Fresh Cranberry Oatmeal Scones

If my favorite food of the fall/winter seasons is pumpkin my second favorite is cranberries.  I always buy a bunch of extra bags when they go on sale and throw them in the freezer so I have some on hand when they disappear from the stores.  I've learned from experience that the frozen variety can be hard to find in stores when I need them.  This year I got a little carried away when the price dropped to 2 for $3 the week before Thanksgiving.  Need cranberries in June this summer?  Give me a call, I'm sure I'll still have them.

These are a bit different from a traditional scone because of the added heartiness from the oatmeal.  They also aren't the prettiest scones ever, but they are tasty.  I made them for our Thanksgiving breakfast but didn't post them then because three cranberry posts in one week seemed like it was pushing it.  Plus these would make an a great addition to Christmas breakfast as well, they could even be prepped the night before and refrigerated on the cookie sheet for easy baking in the morning.

Majority of cranberry scone recipes I've found call for dried cranberries, which could be used here in a pinch, but I really think the whole berries are better with the heartiness of the oatmeal.  The dough was a little temperamental for me, both sticky and crumbly at the same time, but it came together when patted into a circle on the counter.

 Fresh Cranberry Oatmeal Scones
Adapted from Right at Home
(Makes 8 scones)

2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries, rinsed
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons very cold butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  (I wouldn't recommend skipping this step, burst cranberries are not easy to scrub off a cookie sheet)
In a large mixing bowl whisk together cake flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Using a pastry blender or two forks cut in the butter until the flour mixture resembles large crumbs. In a small bowl toss cranberries with the granulated sugar and then stir into flour mixture.  
In a separate bowl whisk together the egg and buttermilk.  Stir into flour mixture.  Dough will be fairly sticky and may not come together completely in the bowl.  If it's very dry stir in another tablespoon or so of buttermilk.
Sprinkle some flour onto counter top or cutting board and turn dough out onto floured surface.  Using floured hands gently pat the dough into a circle that is approximately 3/4 of an inch thick.  Cut the dough into 8 wedges and place each wedge onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven 15-16 minutes until browned.  Remove from cookie sheet to a cooling rack and let cool about 10 minutes before glazing.

Quick Powdered Sugar Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons milk

Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk.  Add more milk 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the glaze is the desired consistency.  Drizzle over scones.

Cranberry Vinaigrette and a Leftovers Salad

There are lots of variations of the day after Thanksgiving sandwich, I bring you the day after Thanksgiving salad.  The only real recipe below is for the cranberry dressing, as it would taste good on whatever salad you can throw together, but I did list what I used for the salad pictured.  Granted it will only make use of two of the leftovers you have overcrowding your fridge, but no one says you can't eat it with sides of stuffing and mashed potatoes. 

When I was dating my now husband and offered to cook him dinner the first time it was like I suddenly forgot how to use a microwave let alone cook a complete meal.  I had no idea what to make.  (Incidentally I have a similar problem whenever we have people over for dinner - total blank on what to cook).  In one of our conversations he had mentioned a cranberry salad dressing that he had eaten at a restaurant recently that was really good.  Once I decided on what to make for the main course, I decided I needed to make a cranberry vinaigrette to go with the salad.  I found a recipe that looked good on Epicurious, but it called for fresh or frozen cranberries and it was the end of August and there were no fresh cranberries to be found.  I searched for frozen at every store in my area and couldn't find those either.  The logical thing to do would have been to make another dressing, but I'm sure my roommate at the time could attest to the fact that I was not logical while planning this dinner.

The comments on the recipe came to my rescue, with someone mentioning that they had used whole berry cranberry sauce and just left out the sugar.  I tried it and it worked, so I made the dressing for my then boyfriend, and three months later I was engaged.  I may be leaving out a few steps there, but he did say it tasted a lot like the one he had at the restaurant.  I have since made the dressing with fresh cranberries and honestly we think it's just as good with cranberry sauce.  If you want to go the fresh/frozen cranberry route though sub the cranberry sauce with 1/4 cup cranberries and 1 tablespoon sugar and give them a quick pulse in the blender or food processor before adding the rest of the ingredients, then proceed from there.  I still make it both ways depending on what I have on hand.    

For the salad pictured in this post, top mixed greens with several slices of leftover turkey, sprinkle with toasted pecans, dried cranberries, and Gorgonzola cheese, then serve with the Cranberry Vinaigrette recipe below.

Cranberry Vinaigrette
Slightly Adapted from Epicurious

1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper 

Add cranberry sauce, vinegar, red onion and Dijon mustard to a food processor or blender.  Pulse several times to combine ingredients.  With machine running, slowly drizzle in vegetable oil until it is all blended.  Pour into a bowl and stir in salt and pepper to taste, I usually use just a pinch of salt and a bit more fresh ground pepper.  Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours to help flavors blend together.  This makes a thick, creamy vinaigrette, so you'll need to stir and let come to room temperature before serving.

Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce

I make cranberry sauce every year at Thanksgiving and every year I change the recipe slightly.  I started with the basic cranberry/water/sugar combo listed on the back of the bag of cranberries and since then have tried replacing the water with juice, changing the sugars, adding spices, etc. all in the search for the recipe that I would want to keep making every year at the holidays.  This year I think I finally got it right, and it is just as simple to make as the original recipe. 

The apple cider provides a bit of extra flavor which is enhanced by the addition of the brown sugar, but you still get the tart cranberry flavor that the more basic recipe has.  Of course if you prefer the flavor of cinnamon or other spices in your cranberry sauce this recipe would lend itself well to those add-ins.  I've listed two different measurements for granulated sugar in the recipe below, I used 1/2 cup which makes a fairly tart sauce, if you like your cranberry sauce a little sweeter use the 2/3 cup measurement.  If you have any leftovers after Thanksgiving save 1/4 cup for the cranberry vinaigrette recipe I'll be posting after Thanksgiving.
  
Apple Cider Cranberry Sauce
Adapted from Ocean Spray

12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup apple cider
1/2 to 2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

Bring sugars and apple cider to a boil in a saucepan.  Add cranberries, reduce heat to a medium low, and simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally until the cranberries begin to pop.  Remove from heat and cool.  Don't worry if it looks too thin, it will thicken significantly as it cools.  Refrigerate before serving.