The Best Cranberry Orange Scones Ever
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Something about the changing colors of the leaves makes me dream of cranberry orange scones. Sweet and sour pillows of perfection coated with crunchy sugar dipped in chai tea – doesn’t that sound perfect? Not only are they great as the maples glow red in the fall, but they carry through the holiday season.
If you are a fan of the Starbucks cranberry orange scones, these are going to be a little different… in a good way. First of all, I use a simpler shopping list so you’re not spending the whole morning measuring ingredients. Secondly, and more importantly, I use dried cranberries instead of fresh ones.
Fresh Cranberries vs. Dried Cranberries for Scones
Now, by all means, use fresh berries when they’re in season. My main motivation is always to make recipes you can follow year-round. Cranberries are only in the store for a couple of months each year. It’s also hard to find them in some parts of the country even when they are in season.
So, for this recipe, we’ll use dried cranberries and just save a whole lot of stress and frustration. The best part of using dried berries (aside from convenience) is that you get a really concentrated flavor and fun chewy, candy-like texture. I think that’s more interesting to bite into; how about you?
Self-Rising Flour Makes Scones Easy
First thing in the morning, I hardly want to stand let alone focus on whether I’m using enough baking soda or powder or if I used the right thing. So, sometimes, I rely on trusty self-rising flour as my scone base. It already has baking powder and salt mixed in. It’s one less thing to fuss over.
So, I start by combining my flour, sugar, and dried cranberries to my mixing bowl. Then, I zest my orange right over the bowl. Zest the whole thing so you really get that citrusy flavor!
The Weird Buttermilk Substitute for Cranberry Orange Scones
Then, I juice my orange and measure out a quarter of a cup of juice. Most of the time that is everything. But then I add half of a cup of whole milk to my juice. I set this aside. It’ll curdle a little bit, but that’s okay. When you use a buttermilk substitute made from milk and vinegar, something similar happens. Milk and acid tend to react.
The Magic of Grating Frozen Butter into Scone Mix
Now, I’ll use the small holes on a box grater to grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture. For flaky, buttery scones, you can use the large holes. I do that sometimes. However, for pillowy, fluffy, tender scones, I use the small holes.
Go ahead and experiment if you like. This will affect the texture a little bit, but if you find a texture you like better than how I’ve written it, great! Take note of that and keep doing it in the future.
Once your butter is fully grated in, quickly toss the butter into your flour. You want all the little shreds well coated and distributed throughout the mix.
Forming and Baking Cranberry Orange Scones
Use your fingers to create a well in the middle and pour in your milk and orange juice. Fold everything together until it’s mostly combined into a shaggy mass.
Turn everything out onto your counter and press and fold your dough until all the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. You don’t want to overwork it, though. You want it just barely combined, really.
Then, form the dough into a 1-inch thick circle and cut it into 8 equal-sized wedges. Separate the wedges and set them on your prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of each one with milk and sprinkle on some chunky sugar for sparkle.
Bake at 450ºF for about 12 minutes.
How to Serve Your Cranberry Orange Scones
Now, Starbucks makes their scones with a nice vanilla glaze. I think that’s lovely. However, I also know that scones have to cool completely before you can ice them. Then, you have to wait for a glaze to set before you can eat them.
I prefer to grab a scone off the baking tray, warm, and let the steam tickle my nose as I bite into it.
Because of the turbinado sugar topping, you don’t have to fuss with extra decoration once they’re out of the oven. They’re done! And they can be served warm, fresh from the oven. That’s the best thing on a chilly fall morning, right?
So, brew a pot of your favorite coffee. Steep your favorite tea (I highly recommend pairing these with chai. So yummy!). And settle into your favorite chair with a snuggly blanket.
These are also really nice with my other Starbucks copycat recipe, Apple Crisp Macchiato.
Other Great Seasonal Scone Recipes
I sure do love making scones, and I have lots of recipes for you to try. So, if you’re hosting a little tea party or just like having lots of different scones on the table, here are some other versions.
- French Onion and Gruyere Scones – These are perfect for serving up savory autumn flavor. They’re buttery, flaky, and packed with caramelized onion and cheese. I could eat them with every meal.
- Loaded Pumpkin Scones – I went really crazy making these but they are divine. Packed with cranberries, pistachios, my own autumn spice blend, and pumpkin (of course), they’re the epitome of a fall flavored scone.
- Gingerbread Scones – Whether or not you choose to decorate your gingerbread scones, these are spicy and sweet and make the house smell fabulous. They’re great for the holidays, but you can always bring this recipe out as early as Halloween. Who’s going to judge?
- Maple Oat Scones – Brown butter, maple flavor, and oats make these scones hearty and kind of healthy. I like mine with a little butter and extra maple syrup, but they’re also great by themselves.
The Scone Making Toolkit
Before you get on your way, here are the tools I recommend using to make scones.
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Cranberry Orange Scones
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Box grater
- Bench scraper
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- ⅓ cup pure cane sugar
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 large orange
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter frozen
- ½ cup whole milk + 2 Tbsp for brushing
- 2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- Zest and juice your orange. Collect all the zest and mix it into the sugar and flour. Combine ¼ cup of orange juice with ½ cup of milk.
- Add the cranberries to the flour mixture.
- Grate the frozen butter into your flour mixture. Gently toss it all together so all the butter is coated in flour and the cranberries are evenly dispersed.
- Fold the orange juice/milk into the dry mixture until it starts to come together.
- Press and fold the dough until it only just becomes cohesive. Form it into a large round disc, about 1½-inches thick.
- Cut into 8 equal wedges. Place the wedges onto a lined baking sheet.
- Brush with extra milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
