Quick and easy cranberry orange scones recipe with orange glaze, homemade with simple ingredients. Light, moist, slightly crumbly with sweet and tart flavor from the dried cranberries. Fresh cranberries can also be used.
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Today's breakfast treat is a great addition to your morning coffee and should also really be on your baking list for the Christmas Holidays. I bet you would enjoy this just as much as some of these other cranberry desserts: Christmas Cranberry Cake, Fresh Cranberry Cookies (With White Chocolate, Orange, Oatmeal), Sugared Cranberries and Cranberry Orange Muffins.
Table of contents
What are scones? What do they taste like?
Scones are a British pastry that have a crumbly, but light texture that's mostly made with fruit and wheat or oatmeal. They originate from Great Britain and are typically eaten as a biscuit with tea and are an important part of "cream tea" or afternoon tea or high tea. They have a variety of different flavors, but are mostly sweet and fruity with raisins, currants or even dates. They are served with a topping of glaze, Strawberry Jam, honey or butter.
Key ingredients
- Flour- Use basic all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder- Helps the scones to fluff up slightly.
- Granulated sugar- This adds sweetness.
- Butter- You will want to use it cold to form a crumbly mixture with the flour.
- Dried cranberries- Be sure they are roughly chopped, not whole.
- Eggs- Usually you want them to be room temperature, but for this recipe be sure they are cold.
- Half and half- Don't replace with milk, because you want the rich creaminess.
- Orange zest- This gives a bold citrus taste.
- Powdered sugar- Paired with the right liquid, this makes a perfect glaze topping.
- Orange juice- Gives an extra citrus tang.
Variations
Add chocolate chips- Such as semisweet, dark, milk or white chocolate chips. Cranberry and white chocolate flavor combination is phenomenal!
Try other berries- Such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples, cherries, raisins.
Add other flavors, extracts and zests- Such as lemon zest, lime zest or almond extract or coconut extract.
Add a different flavored glaze- Such as Powdered Sugar Glaze (Vanilla Cake Glaze) or Lemon Glaze.
Topping options- Sugar glaze, Apple Butter, Lemon Curd, drizzle of melted chocolate, sparkling sugar, Homemade Whipped Cream are some of my favorites.
Use combination of fresh and dried cranberries- I only used dried ones in this recipe but using both adds a wonderful texture and color.
Use cookie cutters- Such as hearts, stars, circles, squares or something unique for holidays and special occasions.
Serve alongside warm holiday beverages- Such as Homemade Eggnog or Eggnog Latte or White Hot Chocolate or Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha.
Use buttermilk- Instead of half and half. I have personally not tried this but readers have said that it works very well.
How to make the best easy cranberry orange scones recipe from scratch?
- Mix dry ingredients- This includes flour, baking powder, and sugar.
- Crumble butter- Using a pastry cutter.
- Add cranberries- Just stir them in until just combined.
- Add wet ingredients- This includes egg, half and half, and orange zest.
- Mix wet and dry mixtures- And form a rough ball.
- Divide dough- Into 2 equal parts and then roll out each portion into a thick flat circle.
- Cut into triangles- 8 triangular slices is best.
- Bake- Until golden brown.
- Allow them too cool- Then, drizzle glaze and toss chopped cranberries.
Tips and Techniques
Use cold ingredients- All ingredients need to be cold to prevent dough from becoming too sticky and to also ensure that they have the perfect light and crumbly texture.
Use unsalted butter- Because that prevents them from becoming too salty.
Make them regular sized- These were mini sized because they are just easier to eat. To make the regular sized ones, don't divide the dough into two parts. Simply roll out the dough and cut it into 8 slices and bake.
Serve a crowd- Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to serve more people. The more the merrier!
Don't over mix dough- Because that will make them tough and chewy. You want to use a light hand to work the dough together.
Recipe FAQs
The most prominent difference is the use of one ingredient: Eggs. Scones have them and biscuits don't. Also, scones are sweeter and served with tea or dessert. Biscuits, on the other hand, are typically served as a side dish with gravy and other savory dishes. The shapes are also different. Scones are typically triangular and biscuits are round.
This could be attributed to rolling the dough too thin OR ingredients not being cold. Make sure the butter is cold. That's what gives the dough that perfect crumbly texture. If it is soft, it will make the dough sticky and they will also spread while baking.
In this recipe, you can use fresh cranberries seamlessly. By using fresh cranberries, the juice from the berries will give these treats some moisture and a nice pop of tartness and red color. However, you cannot use frozen cranberries because they release too much juice upon thawing.
It's the following key ingredients: butter, half and half and eggs. These add a lot of moisture to the scones because of their high fat content. Another thing to keep in mind is to not over-bake them! Over-baking will dry them out and cause them to lose moisture.
Storage
- Make ahead- They can be baked 1 day in advance and stored in the fridge or at room temperature.
- Room temperature- Place in an airtight container and leave out for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate- Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days
- Freezer- They can be kept in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
More Christmas Desserts
- Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- White Chocolate Bark
- White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Recipe
Easy Cranberry Orange Scones
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Ingredients
Scones
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- ½ cup Butter Unsalted, Cold, Cut into small pieces
- ½ cup Dried cranberries Roughly chopped
- 1 Egg Large, Cold
- ½ cup Half and half Or heavy cream, Cold
- 2 tablespoon Orange zest
- ¼ cup Additional dried cranberries Roughly chopped, For garnish, Optional
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon Orange juice
- 1 teaspoon Orange zest
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and sugar.
- Add cold butter pieces and use a pastry cutter (or a fork) to mix the butter roughly into the flour mixture until it becomes crumbly.
- Stir in the cranberries. Keep aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, half and half, orange zest.
- Pour this egg mixture into the crumbled mixture and mix it together until roughly combined.
- Turn this mixture onto a lightly floured surface.
- Flour your hands and work the dough gently and bring everything together into a ball. Don't over-work the dough! If dough is too sticky, sprinkle some extra flour on top to prevent it from sticking to your hands and to the surface.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
- Roll out each portion into a flat circle (about ¾ inch thick).
- Cut each circle into 8 triangle slices.
- Place them on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Allow the scones to cool down completely.
- While the scones are baking and cooling, prepare the glaze by mixing together powdered sugar, orange juice and zest in a small mixing bowl until smooth.
- Then, drizzle them with glaze and sprinkle chopped cranberries, if you like.
- Let the glaze set and enjoy.
Notes
- Use cold ingredients to prevent dough from becoming too sticky and to ensure that perfect crumbly texture.
- Don't over-work the dough! If dough is too sticky, sprinkle some extra flour on top to prevent.
- Use full fat ingredients.
- Don't glaze scones until they fully cool to room temperature.
- Instead of orange zest, use lemon zest for another flavor profile.
- Read additional tips and variations above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They can also be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They can also be frozen in an airtight container (once they fully cool down) for up to 1 month. Thaw them in the fridge overnight.
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Susan
Amazing! They came out perfect.
Pat
Great yummy recipe
Anne Martin
Great receipe! Easy and taste wonderful! Will use receipe again!