Cranberry-White Chocolate Chip Scones

This holiday or winter variation is adapted from my Blueberry or Peach Scones, which were originally adapted from Sour Cream and Fruit Scones by Dawn Perry in the New York Times. Best fresh, bakers can make the dough, cut the scones, and freeze them for up to a month to later bake from frozen. (Bake a few minutes longer if the dough is frozen.) I make these using a food processor for mixing the dry ingredients and cutting in the butter, but they will work fine from start to finish in a large bowl with a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture if need be.

Makes 8 large or 16 small scones

Ingredients

2 cups/240 grams unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the counter or board
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling on scones before baking or freezing
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup frozen salted butter (4 oz/115 grams) cut into 1/2-inch slices or pieces
1 cup (99 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
¼ cup (43 grams) white chocolate chips, coarsely chopped
½ cup (170 millileters)sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt
¼ cup (57 grams/60 millileters) milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg-- beaten with 1 teaspoon water (You'll only need a tablespoon of this mixture. Save the rest for another use or cook for the dog.)

Instructions

PREP: Preheat oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the upper third. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
MIX DRY INGREDIENTS/CUT IN BUTTER: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade or in a large bowl if using a pastry cutter or your fingers, measure in the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Pulse or stir a few times to mix. Add the pieces of butter and pulse carefully 8-10 times if using the machine (or cut in with pastry cutter/crumble-mash with fingers) until you have pea-sized and smaller pieces of butter.
TURN OUT FLOUR MIXTURE INTO A LARGE BOWL (if not already using the bowl) and stir in the chopped cranberries and chopped white chocolate chips. In a measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt with the milk and vanilla extract and pour the mixture into the bowl. Using a table fork, stir until all the dry bits are incorporated, but the dough is still shaggy. Knead a few times until the dough barely holds together. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a rough ball.
PAT DOUGH with floured hands into a 1-inch-thick rectangle approximately 6” x 10”. The dough needn’t be uniform, smooth, or terribly neat. Using a pastry brush (or your fingers), brush lightly with about a tablespoon of the egg mixture. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a teaspoon or two of granulated sugar. (Optional: chill dough 30 minutes.) Using a bench scraper or a knife, cut into first 2, then 4, then 8 (or then 16 for smaller scones) rectangles. Place on prepared sheet pan as far apart as possible as the scones will spread quite a bit. Note: You can also cut this dough into 32 bite-sized pieces for a buffet or large brunch. I recommend freezing the dough 30 minutes before baking for this very small-sized scone.
BAKE scones 18-22 minutes. The scones should be golden brown on the bottom and have golden patches on the top. Remove to a rack and cool for a minute or two before serving warm. Scones will keep for a day or two, well-covered. To reheat, split in half lengthwise, spread lightly with butter, and grill until toasty and hot in a stove top grill pan or skillet.