What am I making Christmas morning?

Cranberry Orange Scones. They are so darn delicious! Rather than describe how tasty they are, I'll describe the reaction I received when I served them for my bible study ladies this past Wednesday. Shock and awe. That's right. They were so surprised that something that tasty came out of MY kitchen.

Wednesday was the last bible study before Christmas, I wanted everything to be just perfect looking, sounding, and tasting. The day before I ran into the grocery store searching for inspiration for our morning snack. A bright light shone down upon fresh cranberries (and all the other fruits in the misting section but whatever) and it hit me "Cranberry Scones". I searched AllRecipes for something that got rave reviews and found this one. I whipped them up....and was slightly disappointed. They were fine, but nothing special. I started looking at other recipes and noticed a trend of combining cranberries and orange. I sent Matt to the store at exactly 7:45, with just moments to spare before they closed. The next morning I made the scones using the same recipe but added zest from two oranges. I have to say, it took them over the top! Not only are they so tasty you want to eat more and more, they are really quite pretty to look at. The red cranberries give the English pastry a little Christmas kick!

In order to avoid eating them all, I gave about half a dozen to Mika after the party. Needless to say, she is equally in love.

So Christmas morning, I'm whipping these guys up.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES

INGREDIENTS:

BUTTER:

1 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened

1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

SCONES:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter (no substitutes)

1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

1 tablespoon of grated orange peel

3/4 cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter. Stir in cranberries, confectioners; sugar and orange peel; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cranberries and orange peel. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 6-8 times. Divide in half. Pat each into an 8-in. circle. Cut into eight wedges. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks. Serve warm with cranberry-orange butter.