Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. As always, all opinions are mine alone.

Can you guess my husband’s favorite soda, like, ever? It’s not clear and it’s not brown, in fact it’s orange. Yes, he loves his Sunkist. Whenever we have a party or a get together, that’s one of the first soft drinks he picks up. Not even realizing that other people may prefer the other flavors. What can I say; he’s a creature of habit.

It’s no secret that soda can be one of my not so best kept secret ingredients in my baking. 7-Up cake is one of my most popular recipes, and just recently I made little strawberry soda cakes and I also made some Dr. Pepper Brownies. While some of you may enjoy sipping your soda pop through a straw, I like to bake with mine. A few days ago I was shopping at Food 4 Less, which is under the Kroger family of companies, and I noticed a new soda that I just knew my hubby would love. It’s Sunkist TEN, which only has ten calories per serving with the same great taste he loves. It doesn’t even taste like diet soda. He was happy with my purchase, and so was I because that meant I could play with it and create another soda recipe!

The orange flavor inspired me to look at some of the fall flavor combinations that I love. One fall recipe I’m sure to make every year using oranges is my cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It features fresh cranberries and orange juice, and I even grate a bit of orange zest in there for some extra pop. I also make a cranberry crumble coffee cake every year around the holidays and it has that same flavor combination. Usually when I think of orange I envision summertime, but add some cranberries to the mix and it’s an instant holiday party. So I decided to whip up some scones with the Sunkist TEN, and added some orange zest and cranberries. Soda creates a light cake with a nice crumble when baking, which I thought would be interesting since scones tend to be heavy and dense. I know when I think of scones I’m reminded of a heavy, solid and hard alternative to biscuits. I’ve had some great scones, but I know that it’s easy to accidentally end up with a heavy brick, and I surely didn’t want that!

I did use self-rising flour in this recipe because I wanted the scones to puff up, and that they did. My eight slices were rather large, so you can alternatively roll this into a square disc and cut the dough into squares, then cut each square diagonally for a smaller triangular shape. I liked the large scones and although they felt heavy they were surprisingly light when bit into. That touch of cinnamon in the glaze adds just the right oomph to a delicious recipe.

Orange-Cranberry Scones Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup orange zest (about 2 large navel oranges)
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 4 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup Sunkist TEN
• 1 cup fresh cranberries

Cinnamon-Citrus Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons juice from navel orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and raise the rack to an upper middle spot.
Place cranberries in a bowl or pot of hot water, almost boiling. Let steep for a few minutes, then drain.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the orange zest with white sugar, mixing by hand.
Add in the self-rising flour and salt and cut through with a pastry cutter or butter knife.

In a separate bowl combine the egg and the cream, whisking together.
Add the Sunkist TEN to the bowl and fold it in.

Place the flour mixture on a large, flat surface and create a well with the powder.
Carefully pour the liquid mixture into the middle, and fold it in until just combined.

Add the cranberries and fold them in until dough just begins to form.

Turn out dough on a floured surface and form a disc shape.
Sprinkle with a little bit of flour to prevent drying, and let sit for about ten minutes. This is when I preheat my pan; I find it helps to use an already heated pan.

Cut into triangle shapes. I cut eight rather large pieces, you can either cut the pieces smaller or turn the dough into a square shape, then cut into squares and cut into each square diagonally, creating a triangular shape.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and carefully place the cut dough onto the sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-45 minutes*, or until top layer is golden and inside dough is cooked through.

*If you’ve cut smaller pieces it may need less cooking time.

While the scones are baking, prepare the glaze. In a small mixing bowl add the powdered sugar and cinnamon, and then add the milk, juice from the orange and vanilla extract. Mix together until smooth.

Remove scones from the oven and allow to cool. I just love all those orange flecks of zest. So pretty!

Drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones.

Transfer to a serving dish.

Enjoy!

#drinkTEN | #CollectiveBias

Have you ever baked with soda pop?