Ridiculously Easy Orange Cranberry Scones

4.94 from 43 votes

Ridiculously Easy Orange Cranberry Scones

These Ridiculously Easy Orange Cranberry Scones are melt-in-your-mouth delicious and can be made ahead. Pop them in the oven just before serving for easy entertaining!

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast, Breakfast/Brunch, Brunch

Cuisine: American, French-American

Keyword: easy orange cranberry scones, easy scones, orange cranberry scones

Servings:

Calories: 321kcal

Author: Chris Scheuer

Ingredients

For the scones:

1 cup heavy cream
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
zest of 1 orange
1 ¼ cups chopped fresh cranberries

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk or half and half
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice maybe a bit more

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the scones:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (you'll need 2 sheet pans for smaller scones). Set an oven rack on the middle level of the oven.
Measure 1 cup heavy cream and place in the freezer while proceeding with the recipe. (You want the cream to be in the freezer for about 10 minutes.) Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with a paper towel and heat on high for 1 minute. If not completely melted, return to microwave for 10-second intervals till melted. Set aside to cool a bit while prepping other ingredients.
Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, zest and salt in a medium-size bowl. Add the chopped cranberries (see the note above in the post on chopping cranberries) and stir to combine.
After heavy cream has been chilled in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, combine it with the melted butter. Stir with a fork until butter forms small clumps or globules.
Add butter/cream mixture to dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until all flour is incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of the bowl. The batter will be very thick, like cookie dough. Don’t over mix it, but you do want all the little flour bits to be incorporated.
Spray a cookie scooper (see notes above) or large spoon with non-stick cooking spray. Scoop up scones in mounds onto prepared pan. Space the scones at least 2-inches apart to allow for some spreading.
Refrigerate scones for at least 15 minutes or up to an hour. If you don’t have room for 2 sheet pans in your refrigerator, put them all on one to chill. Then separate before baking.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until light golden brown. Transfer to a wire cooling rack.
For the glaze:
While the scones are baking, make the orange glaze. Combine the powdered sugar, milk (or half and half) and orange juice in a medium-size bowl. Whisk well until smooth to make a thick, but drizzle-able glaze. (If the glaze is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar, if too thick add add a little more cream.)
Drizzle glaze over scones. If you can wait, let scones sit for 15 minutes to let glaze set before serving.

Notes

See Café Tips above in post for further instructions, substitutions and detailed tips.

Nutrition