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This EASY Cranberry Orange Scones recipe is perfect during the holiday season, or anytime of year! They are slightly crisp and flakey on the outside and perfectly moist in the center with delicious bursts of cranberry orange flavor.
Looking for more bakery sweets? Try my Cranberry Orange Muffins, Sticky Toffee Pudding, or Perfect Cinnamon Rolls!
Why this is the best scone recipe:
- Quick – These easy scones only take 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Flavor – The cranberry orange combination is fresh and delicious; perfect around the holidays.
- Perfect Texture – Follow my tips to ensure the perfect texture of slightly crisp and flakey on the outside and moist in the middle. These are better than any coffee shop or bakery.
How to make Cranberry Orange Scones:
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Grate frozen butter into the bowl and use a pastry blender or fork to combine the flour and butter until it resembles coarse meal. Stick bowl in the fridge while you combine the wet ingredients.
Combine sour cream, heavy cream, egg, vanilla, and orange zest in another bowl. Pour it over the flour mixture and gently stir to combine, just until everything is moistened.
Fold in cranberries. Use floured hands to gently work the dough into a ball and then press it (or use rolling pin) into a circle about 1 inch thick.
Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Place scones on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the tops with a little bit of heavy cream. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until barely golden on the edges.
Make glaze by combining powdered sugar and freshly squeezed orange juice until smooth.
Cool baked scones on wire rack for at least 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze on top. Enjoy!
Tips for Perfect Scones
- Frozen Butter makes it easy to grate the butter into small pieces. We want to keep the butter cold because as the butter bakes, it creates pockets of air which yields flakiness and tender, moist center. If the dough or butter is too warm when you bake the scones, they will spread more and wont puff up like we want.
- Don't Overwork Dough: Just like when making homemade biscuits or pie crust, you don't want to handle or knead the dough more than necessary because the more you mix it, the tougher your scones will be.
Storage and Freezing Instructions:
To Store: Cranberry scones are best served fresh, the day of baking, but leftover scones can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge for up to two days.
To Freeze: Skip the glaze and let scones cool completely. Freeze in airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. You can also freeze scones dough after pressing it into a circle. Cover well and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge, then cut into wedges and bake as directed.
Recipe Variations:
- Cranberries: Frozen or dried cranberries may be used so you can enjoy them year round!
- Scone Flavors: For other flavors, try my Peach Scones or use my basic Homemade Scones recipe with a variety of mix-in ideas!
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Cranberry Orange Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, , FROZEN
- 1/3 cup sour cream, , light, regular, or sub Plain Greek Yogurt
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 cup fresh cranberries*, halved
For the glaze:
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Grate the frozen butter into the bowl and use a pastry blender or fork to combine the flour and butter until it resembles coarse meal. Stick the flour mixture in the fridge while you combine the wet ingredients.
- In a small bowl combine the sour cream, heavy cream, egg, vanilla extract and orange zest. Pour it over the flour mixture and gently stir to combine, just until everything is moistened.
- Fold in the cranberries. Flour or grease your hands and then gently work the dough together and pour it out onto a floured surface. Press the dough (or use a rolling pin to gently roll it) into a circle about 1 inch thick.
- Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Place the scones on your baking sheet and brush the tops of them with a little bit of heavy cream. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden.
- Remove scones from the hot baking sheet and allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze on top.
- To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and freshly squeezed orange juice and stir together until smooth. Add a little more orange juice or powdered sugar until you reach your desired thickness to drizzle over the scones.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made your amazing scones today!!! Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing your talents!
I love your recipes and have used many of them over the years with great success and enjoyment. When it came time to find a cranberry orange scone I came to your channel. This is not my first rodeo when it comes to scones, I have baked many over the years. Knowing I have used many of your recipes without issue I chose to use all my organic ingredients for this recipe. I typically never use organic ingredients when I’m trying out a recipe for the first time. However, like another commenter my dough was very wet. It was so wet I could not get it to stop sticking to my fingers and was unlike any other scone dough I’ve ever worked with. I did have to add more flour as my experience told me this is not going to work. They are in the oven right now but because I had to work the dough so much I’m not too sure how they are going to taste. I put the scones in the freezer for a bit before baking them because my butter definitely would have warmed a bit while trying to get the dough to come together. I don’t know why things turned out so differently for me, I even use a scale to weigh my ingredients. I double checked your recipe to make sure I didn’t misread an ingredient volume and all was correct. Got any clue as to why my dough was so wet? The crazy thing is, I don’t even find any amount of your ingredients unreasonable so I am very perplexed.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this, and I’m genuinely sorry the dough gave you trouble, especially with pricier ingredients. Scone dough should feel shaggy and a little sticky, but it shouldn’t be so wet that it’s unworkable. A few things that can make it turn out extra-wet even when you measured carefully:
Orange size and juiciness: If any orange juice made its way in when zesting, it can push the dough over the edge. Some oranges are also way juicier than others and it doesn’t take much.
Sour cream and egg differences: “1/3 cup” sour cream can vary a lot depending on how it’s scooped (heaped vs level), and eggs can vary by size too. Even using a scale, those ingredients still have natural moisture differences brand to brand.
Flour type/absorption: Organic flour (and different brands in general) can absorb liquid differently, and some are milled a bit “softer,” which can make dough feel wetter.
You did the right thing adding a little flour and chilling the dough before baking. If you try them again, I’d suggest holding back 1–2 tablespoons of the heavy cream at first, then adding just as needed until it comes together. Also flour your hands/counter well and keep mixing to the absolute minimum.
I really appreciate you reporting back, and I’d love to hear how they taste once they’re out of the oven.
Thank you so much for that info! I will hold back on some of the cream next time and see whether I need it.
I didn’t know when I would get time to try them so I stuck them in the freezer once they cooled. I just pulled one out to try. Even with all the extra flour & mixing (1/2 cup??) they still turned out FANTASTIC!! I was really surprised because I was sure they were overmixed. I could not tell! They were so good! The only thing I did different was I melted a small amount of white chocolate and heavy cream to drizzle on top. So good!! Recipe is a keeper, I will just make a note about the moisture. Thanks for sharing and for your help troubleshooting!
Amazing!! And so easy. Use a food processor to combine all and do a couple envelope folds prior to shaping and they will be perfect!
I’m just silly I guess, they cooked up just fine. I thought the bottoms were burning but I think it was juice from the cranberries releasing. They needed almost 23 minutes but I think my issue was crowding. They were crispy on the tops and edges and nice and moist and fluffy inside. The orange glaze was very good, I imagine this would work just as well with blueberries and lemon! Thank you for sharing, my children and husband all wanted seconds so I’m glad I doubled it after all!
Any user error you can think of that would result in scones that are still squishy in the oven after 18 minutes? I’m currently adding more time…. I did double the recipe so crowding in the oven could have been an issue, but many of them are starting to brown on the top edges but they’re still not fully cooked. Wondering if I maybe under mixed. I’ll leave a proper review next time I make these, with a single batch. They smell good at the very least!
Yeah, oven crowding is probably your main issue too many scones means they’re steaming instead of baking properly. Also check if they ended up thicker than 1 inch when you pressed out the double batch, because that’ll definitely add time. And a big batch can drop your oven temp which slows everything down.
Delicious. This are the BEST scores I’ve ever made!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi – Just made a batch and can’t wait for them to cool so we can try them! One question: my scones seem to have spread more than I was expecting. Not as uniform and tall as yours. Any advice for me? Many thanks!
Oh no! Spreading usually means the butter got too warm before baking. Make sure your butter stays really cold (even popping the bowl in the fridge while mixing the wet ingredients helps!).
If i want to substitute the cranberries for blueberries, is there anything that I need to change? Do you suggest frozen or fresh blueberries?
You can totally swap in blueberries! No other changes needed—the recipe works great with them. I’d recommend fresh blueberries if you can get them, since frozen ones can release more moisture and might make the scones a bit soggy. If you do use frozen, don’t thaw them first… just toss them in straight from the freezer and maybe add an extra minute or two to the bake time. Enjoy!
Hello! I want to use this recipe for mini scones. Do I need to adjust the baking time?
Yes! If you’re making mini scones, you’ll want to shorten the bake time since they’ll be smaller and bake faster. Start checking around 9–12 minutes .look for golden edges and a firm top. Let me know how they turn out!