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Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with the rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Place all of the dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl and stir to combine. Transfer into the canister of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add the butter, tossing it in the dry ingredients to coat. Place the lid on the processor and pulse until butter is cut into the dry mix to create small pea-sized balls.
  3. Whisk egg and cream together then pour into food processor and pulse to combine. 
  4. Add orange zest and cranberries. Run the machine on low speed until dough forms.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, dusting the top with additional flour. Knead the dough a few times to gather into a ball shape. Flatten the dough into a rectangle. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a ½-inch thick rectangular shape. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise and then into quarters widthwise to create 8 rectangles. Cut the rectangles in half on the diagonal to form classic scone triangles.
  6. Transfer scones onto baking sheet leaving ½-inch space between each. Brush scones with cream then sprinkle with sanding sugar.
  7. Transfer to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are a light golden colour.
  8. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. While scones are cooling prepare glaze.
  9. For the drizzled glaze: Place icing sugar and orange juice into a small bowl and stir to combine. Transfer into a piping bag or small storage bag. Snip off a tiny bit of the corner or end of the bag. Squeezing the bag gently, drizzle the glaze in a zig zag pattern by going back and forth over the glazed scones. 
  10. Allow glaze to set before serving.
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Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

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Light, flaky homemade scones flavoured with orange, studded with cranberries, and drizzled with a tangy orange glaze…

  • clock icon
    45 MIN
  • 16 SERVINGS
Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

Make yummy HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES your next baking reality.

Returning visitors to WATC will remember these GLAZED PUMPKIN SCONES. Friends, family, everyone who tries them sings their praises; they are SO good. This got me thinking, “What other flavour-forward scone recipes can you dream up, Nik?” Happy to report, these HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES are just as good, if not better! I’m going to let you be the judge, but fair warning, deciding which is more scrumptious isn’t easy!

Before I share a few helpful tips and tricks with this recipe, here’s a quick recap on answers to frequently asked questions:

Q: Is it difficult to make homemade scones from scratch?

A: Surprisingly, no! From start to finish, set aside maybe 30 minutes to make the recipe.

Q: Is it better to use fresh or sun-dried cranberries?

A: We tested the recipe using each, then discovered during our third attempt that using both works best. These scones are bursting with cranberry flavour.

Q: Can you make the recipe in advance? Do they freeze well?

A: Yes and yes, but with an important caveat: don’t add the orange drizzle until you’re ready to serve. You can make the recipe up to five days in advance, storing the baked scones in an airtight container in either the fridge or freezer. 

See, gets better and better, right? A few requests from our side; don’t forget to PIN this homemade baked good recipe to a favourite board, SHARE it with friends and BOOKMARK the page for easy reference. You’ll want to make this again and again.

Ready to make this HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES recipe? Here we go!

Ingredients needed to make Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones
Readily available ingredients makes this homemade scones recipe extra-easy.

INGREDIENTS

What’s not to love about this photo? Just goes to show that with the right ingredients, good things happen. I especially love this recipe as the scones are neither too sweet nor too dense. I can’t help but think “these scones are just right!” as the perfect description.

Fresh and dried cranberries combined with orange zest
Two types of cranberries give the scones loads of flavour.

BIG FLAVOUR

Something absolutely fabulous, almost magical, happens when the flavour of cranberries meets the bright tang of orange. Think of this recipe as two and two, where two variations of cranberries (fresh and sun-dried) meet two variations of orange (zest and juice). Nutrition experts agree, both cranberries and oranges are dense with vitamins and minerals. You will taste that heightened flavour profile when you use them for this recipe, and they’re good for us too, guaranteed. For best results, we always recommend using organic ingredients whenever possible.

Butter, 35% cream and a farm-fresh egg
These scones are rich and flavourful thanks the addition of cream, butter and egg.

FLAKY RICHNESS

One of the goals of every homemade scones recipe is to come away with a pastry that has a light crumb while also being flaky. The other goal is for the scone to taste buttery, almost creamy. Three key ingredients contribute to this desired effect; unsalted butter, 35% cream (AKA whipping cream) and egg. For best results, use heavy cream. A light or fat-reduced cream will make the scone too dry. It’s also a great idea to make the dough using cold butter for a flakier crumb. 

Everything ready to be combined in the canister of a food processor
Using a food processor keeps this recipe really easy!

MACHINE AGE

Although you can make this recipe by hand like we did these BLUEBERRY SCONES, we think using a food processor is a better way to go. Doing so helps blend the butter in with the flour mixture without needing a pastry cutter. Instead we simply add the cream, egg, orange zest and cranberries. A few pulses of the machine fitted with a blade attachment is all you need. So easy!

The dough rolled out to a 1/4-inch thickness
The homemade dough is studded with grated orange zest plus fresh and dried cranberries.

ROLL OUT

Rolling the dough out into a 1/2-inch rectangular shape is a simple trick, remembering that flour is your friend. The freshly prepared dough is actually quite sticky, so generously flour both your work surface and the top of the sticky dough. We also recommend flouring your hands too, making the roll out of the dough happen effortlessly.

The triangle shapes scones ready for the oven
Leave a little bit of room between the scones.

TWINKLE

Since the eyes always eat first, we wanted to finish our scones with two final flourishes that make them especially appetizing. The first is a twinkly, sparkly finish that we achieve by swiping the tops of the scones with cream, then sprinkling them with sanding sugar. The sugar fuses to the top of the scones as they bake to a gorgeous golden brown, not only giving them their sparkle but also adding a sweet crunch. Nice touch!

Orange juice and icing sugar
The perfect finish touch is an orange flavoured glaze.

GLAZE

Last hurrah for this tasty treat is our final flavour enhancement, a drizzle of orange glaze. Making the glaze by stirring icing or powdered sugar together with freshly squeezed orange juice will take about half a minute, no joke. Spoon the glaze into a piping bag or even a small storage bag and drizzle it over the scones. Wait until you try this glaze; it adds refreshing, sweet orange flavour to every bite. 

Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones
Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

ENJOY

OK, so you just made a batch of HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES. Now what? Well, this is the best part… all you need to do is enjoy them. The nice thing about this homemade baked good is that they work for breakfast, brunch or as a light midday snack. They can also be served throughout the year, so you can make them in the height of summer, the depths of winter and any time in between.

This HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES recipe is amazing!

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Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

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Homemade Cranberry Orange Scones

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Ingredients

  • For the scones:
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup 35% cream
  • 1 egg
  • zest from 1 orange
  • ½ cup fresh cranberries, sliced
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • For the brushed glaze:
  • 1 tablespoon 35% cream
  • sanding sugar
  • For the drizzled glaze:
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with the rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Place all of the dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl and stir to combine. Transfer into the canister of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add the butter, tossing it in the dry ingredients to coat. Place the lid on the processor and pulse until butter is cut into the dry mix to create small pea-sized balls.
  3. Whisk egg and cream together then pour into food processor and pulse to combine. 
  4. Add orange zest and cranberries. Run the machine on low speed until dough forms.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, dusting the top with additional flour. Knead the dough a few times to gather into a ball shape. Flatten the dough into a rectangle. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a ½-inch thick rectangular shape. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise and then into quarters widthwise to create 8 rectangles. Cut the rectangles in half on the diagonal to form classic scone triangles.
  6. Transfer scones onto baking sheet leaving ½-inch space between each. Brush scones with cream then sprinkle with sanding sugar.
  7. Transfer to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are a light golden colour.
  8. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. While scones are cooling prepare glaze.
  9. For the drizzled glaze: Place icing sugar and orange juice into a small bowl and stir to combine. Transfer into a piping bag or small storage bag. Snip off a tiny bit of the corner or end of the bag. Squeezing the bag gently, drizzle the glaze in a zig zag pattern by going back and forth over the glazed scones. 
  10. Allow glaze to set before serving.

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