These homemade Cranberry Scones are flakey and tender with fresh cranberries and just a hint of orange. An easy recipe that will be a hit over the holiday season.
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Why We Love These Cranberry Scones
- This is the easiest recipe for scones! They come together quick with simple ingredients.
- No stand mixer or food processor needed. This is a simple one bowl recipe.
- Typically they are wedged shape, but there is no law saying they have to be. You can make them circle with biscuit cutters or even go the super easy route and make drop scones using an ice cream scoop.
- The scones turn out flakey and tender with cranberries in each bite.
- They have the perfect balance of sweet and tart with just a hint of orange.
- Make a double batch for the freezer! They freeze beautifully!
- Delicious warm out of the oven and just as delicious at room temperature. Make them even sweeter by adding a drizzle of orange glaze or melted white chocolate.
- Perfect for holiday breakfast, brunch or afternoon snack. They're sweet enough to be a treat too!
Cranberry Scones Recipe Ingredients
- Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- White Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Salted Butter
- Milk
- Pure Orange Extract
- Fresh Cranberries
Substitution Suggestions
- All Purpose Flour: You can use white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour if you like. The scones will be a little darker in color and bit more dense in texture.
- Salted Butter: Feel free to use unsalted butter if that's what you have. I recommend adding an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt with the dry ingredients if you use unsalted butter.
- Milk: Any type of milk will work. Buttermilk and heavy cream would be delicious and make the scones more rich. I typically use 2% cows milk because that is what my family drinks.
- Pure Orange Extract: Pure extracts are best. They provide the best flavor. Imitation extracts can leave an unpleasant after taste in your baked goods. You can use pure vanilla extract instead.
- Fresh Cranberries: Fresh or frozen cranberries can be used. Since fresh cranberries are only readily available in the fall, frozen cranberries are a good option. Don't thaw frozen cranberries. You won't be able to cut them in half, but they'll still work just fine. Fold them into the dough frozen. There may be some color streaking but still delicious! You can use ¾ cup of dried cranberries, but the texture of the scones will be different.
- Orange Variation: If you want more orange flavor in your scones you can reduce the milk to ½ cup and add 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Then make a simple glaze with 1 ½ cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Drizzle over the cooled scones.
How to Make Scones with Fresh Cranberries
- First, preheat oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Next, in a large bowl combine dry ingredients: all purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk them together well.
- Then, cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers cut in the butter until it resembles course crumbs.
- Now, add the cold milk and orange extract and using a rubber spatula fold it together just until combined. It's ok if it still looks crumbly, the dough will come together when you fold in the cranberries.
- Then fold the halved cranberries into the dough with your hands just until incorporated and the dough has come together.
- Dump the scone dough onto prepared baking sheet and shape into about an 8 inch circle. Slice the dough into 8 triangles with a dough cutter or bench scraper and arrange on baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Brush tops and sides of scones with milk and then sprinkle tops with sugar.
- Bake the scones in preheated oven on center rack for 15-18 minutes until the edges are just starting to turn golden.
- Let the scones cool completely before storing.
Fall is the season of cranberries! Looking for more ways to use the beloved cranberry, check out these other delicious recipes:
Storing Fresh Cranberry Scones
Make a double batch and freeze them so you can enjoy these cranberry scones past their season. They freeze very well and can be pulled out for an easy breakfast or snack. They also are great packed in lunches. I pack lunches the night before and just add the frozen scones to the lunch box and place in fridge until it is on the way to school with the kids.
Storing: Store the cooled cranberry scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Freezing: Once the scones are completely cooled, place them in a freezer safe air tight container or zip top bag. Label and date the container or bag. These scones will last in the freezer for at least 3 months.
Thawing: To thaw the scones, take out 15 minutes before needing them or take out the night before and let thaw covered on counter or in fridge.
Heather's Favorite Tools for this Recipe
- I don't think I could live without my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. It's the best tool ever and now it has a new pastry beater attachment for cutting in butter. You can make loads of scones and your arm won't get sore!!!
- Long ago, I used to be a Pampered Chef consultant and I still prefer their baking tools and pans to any others. Their baking sheets are the only ones I use. Find yourself a consultant, host a party and treat yourself to a set.
- These aluminum sheet pans from Nordic Ware are a great option too.
- A dough cutter works the best for cutting scones into triangles.
- Pre-cut parchment paper is a life saver and so easy. No cutting my fingers!
- You can package these scones up for family and friends over the holidays in these Self Sealing Cellophane Bags. They are the best!
Tips for Cranberry Scones Recipe
- Gather all the ingredients before you start preparing the recipe. It is so much easier to bake when all the ingredients are ready.
- Read the recipe from start to finish before you start baking. I am speaking from experience.
- Fluff your flour before measuring. Flour can become packed and won't measure accurately which can make the scone dry and the dough hard to work with. Fluff it a few times with the measuring cup or use a whisk right in your flour container. Then measure and level off the flour.
- Use cold ingredients. Cold or even grated frozen butter using the large holes of a box grater and cold milk helps create the flaky tender crumb scones are known for.
- Use your hands, pastry blender or the new pastry beater for the kitchen aid stand mixer to cut the butter into the flour, leaving sheets or clumps of butter. You should still be able to see pea sized or sheets of butter.
- Work quickly once the butter has been cut in. The butter needs to be as cold as possible when it goes into the oven, that is what creates the flakiness of the scone.
- Do not over work the dough. Fold the dough until it comes together. This will create layers helping the scone to stay tender and flakey and prevent it from becoming too dry.
- Make these scones ahead of time and keep them covered with plastic wrap and chilled in the fridge until ready to bake. Prepared scones will last 1-2 days in the fridge.
- If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw them. Fold them into the dough frozen.
- Fresh cranberries are only in season for a short time. Buy extra and freeze them so you can enjoy your favorite cranberry recipes year round!
FAQs About Scones
First, measure the flour properly. Fluff it, scoop it in measuring cup and then level it off. Next, use cold butter and cold milk. The cold butter is what helps the scones become flakey. Lastly, don't over mix the dough. Fold it instead of mixing or stirring. The less you work the dough, the lighter and fluffier the scones will be.
Avoid using warm butter and milk, and overworking the dough. Warm or room temperature butter and milk will create flat and dense scones. The less the dough is worked, the better. The scones will turn out lighter and fluffier.
Scones are typically a bit more denser than biscuits and usually made with eggs. I've omitted the egg in this recipe so the scones are still light and flakey. Scones will likely have sugar in the dough and most biscuits don't.
The scones are done when the edges and bottom are golden brown. They should also feel firm to the touch.
More Scone Recipes:
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones
- Easy Chocolate Chip Scones
- Blueberry Lemon Scones
- Double Chocolate Chip Scones
- Banana Scones
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Cranberry Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup salted butter, cold and cubed
- ⅔ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure orange extract
- ½ cup halved fresh cranberries
Topping
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together: all purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or your fingers until it resembles course crumbs.
- Add the cold milk and orange extract and using a rubber spatula fold it together just until combined. It might be a little crumbly but that's ok.
- Fold the halved cranberries into the dough with your hands just until incorporated and the dough has come together.
- Dump the dough onto prepared baking sheet and shape into about an 8 inch circle. Slice the dough into 8 pieces and arrange on baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Brush tops and sides of scones with milk and then sprinkle tops with sugar.
- Bake the scones in preheated oven on center rack for 15-18 minutes until the edges are just starting to turn golden.
- Let the scones cool completely before storing.
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