Cranberry Orange Scones that use frozen cranberries, orange juice, and orange zest with a few other simple ingredients to create a breakfast pastry that’s beautiful for brunch and delicious enough for a weekend breakfast.
In only 30 minutes, you’ll have scones ready to enjoy with your morning coffee.
For years, breakfast has been my favorite meal of the day to make. There’s something about feeding everyone when they wake up hungry, especially when they see warm, sweet treats on the table like these scones.
The flavors of the orange and cranberry together in these, are such a nice change from your typical flavors.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
These scones are made with easy-to-find ingredients. Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients. See the recipe card below for the measurements.
- Baking powder: Be sure to check the expiration date to make sure it’s fresh for optimal performance.
- Frozen unsalted butter: Cube or grate the butter and keep it cold. Use cold ingredients, including chilled butter and heavy cream, to achieve a flaky and tender texture in the scones.
For another scone recipe, try these strawberry scones. You might also like all of my other easy breakfast recipes!
How to Make Cranberry Orange Scones
Here’s an overview of how to make these scones. You can jump to the recipe for full instructions.
- Preheat: Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dry ingredients + butter: Whisk together dry ingredients and then add cold butter. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to incorporate the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Orange + cranberries: Stir in the mixture.
- Wet ingredients: Whisk together wet ingredients.
- Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
- Shape: Shape the dough and slice.
- Bake: for 12 – 15 minutes.
- Make glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest.
- Cool and drizzle: Allow scones to cool and drizzle.
Glaze Tips:
If your glaze is too thick, gradually add a teaspoon of orange juice until it reaches the desired consistency. If it’s too thin, gradually add small amounts of powdered sugar and mix in, until it reaches the thickness desired.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Handle the flour with care. Overmixing the dough can lead to dense scones. Mix until just combined to maintain a light texture.
- Distribute. Distribute the cranberries evenly throughout the dough to ensure that each bite contains a burst of tartness.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Refresh them by warming briefly in the oven or microwave.
Making sure your ingredients are really cold is key for scone success! You can even chill your equipment (bowls, etc.) to help keep the dough as cold as possible.
Mixing butter and milk together (whole milk or even half-and-half work best), you can make your own heavy cream! To make ½ cup of heavy cream, gently melt 2 Tablespoons of butter and then slowly whisk in 6 Tablespoons of milk.
More Breakfast Pastry Recipes
- Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Biscuits
- Strawberry Chocolate Muffins
- Peach Turnovers
- Chocolate Bronuts
Recipe
Cranberry Orange Scones
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 Tablespoons fresh orange juice Divided (1 Tablespoon + 2 Tablespoons)
- zest of 1 orange (reserve 1 teaspoon for icing)
- ½ cup frozen unsalted butter 1 stick – cubed or grated
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup frozen cranberries halved
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Then add ½ cup cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to incorporate the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in the orange zest and 1 cup of halved cranberries, ensuring they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together ½ cup of heavy cream, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon of orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix; the dough should be slightly sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently pat it into a circle about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife or a floured round cutter, cut the dough into 8 equal wedges or as many rounds as you can make. Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little extra heavy cream.
- Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the scones are golden brown.
- While the scones are baking, whisk together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of orange zest (if using) to make the glaze.
- Once the scones are done baking, let them cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Drizzle the orange glaze over the warm scones.
- Allow the glaze to set for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy your homemade Cranberry Orange Scones with a cup of tea or coffee!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Peach says
Yes the muffin mix works great as well!!!!!
Rene' says
Wondering if you can use Krusteaz Cranberry Orange mix instead of bar mix?
Jessica says
Hi there! You know, I’ve never used that, so I’m not sure if it would give a different consistency or not. 🙁 I’m sorry! If you find out, I’d love for you to let us know!
Kathy says
I’m a bit confused. You did say above “So you’ll grab a box of cranberry orange bar mix at the store. (Krusteaz , Duncan Hines and Pillsbury all have this in a box.)” But looking on the Krusteaz website they don’t show a “bar” mix. Can I make these scones with the muffin mix?
Jessica says
Hi Kathy! I’ve never used a muffin mix for this recipe, so I’m not sure if it will work or not! I’m sorry I can’t help more with that!
Joann A Strong says
Hello, There was one with the baking mix. I would love to find that one again.I have it and its says Jessica Burgess and fabulostiy ? I printed but lost the copy.
Jessica says
Hi Joann! Oh yes! I still have it in my notes. 🙂 Here you go:
1 box cranberry-orange bar mix Krusteaz, Duncan Hines, and Pillsbury all make this
1-1/2 cup flour plus more for dusting
1/2 cup dried cranberries chopped
1/4 cup walnuts chopped
1 teaspoon orange zest
Icing:
1 Tablespoon orange juice from an orange, not container
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cranberry orange bar mix according to package directions.
Mix the added cranberries, walnuts and zest into the batter.
Add the flour and mix until a soft dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 1 inch thick.
Cut the scones into triangles, place on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
For the Icing:
In a small dish, mix together the powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth,
Drizzle over warm scones and garnish with orange zest!
I hope that helps!
Geneva says
It works just fine with the muffin mix. Can’t for the life of me find the bar mix so I’ve been making it with muffin mix instead.
Jessica says
Oh that’s fantastic!! I’ll update the post to say the muffin mix works too! I appreciate you taking the time to let us know. 🙂
Cheryl Altman says
How many does 1 box make?
Jessica says
Oh goodness, you know what? I can’t remember! I’m so sorry. But using the bar mix, it may say on the box how many bars it makes, and that way you may be able to use that as a guide to figure out how many scones it may make. (Keeping in mind that the scones may be bigger than the bars.) I’m sorry I couldn’t help more with this today!