Cranberry Orange Scones

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These Cranberry Orange Scones are crumbly and dense with a soft inside that’s filled with orange flavor and bursting with fresh cranberries. They’re easy to make and perfect for Holiday brunch. Cover them in an orange glaze or heat them up for a delicious treat.

Cranberry orange scones with a glaze on top.

Not to be confused with English Scones, the American scone is sweet and filled with add-ins such as dried fruits or chocolate chips, and often coated in a glaze. They have a crumbly outside and soft, but dense, inside making them a perfect breakfast or afternoon treat.

I love filling my holiday foods with cranberries because they’re delicious and beautiful. From cranberry apple pie to cranberry brie pull-apart bread I love fresh cranberries!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Makes perfect scones with a crumbly outside and a soft inside. After making this recipe over and over to find the perfect method I have figured out ALL the best tips and tricks to make the perfect cranberry scones. This recipe is fool-proof!
A great holiday breakfast or brunch item. Not only are these scones delicious they make for a beautiful addition to any holiday breakfast or brunch spread.
They’re easy and quick to make. I’ve taken out all the guesswork for you. You only need some standard pantry and fridge staples with the exception of fresh cranberries and oranges. Best of all they can be made in under 30 minutes. These are better than Starbucks cranberry orange scones.

Ingredients Notes

One of the keys to landing the perfect scone, in any scone recipe, is to keep all (even the dry ingredients) as cold as possible, especially the butter. You’ll end up with a dense yet flaky scone that just crumbles perfectly with flavor in each bite.

Baking Powder – just as it is with making an English scones recipe you need to have fresh baking powder that’s no older than 6 months. This ensures they will rise properly.
Orange Zest – grate your own orange zest from a fresh orange using a grater and if desired you can add more than the recipe suggests.
Butter – use unsalted chilled butter that is cut into cubes. To make sure the butter is at the best temperature place it in the freezer for 10 minutes before cutting it into the batter mixture.
Egg – The egg creates a denser and richer texture, but if you prefer a crumbly scone then you can easily leave it out.
Cranberries – I think of this as a holiday recipe so I prefer to use fresh whole cranberries in the batter, however, you can also use frozen (no need to thaw), or dried cranberries too.

How to Make Cranberry Scones

Prep: Preheat the oven to 425º F and set out a baking sheet without parchment. You don’t need to spray it with cooking spray or oil either.

Whisk the dry ingredients together. In a large mixing bowl whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, and salt together until well combined.
Grate the butter and cut it in. Using a cheese grater, grate the butter on one of the smaller-holed sides into the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or the back of a fork until a texture that resembles a coarse meal forms.

Mix the wet ingredients and combine. In a medium bowl mix the egg, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and orange extract together. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir using a wooden spoon or spatula.
Knead the dough together. Using your hands gently knead the dough until it forms a very sticky, but a well-combined mixture. Carefully fold in the cranberries.

Cranberry scones recipe process steps 3 and 4.

Shape the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it into a ball. Press or roll it into a flat disc that’s about 2-inches in height. Using a sharp knife or a straight edge cut the disc into 8 slices and place them 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
Coat the scones. Using a pastry brush coat the tops of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle coarse sugar on top.

Cranberry oranges scones recipe process step 7.

Bake. Place the scones on the middle rack in the oven to bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops and edges begin to turn a golden brown.
Prepare the glaze. In a small bowl whisk all the orange glaze ingredients together until smooth. If the glaze is too thick then you can add more heavy cream to dilute it 1 teaspoon at a time. The glaze will melt once spread on top of the hot scones.

Storage and or Freezing Instructions

How to store scones: Place the scones in an air-tight container or bag and keep it stored in the pantry or on your counter for up to 3 days.
To freeze the dough: In order to freeze your scones just after slicing the dough into triangles wrap each one individually in parchment paper and place in a plastic bag to keep in the freezer. The unbaked scones will last up to 3 months in the freezer.

Cranberry scones on a round wire cooling rack.

Recipe Notes and Tips

Spoon and level the flour when measuring it. Scooping out your flour using the measuring cup will cause you to end up with too much flour, which will ruin the cranberry scones. To do this use a spoon to scoop out the flour instead and dump it into your measuring cup. Then use a butter knife to level off the excess.
Grate the butter. Flash-freeze the butter first in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then use the smaller holed side of a cheese grater to grate the butter into the flour mixture.
Keep your wet ingredients cold. To get extra flaky and crumbly scones keep all your ingredients, especially the butter, chilled when preparing this cranberry orange scones recipe. You can also chill the scones for 10 minutes before placing them in the oven to bake.

FAQS

Can I make the scone dough in advance?

Yes, the dough can be made up to 3 days before you plan on baking the scones. Prepare the dough as directed in the recipe and then wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until you plan on baking it. When you’re ready to bake follow the recipe for shaping the dough into a disc and slicing it into triangle shapes.

Can I use frozen or dried cranberries?

Yes, you can easily swap fresh cranberries for frozen and you don’t have to thaw them either. In fact, don’t thaw them. Just mix them right into the dough like you would the fresh cranberries. Alternatively, you can also use dried cranberries in this recipe, however, I highly recommend using fresh if they’re in season. The dried cranberries still taste great, but the fresh bursting flavor of the cranberries just isn’t the same.

If you enjoyed this Cranberry Orange Scones recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below. You can also share a photo and tag me on Instagram using @AimeeMarsLiving and #AimeeMars.