If you've got fresh cranberries still waiting to be used after the holidays, these scones are the tastiest way to use them up.
Preheat your oven to 425ºF. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
Stir in the cranberries and most of the sliced almonds, reserving a small portion to sprinkle on top of the scones. Then stir in the cream or half and half and vanilla extract with a fork until just combined. Do not overwork the dough; it should be crumbly.
Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured surface and pat the dough into roughly a six-inch disk. Cut into wedges (six large or eight small) and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining one tablespoon cream, sprinkle with turbinado sugar (if using) and the remaining sliced almonds.
Bake for roughly 20 minutes or until they begin to turn golden. Serve warm. They can also be frozen and reheated at 350ºF for a few minutes.
Amounts: My usual scone recipes use the smaller amounts in the ranges I've provided here but to offset the tartness of the cranberries I've used the higher range for the sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Use less sugar is you want the scones less sweet.
Cream/Half-and-Half: Start with 2/3 cup and add more by the tablespoon if your mixture is too dry. 3/4 cup will look a little wet but it's what I used here and they were great. You shouldn't have any trouble managing the dough but if you do, form it into a disk and refrigerate it before slicing and baking will help.
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