Lemon Cranberry Scones Inspired by Arrowtown, NZ

The delicious warm scones and coffee Cam and I loved from the Arrowtown Bakery inspired me to come home and create my own. Fresh cranberries and lemon are a great combination, and chopped mint leaves could also go really well.

I made these more like mini scones thinking they would last longer that way… they did not!

Simple Lemon Cranberry Scones
{makes 5 large scones or 8-10 small}

1 C fresh cranberries
1 lemon
1 1/2 C organic all-purpose flour
1/2 C almond flour {or omit and use 2 C all-purpose}
1 T baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 C raw sugar
2 eggs
1/3 C milk {I used organic 1%}
1/2 C butter, softened & sliced

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir together with a fork. Add in the almond extract and combine. Slice the softened {not melted} butter into the flour mixture and using a fork {or your hand!} combine together. It should somewhat resemble bread crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and add in the milk. Slowly pour into the large bowl, mixing with a fork until the liquid is absorbed. It will be on the wet side. Gently stir in the fresh cranberries and half a lemon’s worth of squeezed juice. I would also recommend adding in chocolate chips at this point. (:

On a well-floured surface, using your hands, spread the dough so it’s about 1/2 inch thick. You can either cut from the center out, making 5 large triangular scones, or take an upside down cup and cut out smaller round scones. It helps to stick the lip of the cup in flour inbetween each cut-out.

Place the scones on an oiled baking sheet, and squeeze just a bit of lemon on the tops. Sprinkle on sugar and bake in a preheated oven at 415 degrees F. for about 15 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Serve hot with butter, jam, or my favorite – homemade whipped cream!