These Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones are everything you want a scone to be; soft and flaky, with a slightly tart pop from the cranberries and a vanilla orange flavored frosting to finish them off!

Scones can be one of the best baked goods you’ve ever had, or the worst. It all depends on the flavors and strategy for mixing. If you don’t think you like scones, its probably because you’ve had the grocery store variety. Dry and lacking in flavor. Great scones are golden on the outside while being moist and flaky inside. When you take a bite, they just melt in your mouth. The dough itself is usually not overly sweet, but is topped with either a rough sugar or sweet frosting (or both!) How do you make a great scone??? Well…keep reading about our Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones and we’ll get to that!

What Do These Taste Like?

Fall in a beautiful, ribboned gift box. The mix of oranges and cranberries are delicious and just perfect for fall weather. If you aren’t sure about cranberry orange together, maybe try it in drink form first. Here is a great cocktail mix that features these flavors! And I think you’ll be a fan. The cranberries are tart, while the vanilla orange frosting is the best version of sweet. The frosting, think Orange Julius, it’s ridiculous… The dough flakes beautifully when you take a bite and leaves you feeling SO satisfied.

What Makes These Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones Different?

We have been let in on a little secret…the difference comes in how you add the butter. Gluten free or non-gluten free, the smaller and colder the butter, the BETTER! This can prove to be quite a pain, because breaking butter apart with a fork or pastry dough is tough, but we have a solution for that (we borrowed it from the geniuses at Cooks Illustrated). Just freeze your cream for 5-15 minutes. After that time, in a separate container, heat your butter in the microwave. Combine the two and mix well immediately. The different in temperatures will separate the butter into little tiny globules, ready to be mixed evenly into the dough! If you are unsure of that method, you can always try freezing your butter and then using A metal box grater to grate it into tiny pieces. They also use the same method in this flaky biscuit recipe here.

Perfect for a Thanksgiving Breakfast (or Treat!)

I’ve already droned on all about the flavor, but these scones are as beautiful as they are tasty. The colors pop super well and fit great on a buffet in a beautiful room. People won’t be able to help themselves as they drool and marvel at the scone’s delicious and glorified nature. They make a great centerpiece if put on a beautiful platter as well!

Can I Freeze These?

These scones can be frozen in dough form and then baked in the morning. If you keep them in an airtight container/wrapper in the freezer, you can pull them out as needed or in the case of company! They will be amazed as the warm, fragrant smells or orange and fresh baking waft through the house. You’ve probably put this thought together, but just in case you have’t, they are a GREAT item to make ahead of time if you are hosting company for the holidays.

Tips and Tricks for Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones

• Cut or form your scones cold! The dough is easiest much more pliable the warmer it gets, but it’s a double edged sword. You don’t want the butter to absorb deeply into the dough until baking. So, flatten out your dough between lightly floured parchment, add another sprinkle of dough to the top of the dough, fold in half. Place the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill before slicing.
• You can also use frozen cranberries. Obviously, your fresh cranberries will freeze anyways in the dough. Having fresh cranberries on hand made this a no brainer for me.
• If you don’t know this, it’s a great tip! Use a ziplock bag for piping the glaze! Place your glaze/frosting in the ziplock, seal it, and snip a tiny bit of a corner. It works great and you avoid the hassle of cleaning a piping bag.

Dad Joke:

I apologize in advance!
So a scone was running down the street and out of nowhere…. SPLAT… He runs straight into his buddy the cranberry… The cranberry is beside himself until the scone says, “Hey cranberry, don’t be so sour, orange you glad we’re together again?!

If You Like These Scones, You May Also Like

• Better Than Crumbl Pumpkin Cookies
• The Most Spook-tacular Halloween Peanut Butter Cookie
• Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Crumb Topping

Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones – Gluten Free

5 from 5 votes

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, SidesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

These Fresh Cranberry Orange Scones are everything you want a scone to be; soft and flaky, with a slightly tart pop from the cranberries and an orange Julius flavored frosting to finish them off!

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Ingredients

• Cranberry Scones

• 3/4 Cup 3/4 Heavy Cream (icy cold)

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 Salted Butter

• 2 Cups 2 King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 Cornstarch

• 3 tsp 3 Baking Powder

• 2/3 Cups 2/3 White Granulated Sugar

• 1+1/2 tsp 1+1/2 Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

• 1 Large 1 Egg (lightly whisked)

• 1 Large 1 Egg White (lightly whisked)

• 1 tsp 1 Vanilla Extract

• 2 tsp 2 Freshly Grated Orange Zest

• 1+3/4 Cups 1+3/4 Fresh Cranberries

• Vanilla Orange Glaze

• 3 Tbsp 3 Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 Vanilla Extract

• 1/8 tsp 1/8 Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

• 2 Cups 2 Confectioners Sugar

Directions

• Cranberry Scones
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Also lay a large piece of parchment down on a work surface and sprinkle lightly with flour. Keep one additional piece of parchment to the side.
• In a 2 Cup Pyrex, pour in the heavy cream and stick it in the freezer for approximately 5-15 minutes. While the heavy cream is initially in the freezer, combine your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly. Melt the butter in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and let it cool for about 30 seconds. Gradually pour the butter into the near frozen heavy cream while mixing the two with a fork.
• Combine the orange zest, vanilla, eggs, and heavy cream/butter mixture together. Then add them to the dry ingredients and mix gently until the ingredients are just combined. Add in fresh cranberries and fold in with a wooden spatula.
• Empty the dough on the lightly floured piece of parchment and powder the top with approximately 1 Tbsp of flour. Take the extra piece of parchment paper and gently form and press the dough to about a ½-¾ inch thickness.  Remove the top parchment paper, powder with another 1 tsp of flour and fold the dough in half lightly pressing down forming a rectangle.
• Slide a cutting board or baking sheet under the parchment and freeze the dough for 15 minutes. (While freezing or baking, make the frosting below) Once super chilled, remove the scones from the freezer and slice the dough into your preferred shapes and sizes with a sharp knife. Freeze any extra scones.  The ones you intend to bake, bake immediately on the parchment lined baking sheet at for 15-17 minutes. Let cool and then frost.
• Vanilla Orange Glaze
• Add all ingredients together and stir well. If you need the glaze to be thinner, add a small (1/2 tsp) or orange juice until it is the correct consistency. Drizzle of each scone, and then let set. Enjoy!

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