Sweet Melissa Sunday - Orange Scented Scones

This week's recipe, chosen by Robin of Lady Craddock's Bakery, is Orange Scented Scones. You can find the recipe posted on her site.

I love scones. I am the only one in my family who does. So, I didn't have to worry about sharing any of these with anyone else. :) Actually the husband tried one, but I think it's just because I was raving about them and he wanted to see what he was missing. He thinks they are too much like a biscuit and to him the only good biscuit is one with sausage and egg on it.

I read a lot of the posts from those of you who had already made these. One of the biggest things I kept seeing was most used more zest than was called for in the recipe. So, I did the same. I used the zest from one whole orange, and added about 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract to the dough. I wanted the orange to really come though on these.  This was a really simple recipe to make. I did use my food processor and it made quick work of putting the dough together. I loved how you could see tiny pieces of the zest and the butter in the dough.

I traveled to Ireland a couple of years ago and one of the high points for me was a stop at a farm house where we were served fresh baked scones with jam. The scones were round shaped instead of triangle shaped and that is how I chose to make mine. Before putting them in the oven, I brushed them with the heavy cream as suggested in the recipe. When it came time for the sugar I decided to try something a bit different and I added a few drops of orange extract to some raw sugar I have and then sprinkled that over the scones. I thought it might kick up the orange flavor a bit more.

I thought these were wonderful. You could smell the orange as they baked and the aroma was mouthwatering. I barely let them cool before biting into one. They were tender, buttery, melt in your mouth goodness. The raw sugar on top added the little bit of crunch I like in my baked goodies. They were great plain, nothing on them at all.  I ate two of them before they had been out of the oven 10 minutes! I loved the texture of them. I am planning on trying this recipe again, only next time I think I will play around with the "scented" part...thinking blueberry with lemon. Maybe apple with cinnamon. The combinations  are endless.

Thanks again to Robin for choosing this recipe!   Hop on over to SWS to see what the other bakers thought.