Cranberry Orange Scones {With Orange Glaze}

Quick and easy cranberry orange scones recipe with orange glaze, homemade with simple ingredients. Light, moist, slightly crumbly with sweet and tart flavor.

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:

• Chocolate Cranberry Truffles
• Coconut Cranberry Cake
• White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
• Sugared Cranberries

How to make cranberry orange scones recipe?

1. Mix dry ingredients– Whisk together flour, baking powder, and sugar.
2. Crumble butter– Use a pastry cutter to mix the butter roughly into the flour mixture until it becomes crumbly.
3. Add cranberries– Just stir them in until just combined.
4. Add wet ingredients– Separately, mix together egg, half and half, and orange zest.
5. Mix together wet and dry mixtures– Pour egg mixture into the crumbled mixture and mix until roughly combined.
6. Form a ball- Turn the mixture onto a lightly floured surface and bring everything together into a ball.
7. Roll out dough– Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll out each portion into a thick flat circle.
8. Cut into triangles- Cut 8 mini triangular slices.
9. Bake- Place them on a cookie tray and bake at 425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
10. Drizzle glaze– Allow them to cool down and then, drizzle orange glaze on top and sprinkle some chopped cranberries, if you like.
11. Enjoy!– Once the glaze sets, dig in!

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.” 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, jam, honey or butter.

What’s the difference between scones and biscuits?

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.

Variations for Cranberry Scones

Add chocolate chips– Such as semisweet, dark, milk or white chocolate chips. Cranberry white chocolate scones are phenomenal!

Add other berries– Such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples, cherries, and other fruits along with cranberries.

Add other flavors, extracts and zests– Such as lemon zest, lime zest and almond extract.

Add a different flavored glaze– Such as classic vanilla glaze.

Topping options– Sugar glaze, Apple Butter, Homemade Strawberry Jam, Lemon curd, drizzle of melted chocolate, sparkling sugar, Homemade Whipped Cream and anything else you like.

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.

Tips and Techniques

Can I substitute fresh cranberries for dried cranberries? Yes. By using fresh cranberries, the juice from the berries will give these treats some moisture and a nice pop of tartness and red color.

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.

Why are my scones flat? 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.

Make ahead instructions– They can be baked 1 day in advance and stored in the fridge or room temperature.

Make them regular sized– These were mini sized cranberry orange scones 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!

How to store scones? They can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Can you freeze glazed scones? Yes, they can be kept in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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.

More Christmas Desserts

• Jam Thumbprint Cookies
• White Chocolate Bark
• White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

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Easy Cranberry Orange Scones

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 25 mins

Quick and easy cranberry orange scones recipe with orange glaze, homemade with simple ingredients. Light, moist, slightly crumbly with sweet and tart flavor.

Yield: 16 Scones (Mini size)

Ingredients

Scones

• 2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp Baking powder
• 1/3 cup Granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Butter, Unsalted, Cold, Cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup Dried cranberries, Roughly chopped
• 1 Egg, Large, Cold
• 1/2 cup Half and half, Or heavy cream, Cold
• 2 tbsp Orange zest
• 1/4 cup Additional dried cranberries, Roughly chopped, For garnish, Optional

Orange Glaze

• 1 cup Powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp Orange juice
• 1 tsp 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 3/4 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

• Read all my tips 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. 

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 28mg, Sodium: 58mg, Potassium: 81mg, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 225IU, Vitamin C: 2.3mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 0.8mg

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American, British

Calories: 180

Author: Abeer

Until next time, tata my lovelies!