Joanne Fluke's Cranberry Scones* (as it appears in the book, “The Plum Pudding Murder”)

*with Sandy's small changes

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white (granulated) sugar

2 teaspoons cream of tartar (important)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup softened salted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)

2 large eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

1 cup unflavored yogurt

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins, or their equivalent)

½ cup whole milk

Use a medium-size mixing bowl to combine the flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir them all up together. Cut in the salted butter just as you would for pie crust.

Hannah's Note: If you have a food processor, you can use it for the first step. Cut ½ cup COLD salted butter in 8 chunks. Layer them with the dry ingredients in the bowl of the food processor. Process with the steel blade until the mixture has the texture of cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl and proceed to the second step.

Stir in the beaten eggs and the unflavored yogurt. Then add the sweetened dried cranberries and mix everything up together.

Add the milk and stir until everything is combined.

Drop the scones by soup spoonfuls onto a greased (or sprayed with Pam or another nonstick baking spray) baking sheet, 12 large scones to a sheet. You can also drop these scones on parchment paper if you prefer.

Once the scones are on the baking sheet you can wet your fingers and shape them into more perfect rounds. (If you do this and there are any leftovers, you can slice them in half and toast them for breakfast the next morning.)

Bake the scones at 425 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.

Cool the scones for at least 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, and them remove them with a spatula. Serve them in a towel lined basket so they stay warm.

Yield: 12 large and delicious scones.

Sandy's changes (improvements): I used Lucerne's VANILLA yogurt (I think plain yogurt is nasty). I also added a cup of pecans when I added the cranberries. I got 21 medium sized scones. And boy are they good!.