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Cranberry-Gruyère Scones

Source of Recipe

From "The Homesick Texan's Family Table" by Lisa Fain


Recipe Introduction

"Scones have long been a favorite addition to our family's breakfast table. My mom is quite famous, in fact, for her scones, and she has been known to make up new scone recipes on the spot, depending on what is available. These cranberry scones stem from one such experiment that she created at my grandma's farm one morning. They were delicious, and I asked her if she could give me the recipe. Unfortunately, my attempts at recreating what she had done were a complete failure. Not to be deterred, however, I decided to make my own cranberry scone. I kept the cranberries, but decided to go for a more sweet and savory scone, so I threw in some salty and nutty Gruyère cheese, along with a handful of crunchy pecans, two things that go quite well with the tart cranberries. They make a fine addition to any cool-weather holiday breakfast table. While these might not be my mom's cranberry scones, I'm okay with that; even though they're different, they're still just as good."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the scones
â—¦ ¼ cup sugar
â—¦ 2 teaspoons baking powder
â—¦ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
â—¦ ½ cup unsalted (1 stick) butter, chilled, cut into slices
â—¦ ¼ cup half-and-half
â—¦ 1 egg, beaten
â—¦ ½ cup chopped pecans
â—¦ ½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
â—¦ ½ cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese



Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425° F.
Lightly grease a baking sheet or a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Cut the butter into pieces, and work it into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender, until the flour mixture has the texture of pea-size crumbs.

Add the half-and-half and egg, mixing until the dough is a bit loose and sticky. Stir in the pecans, cranberries, and cheese, and mix until well combined. The dough will be slightly sticky and wet.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently roll out until it's ½ inch thick. With a 3-inch biscuit cutter or a glass, cut out the scones and place â…› inch apart on the baking sheet. (You may have to gather the scraps and roll out again.)

Bake until lightly brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm. They are best on the day they are made, but they can be tightly wrapped and reheated, up to two days after baking. They can also be frozen.

Makes about 8 scones