Meg Miller's Cranberry Scones

In the first novel of the Meg Miller Cozy Mystery series, Dickens of a Crime, Meg takes food to a widower who has lost his wife to murder. She's not as interested in feeding him, as she is getting in his house to snoop and see if he was responsible for the death.

Chocolate cake, lasagna, and chocolate chip cookies are some of the things she takes to his house so she can browse and open his medicine cabinet.

However, the best thing she makes in this first book, is cranberry scones for Detective Penny Crawford. Meg worries she has overstepped her bounds with locating the deceased's vehicle and compiling a list of medications the widower has in his bathroom. Maybe the detective will forgive her if she substitutes her famous cranberry scones for stale donuts.

MEG MILLER’S CRANBERRY SCONES:

· 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

· 1 tablespoon baking powder

· 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes (keep cold)

· ½ cup dried cranberries or currants

· 1 cup heavy whipping cream

· Orange zest, optional

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.) Meg prefers to toss the cranberries in here because it helps evenly disperse them, but not necessary.)

3. Add butter cubes that have been kept cold and cut in with pastry cutter.

4. Add dried cranberries and combine.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add heavy cream.

6. Using a spatula, mix until dough begins to form. Use your hand if needed.

7. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. (Keep hands floured for this). Flatten into a one-inch-thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges.

8. Place, evenly spaced on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Can be covered and refrigerated or frozen.

9. Bake until scone tops are lightly browned, up to 15 minutes.

Meg likes to toss the dried cranberries in sugar before adding them to the dry ingredients. For more flavor, toss some orange zest into the dry ingredients while combining. She didn’t share these with the Widower Hillard, too tasty.