In a small mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, heavy cream, egg & vanilla. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and salt, until evenly combined.
Add in your cubes of cold butter and lightly toss to coat each of the butter cubes with the flour mixture. Begin working the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers or with a pastry cutter until most of the butter chunks are the size of peas, with a few larger almond sized chunks. Add in the frozen cranberries and toss to distribute.
Drizzle the buttermilk/cream mixture over the dry ingredients and use a fork or spatula to gently fold the wet into the dry ingredients until a ragged dough forms.
Turn the ragged dough out onto a cool lightly flour work surface to fold the dough. Gently fold the right half of the dough over onto the left half; repeat this process 3-4 times to create those flaky scone layers!
Now divide your dough into 2 parts. Dust the top of your dough with a bit more flour and gently shape each half into a disk. Use your fingers or a rolling pin to gently press each disk into a 3/4-1 inch thick disk. Use a sharp knife to cut each disk into 6 equal parts, so you end up with 12 scones in total.
Place the 12 scones onto your prepared baking sheets; Brush the tops of the scones with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Place one tray at a time into the center rack of your oven and bake for 18-23 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the tops spring back to your touch. Set the tray on a cooling rack to cool for about 5 minutes.
Chai Tea Glaze
Simply whisk 2 tbsp chai tea, icing sugar & vanilla together until smooth and creamy – depending on the consistency you may need a bit more chai tea or icing sugar. Once the scones have cooled for a few minutes, drizzle with the glaze
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 12 scones, with 1 serving being 1 scone. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.