Bakery Style Cranberry Orange Scones

This Bakery Style Cranberry Orange Scone recipe is the perfect blend of orange and cranberry baked up into a buttery and delicious buttermilk scone. Filled with orange zest and fresh cranberries, it is topped with a sweet orange glaze that literally takes it over the top!

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Have I mentioned that I have made thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of scones in my professional baking career? Well, from October through January the most requested, and baked scones are these Cranberry Orange Scones.

Starting with a base of my American-style buttermilk scones, I add orange zest directly into the sugar to infuse every single bite with orange flavor. Then I fold fresh cranberries into the dough, for the perfect balance of tart and sweet. 

Don't be worried that these orange cranberry scones will be too bitter. We're finishing them off with a rich and creamy orange glaze that balances everything to perfection. They are fluffy and moist, with subtle layers, and you're going to want them for breakfast and brunch, for the Holiday season, and for every day snacking!

Ingredients & Substitutions

These are the same ingredients that I use in my basic buttermilk scones, with the festive additions of cranberries and an orange. Let's go over them and see how you can make changes and still get delicious scones:

• All-purpose flour - All-purpose flour makes perfectly tender scones that can hold up to any add-ins you might include. If you have leftover self rising flour from making my two ingredient biscuits or my simple flatbread, you can use that and just leave out the baking powder and the salt from the recipe.
• Sugar - I include ½ cup of granulated sugar in this recipe, making it just sweet enough to balance the tart cranberries. The sugar isn't there just for sweetness though, it also helps to tenderize the scone and helps with the browning process. 
• Buttermilk - Buttermilk makes scones that are more tender, fluffy, and moist. Milk really doesn't give you any of those things. If you don't have buttermilk, feel free to substitute with kefir, regular yogurt, or Greek yogurt or sour cream that has been thinned with a little bit of milk or heavy cream.
• Cold Butter - I always use unsalted butter in my recipes because there is no standard amount of salt between brands. If you use salted butter, cut the additional salt amount in half. This recipe for buttermilk scones uses less butter than all of my biscuit recipes, but don't worry that it won't be rich enough. We're adding an egg. 
• Egg - I use one cold egg in this recipe. It should be cold so we keep the dough cold, which is key for making fluffy scones.The egg yolk adds richness while the white keeps the scone from being too crumbly.
• Cranberries - In the U.S. cranberries are only harvested in the fall and are available in grocery store from September through January. Fortunately, fresh cranberries can be frozen for up to a year, so I like to freeze a few bags for future me. I also like to freeze my cranberries before adding them to the dough, again to keep the dough cold.
• Orange - Just a standard orange is used here, although using a blood orange not only gives the scone a more tart and complex flavor, using the juice in the glaze turns it pink and we can all agree that's adorable and more delicious.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Instructions

OK, this might look like a lot of pictures, making you think this is a difficult recipe, but I'm just being thorough. It's super easy and you're going to love them and you're going to make them all the time ❤️

• Start by placing one cup of fresh cranberries into the freezer while you gather your ingredients and begin making your dough

Making the scones

Step 1: Place granulated sugar in a large bowl and zest the orange directly over it. Use your fingers or rubber spatula to rub the orange zest into the sugar, releasing the oils and flavoring the sugar. Combine flour and the rest of your dry ingredients with the sugar.

Step 2: Toss cold, cubed butter into the dry ingredients and then cut the butter and flour together, using a pastry cutter, or your hands and a finger snapping motion. Alternatively, you can pulse this in the food processor. You should end up with a coarse meal texture with lumps of butter no larger than peas.

Step 3: Whisk together, buttermilk, and egg, and about a tablespoon of orange juice.

Step 4: Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and begin stirring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Step 5: When about halfway combined, add in your frozen cranberries and stir until uniformly distributed. There will still be dry pockets of flour on the bottom of the bowl.

Step 6: Dump your shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface and use a bench scraper, or your hands to fold the dough over onto itself two or three times, incorporating all the dry ingredients.

Step 7: Use your hand to form the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten it out to a disc about 6 to 8 inches in diameter.

Step 8: Use a sharp knife or bench scraper, dipped in flour, to cut your scone dough into eight wedges. Place them on a parchment paper lined large baking sheet and put in the freezer while you preheat your oven to 400°F.

Step 9: When the oven is preheated, remove the scone wedges from the freezer and brush with more buttermilk or with egg wash consisting of one egg whisk with one tablespoon of water or milk.

Step 10: Bake at 400°F for 18 to 22 minutes or until fluffy and golden brown on top. Cool warm scones on the tray for at least 10 minutes while you make your glaze.

Glazing the scones

Step 1: In a small bowl whisk together one cup of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of cream, and one to 2 tablespoons of orange juice until you have a glaze with a nice drizzling consistency.

Step 2: Dip cooled scones into the glaze and allow the excess to drip off. Place scones back on the sheet pan. You can also use a spoon, fork, or whisk to drizzle the glaze over top.

Eat immediately, if you don't mind getting a little sticky. Otherwise, wait about 10 minutes for the glaze to set and then enjoy them with a hot cup of coffee, a cup of tea, or on the side of a bowl of yogurt with homemade granola.

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