Get ready to treat yourself with absolute goodness with these cranberry orange scones! These buttery scones are loaded with juicy cranberries and orange zest, and then drizzled with a mouthwatering orange glaze that’ll have you reaching for seconds. Brunch or tea time, these scones are a delightful treat for any occasion.
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Picture this: buttery, flaky scones filled with bursts of sweet-tart cranberries and the zesty aroma of fresh orange zest. The scent alone will have your kitchen feeling like a cozy bakery. And then there’s that glorious orange glaze – a mouthwatering drizzle that takes these scones from delicious to irresistible.
Whether you’re planning a leisurely fall weekend brunch, a friendly get-together, or simply looking for a delightful afternoon pick-me-up, these cranberry orange scones are the answer.
Looking for more fall treats that are sure to impress? Our Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake, Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, and Classic Pumpkin Bread recipes are must-tries!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They’re easy – I don’t know about you, but the word “easy” does not come to mind when thinking about making scones. Surely they’re complex and only doable for seasoned bakers, right? Nope! These scones are actually incredibly easy to pull off. They require no special equipment, ingredients, or know-how.
- They’ll WOW your guests – impressive but easy, that’s the name of our game. Your guests will be absolutely amazed by these
Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe Ingredients
This recipe calls for all of the typical baking ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, etc.), plus a few ingredients to create the cranberry orange flavors. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Cranberries – make sure to grab fresh cranberries vs. frozen. Fresh cranberries will add all of the flavor without imparting any extra moisture!
- Orange juice – we definitely recommend using fresh orange juice rather than the bottled stuff here. You’ll only need 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons, so juicing your own orange (the same one you zest) shouldn’t be too time intensive!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Make them gluten-free – use a gluten-free all purpose flour (this King Arthur gluten-free flour is our very favorite) to make the recipe GF. This is what we did!
- Make them dairy-free – swap the butter in this recipe for ghee (if you can tolerate it) or a vegan butter substitute (if you can’t tolerate ghee) to make the scones dairy-free.
- Make a blueberry lemon version – the cranberries can easily be substituted for blueberries and the orange juice/zest for lemon juice/zest for a delicious springtime take on the recipe.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Scones
As mentioned above, this recipe really couldn’t be easier. Scones may feel intimidating, but I promise that they’re far from it. Follow along for the full how-to below.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, using your hands, massage the orange zest into the sugar.
Step 2: Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until all clumps are broken up and it’s well incorporated. Then, add the butter, eggs, orange zest sugar, orange juice, and vanilla extract to the bowl and whisk until well incorporated.
Step 3: Add the fresh cranberries to the bowl and use your hands to incorporate them into the dough.
Step 4: Press the dough into a 1-inch-thick disc, and use a sharp knife to cut it into 6 triangular pieces.
Step 5: Spread the scones out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and brush them with melted butter. Then, bake them at 350°F for 30 minutes.
Step 6: While the scones are baking, make the glaze by whisking together the powered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl until smooth.
Step 7: Drizzle the glaze over the scones, then serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tip
Use your hands to mix the cranberries into the dough. This is a much gentler way to mix them in and makes for less of a chance of bursting!
How to Serve
If you’re serving your scones as part of a brunch spread, we recommend pairing them with a savory breakfast option or two! These chorizo mushroom caps and this bacon and goat cheese frittata are fantastic picks.
How to Store
Store any leftover scones in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both, actually! The outside of a scone has a nice crunch to it while the inside is soft and moist.
All purpose flour (regular or gluten-free) work best for this recipe.
While some recipes may, this recipe does not call for chilling your dough ahead of baking the scones.
More Favorite Baked Good Recipes
If you tried these Cranberry Orange Scones or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Cranberry Orange Scones
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1½ teaspoons orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted, to brush on scones
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, using your hands, massage the orange zest into the sugar.
- Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until all clumps are broken up and it's well incorporated. Then, add the butter, eggs, orange zest sugar, orange juice, and vanilla extract to the bowl and whisk until well incorporated.
- Add the fresh cranberries to the bowl and use your hands to incorporate them into the dough.
- Press the dough into a 1-inch-thick disc, and use a sharp knife to cut it into 6 triangular pieces.
- Spread the scones out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and brush them with melted butter. Then, bake them at 350°F for 30 minutes.
- While the scones are baking, make the glaze by whisking together the powered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over the scones, then serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Make them gluten-free – use a gluten-free all purpose flour (this King Arthur gluten-free flour is our very favorite) to make the recipe GF. This is what we did!
- Make them dairy-free – swap the butter in this recipe for ghee (if you can tolerate it) or a vegan butter substitute (if you can’t tolerate ghee) to make the scones dairy-free.
- Make a blueberry lemon version – the cranberries can easily be substituted for blueberries and the orange juice/zest for lemon juice/zest for a delicious springtime take on the recipe.
Nutrition
Made these with leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving and they were delicious! Only change I made was zested clementines instead of an orange because that’s what I had on hand.
Did notice the instructions don’t say when to add the sugar/zest mixture but knowing how scones are made, I knew when to do it 😉
When do we add the sugar to the mix? That step is not included.
Also, I made this with the recommended GF flour and it was incredibly crumbly. Usually all of your recipes are huge hits for me, but for some reason this one didn’t work out. Am I missing something?
Oh my goodness! Full disclosure, I was doing too many things at once when I made these. I’m certain I misread a measurement because my dough was too wet and sadly spread a lot while baking. I was so sad thinking I ruined them. However, one bite changed my mind! Delicious!!!! So delicious!!! Can’t wait to make them again.
It happens to the best of us!! We are so happy you loved them, Leslie! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us!
I made these today, and they are delicious! I find that adding the arrowroot to recipes with the almond flour is beneficial. I subbed tapioca flour since I didn’t have arrowroot, and it functioned the same. I will definitely save this recipe for future use.
Just made these–They’re great! Turned out perfectly and I will surely be making them again and again! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for trying them Denise! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Made these twice for two different crowds and both times yummy results. Everyone loved them. Thank you.
Made this over the weekend and it was super yummy!
Love these so much. Whisking the almond flour is a great technique for getting rid of the lumps. I prefer this kind of light texture to the really dense scones made with all almond flour. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe!
Is the arrowroot powder or arrowroot starch?