The BEST Glazed Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe

These glazed scones are buttery and flaky with a burst of cranberry and orange flavor. This is my Master Scone Recipe that you can change up to make any savory or sweet scone. This recipe is completely fail-proof. I promise you will get perfect scones every single time. 

This Is The Best Scone Recipe

My husband adores baked goods, and one of his favorites is scones. His favorite is blueberry scones, but after he had these cranberry orange scones, blueberry might be his second favorite.

This recipe is made with my Candied Orange Peel. If you haven't made the candied orange peel, you can substitute orange zest. I'll give you the deets in the recipe card.

Ingredients needed to make cream scones:

• Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
• Wet Ingredients: Butter and heavy cream. Make sure to freeze your butter beforehand so that it is ultracold.
• Fruit: Dried Cranberries and candied orange peel. You can use almost any fresh or dried fruit to make scones. I like the super tart dried cranberries and the candied orange peel together in this recipe.
• Glaze: Confectioners sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and butter.

How To Make THE Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe

You can mix up this easy scone recipe in a bowl. However,  you can also use a food processor. It's essential that all of the ingredients are really cold.

1. Combine the dry ingredients: I add all of my dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and toss with a fork. If you are using a food processor, spin the blade for a few seconds to combine the dry ingredients.
2. Grate the butter: I use frozen butter and then grate it into the flour mixture using a box grater. If you use a food processor, dice the very cold butter and pulse ten times with blade attachment.
3. Add the cream and fruit: If you are using a bowl, add the cream, dried cranberries, and candied orange peel to the flour mixture. Mix with a fork until loosely combined. If you are using a food processor, add ONLY the cream and pulse a few times.
4. Form the dough into a disk: After the flour mixture is loosely combined, turn it out onto a lightly floured board. Add fruit if you haven't yet. Knead until the dough comes together and then form it into a round disk that is about 8 to 9 inches in diameter.
5. Slice into eight pieces: Slice the disk into eight equal pieces, like a pizza. Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with heavy cream before baking.
6. Bake: Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400℉. Do not underbake. The scones should be a deep golden brown. Let the scones cool before glazing them.

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Making Orange Glaze for Scones

Make a simple orange glaze for the scones. I like a thin transparent glaze on my scones.

1. Orange: Mix the zest of one orange, 2 tablespoons of orange juice
2. Confectioners Sugar: Add three to four tablespoons of confectioners sugar. You can add more confectioners sugar if you want a thicker glaze.
3. Butter: Add in 1 tablespoon of butter.
4. Microwave: for 30 seconds on high, stir, and then repeat.

Variations of Scones

This Master Scone Dough can be used to make a variety of scones, both savory and sweet.

• Blueberry Scones: Add 1 cup of blueberries and the zest of one lemon. Add a lemon glazed.
• Lemon Poppy Seed Scones: Add three tablespoons of poppyseeds and three tablespoons of lemon zest. Make a lemon glaze.
• Chocolate Chip Scones: Add two teaspoons of vanilla extract and one cup of chocolate chips. I like using mini chocolate chips for this recipe.
• Cheddar and Green Onions Scones: Reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons. Add one cup of very sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, and a third of a cup of green onions.
• Caramelized Onion and Gruyere: Add one cup of shredded gruyere and one onion thinly sliced and caramelized.

Scone Making Tips

Make Scones In Your Food Processor

If you have a food processor, making scones couldn't be easier.

1. Add the dry ingredients to the work bowl. Pulse a few times.
2. Add the cold butter and pulse 10 times.
3. Turn the bowl to ON and pour in the heavy cream while the food processor is running.
4. Once the dough comes together, add the mix-ins and pulse a few more times.
5. Follow the remaining recipe instructions for baking.

How to make gluten-free scones

This scone recipe does well if you swap out the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour blend. I like King Arthur Brand One-to-One.

I've had outstanding success using this flour in cakes and cookies too!

Why did my scones not rise?

The ingredients must be really cold before they go into the oven.

After I cut my scones, I place them on a baking sheet and put them in the fridge for an hour. This step isn't absolutely necessary, but it does make sure the butter is as cold as possible before baking.

When cold butter hits the oven, the heat caused the butter to release its moisture as steam. This steam creates air pockets in the dough, which gives you a more flakey tender scone.

How to freeze scones

Scones freeze well. This is great news because it means that you can have scones ready to go in the freezer 24/7.

You can freeze the dough before you bake it. Just cut out the dough into either triangles or rounds, and then freeze them individually.

When you are ready to bake them, just pop them in the oven straight from the freezer and cook for five additional minutes.

You can also freeze baked scones. When you are ready to eat them, pull them out of the freezer and let them thaw.

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Bacon, Fig and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry

Old Fashioned Apple Cake

Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Pecan Finger Cookies

Pumpkin Old Fashioned Donuts

Apple Cider Donuts

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Homemade Caramel Sauce