Perfect Holiday Pastries

For Thanksgiving breakfast, we had two of my favorite holiday items...Pumpkin Coffee Cake and Cranberry Orange Scones. These flavors are perfect for the holidays and go wonderfully with any item on the table or just a good cup of coffee! We also enjoyed many other tasty dishes, but I'll get to those another day :-)

Cranberry Orange Scones

(http://www.cooking.com/)

2 cups flour

7 tsp sugar

1 tbls orange zest

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup cold butter

1 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 half-n-half

1 egg

1 tbls milk

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tbls orange juice

orange zest

Combine flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, combine cranberries, orange juice, cream, and egg. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.

On a floured surface, gently knead 6-8 times then pat dough into a circle or rectangle, depending on what size you want your scones. Cut into triangles or wedges, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush scones with milk, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. Cool, then add glaze.

We ate these with regular orange marmalade and they were so yummy! Definitely a favorite. The only thing I did differently was the orange zest in the glaze!

Maple Glazed Pumpkin Coffee Cake

(http://www.seasonalrecipes.com/)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I always use golden)

2 eggs

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

orange zest (my addition)

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbls sour cream

1 tbls maple syrup

1 tbls orange juice (instead of lemon)

orange zest (my addition)

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add pumpkin, syrup, orange zest, and vanilla; mix on low until combined. Add dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula. Pour into a greased 6 1/2 cup capacity ring mold. (Honestly, I don't know the capacity of the one I used, so I'm sure as long as it's big enough to hold the cake, it'll work.) Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes then invert onto a wire rack placed over wax paper. The directions say to glaze the cake while it's warm, but I prefer to do it after it cooled completely. It seems to stick better that way.

As you can see, orange is a popular flavor in my house right now. I discovered this recipe last year and just made some changes to it this year. It's quite yummy and I'm sure it'll be around for awhile!

Hope you enjoy :-))