Cornmeal scones

I know I promised this recipe last week, I got caught up in pre-Easter orders and a baby shower.


Yesterday was Easter in  Orthodox Christianity and it meant a break from fasting. For the past six weeks I've abstained from hard liquor, Dairy, meat, basically any animal products. Admittedly had a few slips mainly due to lack of vegan food being in my presence as my blood sugar descended. Over all I did pretty well and I was ready to celebrate. For dinner I had lamb burgers with bleu cheese, roasted Brussel sprouts, and sweet potato gnocchi seasoned with butter and sage. It was a delicious Easter dinner.  Ironically I wasn't really craving dessert moreso thinking of the morning and my craving for cream scones.  So I set to make the recipe that made convinced I could like a scone. Before I had a cornmeal scone, I thought of scones as big dry semi-sweet biscuit. These have a textural contrast that is amazing.  There also good with fresh blueberries instead of dried cranberries


Ingredients

• 250g self rising flowur
• 50 grams fine cornmeal
• 100 g granulated citrus sugar* 
• 100 grams dried cranberries soaked and drained
• 240 ml half & half cream, milk, or whipping cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• coarse ground cornmeal (polenta) for topping)

*Citrus Sugar
I usually use 60g of citrus sugar but I was feeling ambitious they turned out a bit too sweet for my personal liking but the general audience seemed to think they were fine.

There are 2 methods I use to make orange sugar. The slow method: rub in 2tsp of zest from citrus fruit ( I used 1 lemon and 1 lime) into sugar keep in a glass for at least 2 days before using. The quicker method is what i used this time. I used my magic bullet (with the cross blade) you could use a food processor.

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)
2.  place the oven rack in the center of the oven. 
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, 
4.  Add the currants to the flour mixture and stir well.
5.  In a small measuring cup whisk together the cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Add this to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together.
6. With #20 scoop spoon dough onto parchment lined baking sheet or sheet pan. about 1/2" apart
7.  Sprinkle each scone with a bit of coarse ground polenta. 
8. Bake on  for about 15 or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.