Despite the scary name, blood oranges are pretty beautiful (and non-threatening). These Blood Orange Scones are quick, easy, and will satisfy your late winter citrus craving. They're the perfect thing to whip up for Sunday brunch (bonus points for serving with bacon and an over easy egg).

Ingredients

Sugar: 1/4 cup
Blood Oranges: 1-2
Baking Powder: 2 teaspoons
Baking Soda: 1/2 teaspoon
Salt: 1/2 teaspoon
Flour: 3 cups
Butter (Cold, Unsalted): 1/2 cup (1 stick)
Large Egg: 1
Heavy Cream: 1 1/4 cups
Almond Extract: 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla Extract: 1/2 teaspoon

*Adapted from Bon Appetit's Best Cream Scones

The How To:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Zest the blood oranges - you'll want about 2 teaspoons of zest. In a small bowl, rub it into the sugar.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Cut butter into into small chunks - work into flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until the biggest pieces are the size of tiny peas.
Beat the egg in a small bowl - add in the vanilla and almond extracts.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture - add egg mixture and heavy cream.
Stir with a fork until the dough starts to come together, then knead with your hands a few times.
Turn out onto a floured surface and form into an 8-ish inch circle - you want the dough to be about an inch tall.
Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
Brush tops of scones with a bit of heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar (coarse sugar if you have it - but no worries if not!)
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
Serve warm! Scones will keep for a couple of days, lightly covered.

A Few Notes:

You can thinly slice the blood orange and scatter the slices over the scones prior to cutting them (as I did when I took these photos). It will be very beautiful pre-baking, but be warned: the slices get pretty funky during baking, and parts of the scones will be dyed a strange blue-ish color. So, I don't recommend it, but it's an aesthetic issue and the scones will be just as delicious!
Don't worry if you don't have almond extract, just add another 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
If you're looking for an orangier scone, swap out a couple of tablespoons of cream for orange juice

Pairs Well With: