vanilla. Whisk in the cranberries, walnuts and raisins.
Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the mixture comes together. Then stop. Do not overwork the mixture.
Using a ½ cup measuring cup (or a large ice cream scoop like I did) and place the dough on the parchment paper about 2 inches between scones.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow to cool slightly and then cool completely on a baking rack. Makes 12 scones.