Cranberry-Orange Scones and the Hike from Hell!!

What a day! This morning I made some yummy and light cranberry-orange scones, with whole wheat pastry flour that happen to be a perfect snack. BUT, right after baking them my mom and I decided to go on a hike. We really enjoy hiking and try to challenge ourselves a little more each time we go, so we were planning on a 4-5 mile hike. Sounds reasonable right?

Well, when we got there I took charge of the map and decided we should try to do the 5 mile hike... which started by going uphill. Fine right?

About an hour into our hike and a few twists and turns later, we realized we were NOT on the hike we had planned! We were actually on a 7.5 mile hike- and hour and a half, 4 miles if you will, going uphill nonstop!!!

So, we ended up doing a 3 hour long hike, in the middle of the day, with only 1 bottle of H2O each! But you know what? We did accomplish it! And I don't know how soon we'll be looking to repeat it.... but at least we made it through! :-)

And now, have a scone recipe!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

(adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup nonfat milk
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (I used pulp-less)
• 1 large egg
• the grated peel of 1 medium-to-large orange

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, then add the butter, rubbing it in till the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Stir in the cranberries.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, orange juice, egg and orang peel. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir till the dough just comes together.
5. Scoop out globs of dough and drop onto the baking sheet. (Or you can use the authentic triangle scone technique, but I like the rustic look of the drop-scone)
6. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes or until they're golden-brown. Remove them from the oven and serve immediately.

Happy Baking!

Jessica