Makes About 12 Scones
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Sugar
2½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
8 Ounces Cold Unsalted Butter, Cut into Small Pieces
1¼ Cup Buttermilk
½ Stick (2 Oz) Unsalted Butter, Melted for Brushing
¼ Cup Sugar for Dusting
Optional
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
Zest of 1 Large Orange
Preheat oven to 425° with rack in the middle. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper or silpat sheets.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cold butter and with a pastry cutter or your fingertips (I prefer using my finger tips) work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Some large lumps of butter are ok. This helps make the scones even more flaky. (Add the dried cranberries at this point if you’re using them and add the grated zest to the buttermilk.)
Pour in the buttermilk and mix with the fork only until the ingredients are just moistened. The dough will be soft.
Bring dough together with your hands and very gently knead on a lightly floured surface for a couple of minutes. Divide the dough in half and form each piece into a round.
With your hands, gently flatten the dough into a circle about 1/2″ thick. (You can use a rolling pin but don’t put too much pressure on the pin when rolling.) Evenly cut the the first piece dough into 8 wedges and place on a parchment lined half sheet pan or cookie sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Place the scones on a second parchment lined sheet half pan. Brush each scone with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they just begin to get a little color, rotating the pan half way through the cooking time. Be careful. You don’t want the bottoms to burn. Transfer the scones to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
