Blood Orange & Poppy Seed Scones


January and February I eat and bake with blood oranges.
I love that pink icing and the thrill of cutting into these beauties.

Soon, it will be rhubarb season, but for now, I am happy for these specialty citrus.

Here, I made delicious light and fluffy scones with poppy seeds and pink icing.

I freeze them the day I bake them (they go stale rather quickly), so I can take one out of the freezer the night before to have it fresh for breakfast the next morning.


Blood Orange Poppy Seed Scones:


2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter (one stick), cut into chunks
3/4 cup plain yogurt, thinned w/ milk
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 large egg
1/2 tsp almond or vanilla extract
zest of a blood orange
extra milk or cream, for brushing (optional)
coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Blood Orange Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1 tbsp. milk or cream
1 tsp or more of blood orange juice
poppy seeds for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and blend it with a fork, whisk, pastry blender or your fingers, leaving some lumps no bigger than a pea.

In a small bowl, stir the yogurt, almond extract, and egg together with a fork. Add to the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
Pat the dough out about an inch thick circle on a parchment-lined sheet and cut into rounds or pie wedges; brush with milk or cream and/or sprinkle with sugar.


Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden.

*During the last 5 minutes of baking, open the oven, and run a sharp knife into the cuts you previously made to separate the slices, or they will fuse together!
Put back in the oven for the last 5 minutes of baking.

To make the glaze, whisk together the icing sugar, cream and blood orange juice, a little at a time, until you achieve the consistency you like; drizzle it over the scones while they’re still warm and sprinkle with some extra poppy seeds.


Makes about 8 scones.

Comments

Katie C. said…
Looks good! I think that I will make an orange or lemon olive oil cake today!
Natalia said…
This calls for so little juice from a blood orange - what do you do with the rest of the orange? And would substituting juice from a navel orange make much of a difference? Just curious.

Looks like an amazing recipe - I'm a big fan of scones!
Linda Orlando said…
Dear Natalia,
Just eat the rest of the delicious orange! Or squeeze it into a glass for the next morning!
Stacey Snacks said…
Linda O.,
Thank you for answering that question! ;)

Stacey
Anonymous said…
If you made these in the evening do you think they'd be okay the next morning? Or do you recommend freezing and taking out first thing?
Christine said…
I don't see poppy seeds in the recipe, are they just on top or in the scone itself?
Stacey Snacks said…
Anon,
I think they would be fine the next am, but after that, I always freeze them. This way you always have a fresh scone!

Christina R.,

Thank you for noticing! I revised the recipe to include the poppy seeds!
At least someone is reading my blog!
;)

Stacey
Christine said…
I made these tonight for valentine's day! They are delicious but just to let you know it doesn't say where to add in the zest or poppy seeds in recipe, and also says vanilla extract in instructions. I used the almond and I think it works great but I bet vanilla would taste great as well. It was easy to figure out when to add in the ingredients but just wanted to let you know :) Thanks! They will be a hit for breakfast.
Stacey Snacks said…
Hi Christine

You probably printed the recipe before I made the revisions the other day, after a reader in the comments let me know I forgot to mention the poppy seeds!

I am a bad recipe writer.
It's been revised.......
glad they came out great anyway!

Stacey