I have been craving Panera's orange scones so last night we treated ourselves and wouldn't you know it: they were out. Not only were they sold out but they 'just' sold out. I asked the Scone Barista if the person that bought the last scone was still in the restaurant because I planned on tackling them and making off with the scone. She then informed me that they would be making more scones but not now. Later on. After I left.

Left to my own devices and completely sconeless I decided to whip up a batch this morning and this recipe is just as good as Panera's. On first blush a scone doesn't sound all that great and they look like they might be hard as rocks. But my friends they are wonderful and soft and oh so yummy! Did I mention how easy they are to make too? 15 minutes is all it takes to make the dough and then throw em in the oven and you're done.

Orange Scones

4 cups of AP flour
12 tbsp sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1 stick + 4 tsps butter (cold and chopped)
2/3 cup of milk
2 eggs
zest of one orange
11 ounce can of mandarin oranges (chopped fine and drained)
Save out a few orange slices for garnish

Mix up all the dry ingredients and cut in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs. Mix in milk, zest, oranges and egg. Stir until just combined and turn out onto a floured counter and knead gently a few times. I added a little flour to the board and the dough just to cut the stickyness.

Cut the dough in half and make two circles of dough. Think of a really thick pizza dough. Pat the dough down and cut it like it is a pizza into 8 slices. Separate the slices and put on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until nice and golden brown. I put all 16 slices on one sheet and they mushed together - next time I will do them in two batches.

The glaze
Now this is the really technical part. Not. Over a small bowl I splashed some orange juice over my microplane to get the left over bits of zest. I then added in some confectioner's sugar and mixed until I liked the consistency - I made mine super runny. If you like your icing thicker added more sugar. If you don't like the additional orange flavor just mix the sugar with a splash of milk and a little vanilla extract instead.

Once the scones are out of the oven let them slightly cool and then brush on the glaze and eat them over the sink. Or you could get a plate and fork and be a little more British about the whole thing but I won't tell anyone if you eat them over the sink.

I think on the next batch I am going to throw in some chopped walnuts and I can't wait to try this recipe subbing out the oranges for lemons. Yumm-o!

Go make these. Now. You'll love them!

~ame