Orange Cranberry Scones
By Lizzie on January 29, 2021
Hi my fellow bakers! How is everyone doing? I hope you had a good holiday season and a happy and healthy new year no matter how you celebrated ! 2020 was one of the worst years of most of our lives, so I am praying that 2021 is a better year for us all!
It’s been too long since my last post, but right before the holidays, my sweet daughter tested positive for Covid, and it was a very rough time for us all. Sadly, Carlee couldn’t come home for the holidays, and as the days went on, she became more ill and we were all preoccupied with helping her remotely. It’s been almost 6 weeks, and even though she has lingering symptoms, she is feeling a bit better. Any of us who are mothers know what it’s like when our kids are sick…no matter how old they are, they are still our babies, and feeling helpless because I wasn’t able to jump on a plane and be with her in Austin, was soooo heartbreaking for me. 🙁 Now that she is starting to feel better, I am worrying a bit less than I have been. I have to tell you that anyone who thinks this virus is no big deal, I can assure you that it is no joke….
So, back to the good stuff….baking 🙂 I have had such a craving lately for scones, and I love anything with orange, so what could be better than sweet, orange scones with a good handful of dried cranberries thrown in for good measure? These scones are so tender, rich, flakey and topped with a scrumptious orange glaze! So simple to make, you can whip them up in no time and surprise your family with the perfect weekend breakfast. You don’t have to be a pastry making pro to make these delicious treats, and all you really need is a bowl and a pastry cutter, not even a mixer. So, go on and make a batch of these…I promise you won’t be disappointed.
I hope you love these as much as I loved making AND eating them.
Stay well, my friends. Let me know if you get a chance to make these yummy scones.
xo
Lizzie
I recommend that you invest in a pastry cutter. They are inexpensive and invaluable as a baker!
I loved using these Craisins…sweet little bites that get a bit chewy after they are baked. If you don’t like them, you can omit!
I actually tasted the raw dough and it was so good. I love the flecks of orange zest in it!
I floured my serrated knife before each cut, and sliced the round dough into 8 equal sized pieces.
I place them like this on the baking sheet, so they have room to spread a bit.
The house smelled amazing while they were baking! Look how yummy they look!
So beautiful, they deserve a close up!
Make the yummy orange glaze while the scones are cooling.
I mean….have you ever seen anything so beautiful? 🙂
This was the shot right before I shoved it into my mouth 🙂
I used a tablespoon to pour the glaze over the top. The scones are too delicate to dunk them in the glaze.
I ended up eating two after they were finished….quality control, of course 🙂
Make these beauties, and I promise you that your friends and family will flip 🙂
Orange Cranberry Scones
Makes: 8 scones Prep time: 20 minutes Bake time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup very cold, unsalted, butter cut into cubes
1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon Dixie Crystals sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup dried, sweetened cranberries
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon, Nielsen Massey pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup heavy cream
Glaze
2 and 1/2 cups Dixie Crystals confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon Nielsen Massey pure vanilla extract
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and orange zest. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Cut in the very cold, cubed butter with your pastry cutter. Use your pastry cutter to create large, pea sized pieces of butter in the flour mixture. You want to be able to see pieces of butter in the dough, as this will help it to puff up and become flaky while baking.
In another bowl, whisk together the egg, cream, vanilla and the 2 tablespoons orange juice.
Pour the wet mixture into the flour/butter mixture.
Gently stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.
Sprinkle in the dried cranberries and mix until they are incorporated throughout the dough.
The dough will be sticky, but will get less sticky as you move to the next step.
With floured hands, scoop up the dough and place it on a floured board so you can pat it out into a circle shape.
Pat the dough into about an 8 to 10 inch circle. It doesn’t have to be exact. (See my photo of the dough above).
With a sharp, serrated knife, dip the knife into flour and cut the dough in half from top to bottom. Do this before each cut so the dough doesn’t stick to the knife.
Dip your knife in the flour and now, cut the dough lengthwise.
Dip your knife again and cut each quarter in half.
You will end up with 8 equal pieces. (See my photo above).
With an offset spatula, carefully place each piece onto your prepared baking sheet. (See the photo above so you can see how I placed the scones so they would bake without spreading into each other).
Bake in your preheated oven for 7 minutes and rotate your pan.
Bake for another 8 minutes and take the scones out to cool.
The scones will be a lovely, golden brown when they are baked to perfection.
Place the scones on a baking rack to cool completely before glazing them.
Also, place a baking sheet with a piece of wax paper on it, then place the rack of cooled scones on top. (This will catch all the glaze drips without creating a huge mess).
Make the glaze
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the confectioners sugar until you get rid of any lumps. You don’t need to sift the confectioners sugar because any lumps will disappear as you make the glaze.
Add in the vanilla and 5 tablespoons of orange juice and whisk until the mixture becomes thick and fully combined.
When the the scones are completely cooled, spoon the glaze on the top of them.
I used quite a bit because I love lots of this sweet and tangy glaze.
The glaze recipe makes plenty so don’t skimp 🙂
Let the scones sit for about 20 minutes so the glaze will set up and harden a bit.
If you don’t eat them the same day, place them in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
If you don’t think you can eat them all by day two, wrap each one in wax paper and foil and freeze for up to a month.
Enjoy!!
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