These orange cranberry scones are easy to make and so delicious! With a little orange tang and a punch of flavor from dried cranberries, these scones are perfect for breakfast or for a snack anytime.
I love scones of any kind and these are quickly becoming my favorite. These lovely scones have a bit of orange juice and some nice, plump dried cranberries and oh, they are delicious!
Sometimes I like to cut scones into easy triangles but for these I use a scallop-edged cookie cutter. And they look so pretty! I also brush the tops with milk before baking. That makes the tops all nice and browned and crispy, while they’re soft and moist inside.
Just break one open and put a dab of fresh creamery butter on top, and you’ll be swooning…
You’re going to be a fan, once you try these orange cranberry scones!
Why You’ll Love Making Orange Cranberry Scones
- It’s so easy you’ll be done in just a few minutes.
- They’re sweet but not too sweet, so they’re a perfect side with a meal.
- You can customize the recipe and change it up, too!
- They only require a few ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
The batter for the scones should be made right before baking! This is not a “do ahead and save the dough for later” recipe. You’ll get high-rising fluffy scones if you prepare the dough and pop them right in the oven!
For these scones, you’ll use the following ingredients:
- Flour
- Cold Butter
- Milk, plus milk for brushing the tops of scones
- Orange Juice
- Dried Cranberries
- Sugar
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
Let’s Make Some Orange Cranberry Scones
These scones come together in less than 20 minutes, so here’s what to do:
First you’ll preheat your oven to 400 F. You’ll then put the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter, chopping the butter into small pieces and then rubbing the pieces with your fingers until they are just about pea-sized.
Add in the dried cranberries and distribute evenly throughout the flour mixture. Next you’ll add in the milk and orange juice and quickly blend together to form a rough dough – the less you handle the dough the better, as you don’t want tough scones!
Working quickly, place the dough on a cutting board and roll out to about ¾ inch height (more or less according to how tall you’d like the scones to be). Using a cookie cutter, cut out round scones and place them on a baking sheet (optional: line with parchment) allowing space between the scones – they will expand a little. You can also use any other shape cookie cutter, or just roll the dough out into a disk and cut into 6 triangular large sections.
Lightly brushing the tops of the scones with milk makes the tops golden brown when cooked, and slightly crunchy. You can also sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top of the milk for a little more crunch.
Bake between 10-17 minutes, check at 10… scones, like biscuits, cook very quickly! The tops and bottoms will be lightly browned when done – don’t overcook them, or they’ll tend to be heavier.
How To Serve Orange Cranberry Scones
Serve these orange cranberry scones either warm or at room temperature. They’re great plain, with butter melted on top when warm, or with butter and honey drizzled on top!
These scones will last for 1-3 days at room temperature or can be frozen. If reheated in the oven, they will get a bit crunchier on the outside but that’s not a bad thing!
Orange Cranberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 TBSP baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup unsalted cold butter
- 1 TBSP turbinado sugar light brown + additional for sprinkling on tops of scones (optional)
- ⅓ cup milk + additional milk for brushing tops of scones
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- ⅓-½ cup dried cranberries cut if large
- 1 teaspoon orange zest optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 F
- Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar to a large mixing bowl; mix to distribute evenly
- Cut in the cold butter, chopping the butter into small pieces and then rubbing them with your fingers until they are just about pea-sized
- Add in the dried cranberries and orange zest and distribute evenly throughout the flour mixture
- Add in the milk and orange juice and then quickly blend together to form a rough dough – the less you handle the dough the better!
- Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and roll out to about 1 inch height (more or less depending on how tall you’d like the scones to be)
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out round scones (this recipe makes 10-12 scones, depending on the size of your cookie cutter) and place on a baking sheet,(optional: line with parchment) allowing space between the scones – they will expand a little
- Press remaining dough scraps into a free-form scone(s) and cook with the other scones
- Lightly brush the tops of the scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar if desired
- Bake for for between 10-17 minutes, check at 10… tops and bottoms will be lightly browned when done – don’t over cook!
- Serve immediately!