Orange and Cranberry Scones

Preheat your oven to 425 F and situate the oven rack to the middle.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and (with clean hands) “squish” the mixture together by crumbling the butter with your hands. You could also use a fork if you don’t want to use your hands (although I think this takes longer). Keep mixing until the flour resembles coarse crumbles.

Mix in the cranberries and orange zest with a whisk. Add the buttermilk and orange juice and stir with a heavy wooden spoon until a dough ball can be formed.

Divide the dough into 2 equal balls. Roll out each dough ball on a lightly floured surface to ¾-inch thickness. With a cookie cutter of your preference (I used a flower-shaped cutter because Spring is here!) cut out your shapes. You should be able to get about 6 scones per dough ball (a total of about 12), depending on the shape and size of your cookie cutter. Re-roll your scraps of dough as needed to use as much as you can.

Place the shapes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and almonds.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until slightly browned. Let scones cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.