Cranberry Orange Scones are easy to make and delicious! Buttery and sweet, this Orange Cranberry Scones Recipe is a must try!
These orange cranberry scones are super buttery, rich and totally delicious.
Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, the combo of sweet orange and tart cranberry is perfect for fall!
Why you'll love this recipe:
- Delicious: Orange and cranberry are the perfect delicious combo!
- Use up leftovers: Have leftover ingredients cranberries from holiday baking? make scones!
- Easy to make! Scones seem intimidating, but they're actually easy to make!
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Orange Scones you'll need:
- all purpose flour
- white sugar
- baking powder
- orange zest
- ground cinnamon, ground cloves
- salted butter
- heavy cream
- egg
- vanilla extract & almond extract
- fresh cranberries
For the Orange & Cinnamon Glaze you'll need:
- powdered sugar
- ground cinnamon
- Fresh orange juice
substitutions
All-Purpose Flour: We don't recommend substituting the flour in this recipe.
Baking Powder: Baking powder is essential for this recipe. Do NOT substitute with baking soda.
Salted Butter: Butter is essential to this recipe. We haven't tried it with dairy-free butter but it might work!
Heavy Cream: We don't recommend substituting heavy cream for water or milk. If you have to swap out heavy cream, use a liquid that is still as thick or heavy as heavy cream.
Eggs: We don't recommend substituting eggs, but you can read this article on Egg Substitutions for Baking if you need to substitute. Try it at your own risk!
Almond Extract: If you don't have access to almond extract, you can replace it with additional vanilla extract.
Fresh Cranberries: Fresh cranberries may not be fresh where you are, as they are seasonal fruit. Using frozen or dried cranberries is a perfect substitute.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar is essential in making the glaze at the end, it isn't recommended to substitute this.
Fresh Orange Juice: Orange juice is also used in making the glaze, this can be replaced with water, milk, or other fruit juices. Though the orange flavor would be lacking.
How to make a Cranberry Orange Scone
- In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, cinnamon, and cloves. Whisk to combine.
- Grate frozen butter into the flour mixture.
- Combine the butter and flour until it forms pea-sized crumbs.
- In a medium bowl whisk together cream, egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Drizzle wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, add cranberries and stir together until everything is mixed.
- Using floured hands and a lightly floured surface, form dough into a ball, and flatten it into an 8-inch disc.
- With a sharp knife cut the disc in half lengthwise, then in half horizontally, then diagonally left to right and right to left, resulting in 8 wedges.
- Place scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- When the oven is preheated, remove the scones from the refrigerator and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to cool slightly.
- To make the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, cinnamon, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
- Drizzle over cranberry orange scones.
variations
- Frozen Butter: Essential to use frozen butter to achieve the perfect scone texture.
- Use Lemon juice & Lemon zest: For a different flavor, swap out the Lemon for Orange.
- More Flavor!: Save some orange zest to add to the drizzle for an even punchier orange flavor.
Serving this Orange Cranberry Scones Recipe
Cranberry Orange Scones are best served warm the same day they're made.
- Share them with your family at breakfast time with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
- Serve with after-dinner coffee as dessert.
- Cut them in half and serve with butter or jam.
Storage
Storing: Store your leftover scones in an airtight container on the counter or cupboard for 1-2 days. They'll last for up to a week in the fridge.
Freezing: It's recommended to freeze baked scones without a glaze. Freeze baked scones in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Freeze before baking: If you're preparing scones ahead of time to bake at a later date you can freeze them unbaked as well.
Prepare your recipe, then once you've cut your scone dough into triangles place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop it in the freezer. let them freeze for 1-2 hours. Then you can place them in a freezer bag.
When you're ready to bake you can place them right in a preheated oven.
Cranberry Orange Scones Recipe FAQ
Having very cold ingredients. For making super flaky scones having cold butter, eggs, and cream is essential. Almost like making a pie, if you think your scone dough is getting too warm, pop it in the fridge to resolidify those ingredients.
Make sure the liquid you use is thick and creamy. Heavy cream, buttermilk, or even canned coconut milk are all wonderful ingredients that will keep your scones moist. Also overworking your scone dough could result in a loss of moisture.
Hard and cold. Frozen works great too. Just use a grater to easily shred your frozen butter into workable pieces. If your butter is too warm, the scones could end up flat and dense. Cold butter aids in creating a fluffy flaky scone.
Resting your dough overnight isn't necessary, but it can result in a cleaner overall appearance. Do, however, rest your dough periodically in the fridge to help keep all of the ingredients cold.
Hard scones are a result of overworking the dough. If you're gentle with the dough, the scone will be tender as well. Working the dough too much will create tough, and chewy scones.
Other Tasty Recipes You'll Love:
- Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
- Classic Tiramisu
- Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Easy Blackberry Cobbler Recipe
- White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
Cranberry Orange Scone
Ingredients
Scone Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tablespoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup salted butter frozen
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract optional, can sub vanilla
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, cinnamon, and cloves. Whisk to combine.
- Using a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into the flour mixture.
- Using a pastry cutter or your hands, combine the butter and flour until it forms pea-sized crumbs. Place in the freezer while you mix the wet ingredients.
- In a medium bowl whisk together cream, egg, vanilla extract and almond extract. Once wet ingredients are whisked together, remove dry ingredients from the freezer.
- Drizzle wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, add cranberries, and stir together until everything is mixed.
- Using floured hands and a lightly floured surface, form dough into a ball, flatten it into an 8-inch disc
- With a sharp knife cut the disc in half lengthwise, then in half horizontally, then diagonally left to right and right to left, resulting in 8 wedges.
- Place scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- While the scones are in the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- When the oven is preheated, remove the scones from the refrigerator and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to cool slightly.
- To make the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, cinnamon, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
- Drizzle over scones.
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