Made with a few simple ingredients, these Cranberry Orange Scones come together quickly and easily! They're perfect for your holiday breakfast spreads!
½cupcold heavy creamplus more for brushing (120ml)
1large egg
Coarse or granulated sugarfor sprinkling
For the Glaze:
1cuppowdered sugar(120g)
2tablespoonsfreshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
For the Scones:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and orange zest and toss until well coated in flour. Using a pastry cutter or by rubbing between your fingers, work the butter into the flour until the pieces are pea-sized. Stir in the cranberries.
Whisk together the cream and the egg. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the cream mixture. Using a spatula, fold the mixture together until a crumbly dough starts to form.
Pour the dough out onto the counter. With floured hands, lightly knead the dough just until it starts to form a cohesive mass. Pat into an 8-inch circle. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 8 wedges.
Place the wedges evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar, if desired. (For extra flakey scones, refrigerate or freeze for 20 minutes.)
Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Transfer the scones to a wire rack and cool completely.
For the Glaze:
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice. Drizzle over the cooled scones and let the glaze set for about 30 minutes. Store covered at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Notes
Frozen cranberries are great for this scones recipe. Frozen cranberries are great in these scones because the extra cold fruit helps to keep the butter in the dough cold while being shaped. If you don’t have fresh or frozen cranberries, you can substitute them with ½ cup of dried cranberries.
Make sure to measure the flour correctly. If you add too much flour, the dough will become dry, and the scones won’t rise and become crumbly. The ideal way to measure flour is with a scale. If you don’t have one, fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
Press straight down with the cutter or knife, and don’t twist; twisting as you cut seals the edge and prevents the scones from rising properly.
Avoid overworking the dough to prevent gluten from forming! The more you knead, the more gluten will form, and you’ll have chewy scones. This is also why you should not use a mixer for the dough, as you’re more likely to overmix it with a mixer.
When kneading the dough, work quickly, so the warmth from your hands does not melt the butter.
It’s very important that while making the scones, the dough remains cold, or else the butter will start to get warm and melt. The butter needs to stay cold for the soft and flakey scones.