Orange Scones for the win!

I don't know why, but I really love orange flavored things. I love citrus things, but I really love orange everything. It's a just a flavor that reminds me so much of spring. Spring is my favorite season too. I mean living in Texas the weather is always the best, not to hot, just perfect. Also my birthday is in the spring so Oranges for some reason remind me of that. I decided to make scones because I've never baked them before and thought that they would be a nice easy thing to make. I've had scones before at coffee shops and I liked the texture of them. I don't know if it's the southern girl in me but I like the biscuit like texture and that they aren't overly sweet.  I looked through my pantry and realized I had everything except sour cream and I had a couple of oranges I needed to do something with. Also this recipe will leave your house smelling amazing. Ok, so thats why I decided on the orange scones. So here's what you are going to need for this recipe.

Orange Scones 

Orange Scones

• 1/3 cup sugar

• zest of one large orange or two medium oranges

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 large egg

Orange Glaze

• 3 tbs unsalted butter, melted

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2-4 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

I like to sift my dry ingredients together, I hate all that clumpy stuff.

In a medium-sized bowl, gently toss flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a separate small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until completely smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir sugar and orange zest together until sugar is moistened and zest is evenly distributed.

 Pour in flour mixture and toss to combine. 

Grate frozen butter into mixture.

Using your hands, work in the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

 Gently stir in sour cream mixture until just about combined.

 Do not over work the dough! Again, very gently press the dough against the sides of the bowl a few times and form a ball.

 The dough will be sticky at first but will come together as you form it.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and lightly pat into an 8 inch circle about 3/4 of an inch thick. Use a very sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles (think like you're slicing a pizza). 

Transfer triangles onto prepared baking sheet. You can arrange them in two rows, 4 in each row, or arrange them in a circle shape - leaving about 1" between each one. (I like placing them in two rows because I feel like they get crispier around the edges better)

Bake scones for 15-17 minutes or until the tops begin to golden. (don't take them out too early or they will be too soft) 

Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. During this time, you can prepare the glaze.

Time for the glaze

Stir together melted butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and orange juice until smooth.

 Once completely cooled, go ahead and either dip the tops of the scones into the glaze or drizzle it on top with a spoon. 

I also decided that I needed something on the top, so I zested another orange and mixed that zest with a little granulated sugar. I then added that to the top, more orange flavor guys.

Now you have some yummy orange scones that you can eat with your coffee or tea. Pretend you live in the UK or something. Oh serve these for brunch on Saturday, or add dried cranberries to your dough and make cranberry-orange scones. Hey it's up to you.