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Published: November 13, 201826 Comments »
Bake up a batch of these moist orange cranberry scones! With a sunny citrus flavor and a balance of tangy fresh and sweet dried cranberries.
I’m loving that we are finally getting into that time of year where we can bake with seasonal, wintry ingredients like cranberries, citrus, and spice! These flavors just scream winter holiday to me.
I’ve shared a lot of different scone recipes here on Baking a Moment, including these pumpkin scones, these petite vanilla bean scones, and these double chocolate scones. But I’ve been wanting to create an orange cranberry scones recipe forever!!
I used to love to stop at Starbucks to get an orange cranberry scone and a pumpkin spice latte every year when I started my Christmas shopping. It was such a great way to kick off the holidays for me!
But now I don’t even need to make that stop, and neither do you! You can whip up a homemade batch of orange cranberry scones any time you want. And they taste even better than Starbucks!
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE CRANBERRY SCONES
These scones whip up in a snap! The dough comes together in about 10 minutes, so you can have a homemade, freshly baked breakfast treat in about a half hour.
Start by placing the flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of your food processor.
Give it a few pulses to combine everything, then pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
With the food processor running on low speed, drizzle in the cream. As soon as the dough starts to gather itself into a ball, turn the machine off, and (on a floured surface) pat the dough into a rough rectangle shape.
Press in the dried and fresh cranberries, and give the ball of dough a quick knead, to distribute the fruit all throughout.
Next just pat the ball of dough into a disk shape, and cut it into 8 equal wedges.
Pull the individual scones apart from each other a little bit (they will spread as they bake).
If you’d like you can sprinkle them with clear sparkling sugar, to give them a little extra sweetness and a frosty, wintry look!
These scones will bake in the oven until they’re set and just beginning to turn golden brown.
Do you have to have a food processor to make these scones?
I really like making scones in the food processor, because it’s so easy and it gives them a nice, uniform appearance.
But if you don’t have a food processor, you can use a pastry blender to cut in the butter.
Or, you can do it the old-fashioned way, with two sharp knives.
GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, OR VEGAN ORANGE CRANBERRY SCONES
For gluten-free scones, just substitute the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour blend Look for one that that subs 1:1 for regular flour. Here are a few good options:
- King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
- Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
- Cup4Cup Multi-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
If you’re looking to go dairy-free or vegan, use your favorite vegan butter substitute, and non-dairy creamer in place of the heavy cream.
HOW TO SERVE ORANGE CRANBERRY SCONES
Scones are great for a quick, on-the-go breakfast, or for brunch. I even love them for an afternoon snack! They taste great with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa.
I don’t really think this scone recipe needs anything extra. Sometimes I’ll recommend topping scones with lemon curd, jam, or apple butter, but this recipe has plenty of flavor and sweetness just as is.
The Toppings
The garnishes are completely optional, but I love that extra bit of sweetness and citrus flavor that you get when you frost these scones with clear sparkling sugar, and drizzle them with a simple orange glaze.
CAN ORANGE CRANBERRY SCONES BE MADE AHEAD?
One of the reasons I love baking scones so much is because they hold up so well! Bake a big batch and you’ll be nibbling on them all week long.
They will keep (loosely covered) at room temperature for a few days. After that, they can go into the fridge, where they should last for at least another week.
How to freeze orange cranberry scones
Scones are perfect for the freezer as well! Allow them to cool completely before you pop them into a zip-top bag and freeze.
Whenever you want to indulge, just pull one out and warm it in the microwave for about 15 to 25 seconds.
I think you are really going to love these homemade orange cranberry scones! They’re just perfect for this time of year, and so simple and quick to make!
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5 stars (11 ratings)
Orange Cranberry Scones
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 20 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
Bake up a batch of these moist orange cranberry scones! With a sunny citrus flavor and a balance of tangy fresh and sweet dried cranberries.
Print Recipe Leave a ReviewSave Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons orange zest , (from one medium orange)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons ) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon ) kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, , cold
- 1/2 cup (119 g) heavy whipping cream, , cold
- 1/3 cup (40.4 g) dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup (33.33 g) fresh cranberries
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) clear sanding sugar, (optional garnish)
- 3/4 cup (90 g) powdered sugar, (optional)
- 1/4 cup (62 g) orange juice, (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Place the flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse to combine.
Cut the butter into pieces, and add to the food processor.
Pulse the food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
With the food processor running on low speed, stream in the cream.
When the dough has gathered itself into a ball, turn off the food processor and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead in the dried and fresh cranberries, and flatten the dough into a disc shape, about 1 1/2-inches thick.
Score the disc into 8 triangles with a knife, and pull the triangles slightly away from one another (allowing about 1/2-inch in between).
Sprinkle the unbaked scones with clear sparkling sugar, if using, and bake for 20 to 24 minutes, or until set in the centers and slightly golden on the bottoms.
To make the glaze (optional), stir the powdered sugar and orange juice together until smooth, then drizzle over the scones.
Notes
A few more yummy cranberry recipes:
- Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes
- Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Orange Spice Pound Cake with Sugared Cranberries
- Cranberry Sorbet Champagne Floats
Cuisine: American
Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Snack
Tried this recipe?Mention @bakingamoment on Instagram or tag #bakingamoment.
Allie Allie is the creator and owner of Baking a Moment. She has been developing, photographing, videographing, and writing and sharing recipes here since 2012. View all posts
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26 comments -
Jennifer — September 22, 2022 @ 3:42 pm Reply
Can you replace the AP flour with self risinng and leave out the baking powder for quick easier route? All I have is self risingflour.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — September 22, 2022 @ 7:53 pm Reply
I’m not 100% sure- I haven’t tested it that way. But it sounds like it’s worth a try! You may want to cut back the salt a little as well. Good luck!
-
Shoba Nelluvai Krishnan — January 10, 2022 @ 11:01 pm Reply
Made the scones for breakfast. It disappeared. Family loved it. Thanks again for the recipe and making it so simple. Thanks.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — January 21, 2022 @ 11:25 am Reply
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the great feedback!
-
nancy Eckert — April 24, 2021 @ 8:37 am Reply
YUM and so easy. Thnk you for this delicius recipe.
*I didn’t have an orange so I used lemon, it was a nice touch.
-
Joanne Hietpas — April 22, 2021 @ 10:34 am Reply
Allie, I just found your website. Yesterday I made the cranberry scones. Some scone recipes are made using the food processor and some are made by hand. Why is that? And can all scones be made using the food processor?
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — April 23, 2021 @ 12:19 pm Reply
I can’t say for sure but I think it’s worth giving it a try!
-
t h — March 3, 2021 @ 3:10 pm Reply
Love This Recipe! Could you use orange extract instead of zest, or will it taste different?
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — March 4, 2021 @ 12:50 pm Reply
I’m sure you probably could but I couldn’t say exactly how much you’d want to use. You’d have to play around and experiment a little bit. Good luck!
-
Marilyn Segal — January 13, 2021 @ 3:48 pm Reply
These are really really good. I had frozen cranberries but no dried ones so I subbed raisins for them. There was a sale on jumbo naval oranges so I shaved the rinds every time I ate one and wrapped in waxed paper. I chopped the rinds of two oranges with a tspn of sugar and added them into dry mix, I grated a stick of frozen unsalted butter into the mix. I love that the recipe doesn’t call for an egg and its so quick and easy to make them. Like other commenters I ate two right away and circled back for a third with a cup of tea. Thanks for the recipe. Good thing I read the whole narrative so I knew to pat the dough into a rectangle to incorporate the cranberries since the recipe directions miss that step. The scones are perfect without the glaze but if I were serving them to guests I’d probably glaze them just for the presentation.
-
Ruth — November 10, 2020 @ 12:35 pm Reply
Awesome recipe! ❤️ The favor is amazing & so love the technique of using the food processor!
-
Diana — September 7, 2020 @ 11:13 am Reply
My husband LOVES these! He eats one a night and by the eighth one, they are a little stale. I decided to make the scones as directed and cut the dough in half to freeze. Now when he’s down to one, I take the frozen dough out of the freezer the night before I want to make them. The next day, I let them stand for about two hours and bake as directed. They are perfect and fresh.
-
Judi Sanchez — May 25, 2020 @ 8:36 pm Reply
Made these today. The mix was too dry after adding the cream so I added a bit more. Not sure why that happened but the extra cream did no harm to the finished product. Also, all I had were dried cranberries – but they were still delicious, especially with orange icing drizzled on top. I’ll make these again. May do a better job of measuring the orange zest, as I just used 1 orange worth, and it could have used a bit more orange flavor.
-
Gwen A — May 19, 2020 @ 11:01 am Reply
Made this with greek yogurt and only dried cranberries. I added 1 additional tablespoon of greek yogurt to compensate for the proportion of dried cranberries. Turned out yummy!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — May 20, 2020 @ 9:27 am Reply
Terrific! So glad you were pleased Gwen!
-
Olivia — May 15, 2020 @ 4:59 pm Reply
Hi Allie, this is exactly what I was looking for! Easy to make and so tasty! Will definitely be making them again. I also just added a little orange juice at a time till I got the glaze to the right consistency. Brilliant!! Thank you.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — May 18, 2020 @ 10:30 am Reply
You’re so welcome! I’m very happy you enjoyed!
-
Marguerite W. — April 28, 2020 @ 5:25 pm Reply
Hi Allie, I just made these delicious Cranberry-Orange Scones. They were very easy to make following your directions.
I was happy I already had nearly every ingredient. My only substitution was for the heavy cream… instead I used 3/8 cup 2% milk mixed with <3 tablespoons melted butter. I added the "cream" last to the ingredients in the food processor and it just took a few seconds to come together and the dough came out perfectly soft.
I chopped the fresh (out of the freezer) cranberries a bit and I had just the right amount of dried cranberries.
I made the glaze using less powdered sugar & squeezed in a little fresh orange juice at a time, then stirred until it was the consistency I like. Later I noticed this was also the same good tip from Liane on a previous comment.
Keep up the good work, Allie, and many thanks for sharing your great ideas!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — April 28, 2020 @ 5:35 pm Reply
You’re so welcome Marguerite! I’m so glad you were pleased!
-
Joan — February 14, 2020 @ 5:41 pm Reply
I took a couple of spoons of orange marmalade and stirred the two types of cranberries in this before adding to the dough. Wonderful extra hit of orange and it helped to keep the cranberries from rolling. Next time I want to divide the dough intob2 balls and place the berry/marmalade mixture in the middle.
Yummy!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — February 16, 2020 @ 8:04 am Reply
Sounds fantastic- I love that idea!
-
Liane Brunet — January 5, 2020 @ 2:14 pm Reply
Taste soo good fresh out of the oven. The only problem is the amount of orange juice in the powdered sugar. I would suggest using 1/2 c. powdered sugar and adding orange juice slowly till good consistency to spread on cold scones.
-
Robin Broswell — November 4, 2019 @ 7:07 pm Reply
I made these and they were FANTASTIC! I made the gluten-free version and I sprinkled on the sugar and used the orange glaze too! My husband said this is the best recipe I’ve ever made. I immediately baked up a 2nd batch and mailed them off to my girlfriend (gluten-free version – she has Celiac disease) for her birthday. (Next time I will use up some dried cherries that I have and see how that goes). Thank you for a DELICIOUS recipe!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — November 6, 2019 @ 8:03 am Reply
You’re so welcome Robin! I’m so happy you were pleased. Thanks so much for the 5-star review!
-
Carmen Maines — December 20, 2018 @ 8:21 pm Reply
I had never made scones from scratch before and this was a great recipe for a first try. They were easy to make and tasted wonderful. I made the glaze according to the directions and it never really got thick enough to drizzle on in a zig zag pattern like the picture. I even added more confectioners sugar. It just spread over the cookie and gave it a shiny look. I also used turbinado sugar because I didn’t have the sanded sugar. These changes weren’t a big deal and did not take away from the taste of the scones and they still looked nice. One other thing , I used only dried cranberries. I like this recipe so much that I’m baking another batch tomorrow.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — December 23, 2018 @ 8:52 am Reply
Wonderful! Enjoy, Carmen!
Jennifer — September 22, 2022 @ 3:42 pm Reply
Can you replace the AP flour with self risinng and leave out the baking powder for quick easier route? All I have is self risingflour.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — September 22, 2022 @ 7:53 pm Reply
I’m not 100% sure- I haven’t tested it that way. But it sounds like it’s worth a try! You may want to cut back the salt a little as well. Good luck!
Shoba Nelluvai Krishnan — January 10, 2022 @ 11:01 pm Reply
Made the scones for breakfast. It disappeared. Family loved it. Thanks again for the recipe and making it so simple. Thanks.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — January 21, 2022 @ 11:25 am Reply
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the great feedback!
nancy Eckert — April 24, 2021 @ 8:37 am Reply
YUM and so easy. Thnk you for this delicius recipe.
*I didn’t have an orange so I used lemon, it was a nice touch.
Joanne Hietpas — April 22, 2021 @ 10:34 am Reply
Allie, I just found your website. Yesterday I made the cranberry scones. Some scone recipes are made using the food processor and some are made by hand. Why is that? And can all scones be made using the food processor?
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — April 23, 2021 @ 12:19 pm Reply
I can’t say for sure but I think it’s worth giving it a try!
t h — March 3, 2021 @ 3:10 pm Reply
Love This Recipe! Could you use orange extract instead of zest, or will it taste different?
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — March 4, 2021 @ 12:50 pm Reply
I’m sure you probably could but I couldn’t say exactly how much you’d want to use. You’d have to play around and experiment a little bit. Good luck!
Marilyn Segal — January 13, 2021 @ 3:48 pm Reply
These are really really good. I had frozen cranberries but no dried ones so I subbed raisins for them. There was a sale on jumbo naval oranges so I shaved the rinds every time I ate one and wrapped in waxed paper. I chopped the rinds of two oranges with a tspn of sugar and added them into dry mix, I grated a stick of frozen unsalted butter into the mix. I love that the recipe doesn’t call for an egg and its so quick and easy to make them. Like other commenters I ate two right away and circled back for a third with a cup of tea. Thanks for the recipe. Good thing I read the whole narrative so I knew to pat the dough into a rectangle to incorporate the cranberries since the recipe directions miss that step. The scones are perfect without the glaze but if I were serving them to guests I’d probably glaze them just for the presentation.
Ruth — November 10, 2020 @ 12:35 pm Reply
Awesome recipe! ❤️ The favor is amazing & so love the technique of using the food processor!
Diana — September 7, 2020 @ 11:13 am Reply
My husband LOVES these! He eats one a night and by the eighth one, they are a little stale. I decided to make the scones as directed and cut the dough in half to freeze. Now when he’s down to one, I take the frozen dough out of the freezer the night before I want to make them. The next day, I let them stand for about two hours and bake as directed. They are perfect and fresh.
Judi Sanchez — May 25, 2020 @ 8:36 pm Reply
Made these today. The mix was too dry after adding the cream so I added a bit more. Not sure why that happened but the extra cream did no harm to the finished product. Also, all I had were dried cranberries – but they were still delicious, especially with orange icing drizzled on top. I’ll make these again. May do a better job of measuring the orange zest, as I just used 1 orange worth, and it could have used a bit more orange flavor.
Gwen A — May 19, 2020 @ 11:01 am Reply
Made this with greek yogurt and only dried cranberries. I added 1 additional tablespoon of greek yogurt to compensate for the proportion of dried cranberries. Turned out yummy!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — May 20, 2020 @ 9:27 am Reply
Terrific! So glad you were pleased Gwen!
Olivia — May 15, 2020 @ 4:59 pm Reply
Hi Allie, this is exactly what I was looking for! Easy to make and so tasty! Will definitely be making them again. I also just added a little orange juice at a time till I got the glaze to the right consistency. Brilliant!! Thank you.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — May 18, 2020 @ 10:30 am Reply
You’re so welcome! I’m very happy you enjoyed!
Marguerite W. — April 28, 2020 @ 5:25 pm Reply
Hi Allie, I just made these delicious Cranberry-Orange Scones. They were very easy to make following your directions.
I was happy I already had nearly every ingredient. My only substitution was for the heavy cream… instead I used 3/8 cup 2% milk mixed with <3 tablespoons melted butter. I added the "cream" last to the ingredients in the food processor and it just took a few seconds to come together and the dough came out perfectly soft.
I chopped the fresh (out of the freezer) cranberries a bit and I had just the right amount of dried cranberries.
I made the glaze using less powdered sugar & squeezed in a little fresh orange juice at a time, then stirred until it was the consistency I like. Later I noticed this was also the same good tip from Liane on a previous comment.
Keep up the good work, Allie, and many thanks for sharing your great ideas!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — April 28, 2020 @ 5:35 pm Reply
You’re so welcome Marguerite! I’m so glad you were pleased!
Joan — February 14, 2020 @ 5:41 pm Reply
I took a couple of spoons of orange marmalade and stirred the two types of cranberries in this before adding to the dough. Wonderful extra hit of orange and it helped to keep the cranberries from rolling. Next time I want to divide the dough intob2 balls and place the berry/marmalade mixture in the middle.
Yummy!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — February 16, 2020 @ 8:04 am Reply
Sounds fantastic- I love that idea!
Liane Brunet — January 5, 2020 @ 2:14 pm Reply
Taste soo good fresh out of the oven. The only problem is the amount of orange juice in the powdered sugar. I would suggest using 1/2 c. powdered sugar and adding orange juice slowly till good consistency to spread on cold scones.
Robin Broswell — November 4, 2019 @ 7:07 pm Reply
I made these and they were FANTASTIC! I made the gluten-free version and I sprinkled on the sugar and used the orange glaze too! My husband said this is the best recipe I’ve ever made. I immediately baked up a 2nd batch and mailed them off to my girlfriend (gluten-free version – she has Celiac disease) for her birthday. (Next time I will use up some dried cherries that I have and see how that goes). Thank you for a DELICIOUS recipe!
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — November 6, 2019 @ 8:03 am Reply
You’re so welcome Robin! I’m so happy you were pleased. Thanks so much for the 5-star review!
Carmen Maines — December 20, 2018 @ 8:21 pm Reply
I had never made scones from scratch before and this was a great recipe for a first try. They were easy to make and tasted wonderful. I made the glaze according to the directions and it never really got thick enough to drizzle on in a zig zag pattern like the picture. I even added more confectioners sugar. It just spread over the cookie and gave it a shiny look. I also used turbinado sugar because I didn’t have the sanded sugar. These changes weren’t a big deal and did not take away from the taste of the scones and they still looked nice. One other thing , I used only dried cranberries. I like this recipe so much that I’m baking another batch tomorrow.
-
Allie {Baking A Moment} — December 23, 2018 @ 8:52 am Reply
Wonderful! Enjoy, Carmen!
