These Cranberry Orange Scones can be on your breakfast table in under 30 minutes and are the perfect bite to go along with your morning drink.
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Today I wanted to share an easy scone recipe I adapted from a new cookbook my friends at Cooking Light sent me, Lighten Up, America! The book is beautiful and full of some great classics, such as Chicken-Fried Steak and New Orleans Gumbo. This Cranberry Orange Scone recipe caught my eye since I love the combo of cranberries and orange.
We enjoy a more leisurely breakfast on weekends when we have less going on and scones are generally pretty easy and quick to make.
Scones are best eaten fresh out of the oven. These are light and fluffy and the perfect thing to go along side a hot beverage.
Although scones aren’t the the most nutrient dense breakfast choice, the reason I love them is that generally they aren’t overly sweet. Who needs Starbucks breakfast treats when you can make your own!
Because they aren’t super sweet, I thought my kids might not like like them, but I was wrong! They were a big hit paired with a little fruit and yogurt.
I made some changes to the measurements, but kept all the ingredients the same.
The Cooking Light recipe calls for separating the scones before baking, but I prefer this method as it results in a very moist inside while still maintaining a nice outer crust.
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make your own by adding some lemon juice to milk (see notes in the recipe) .
Who needs Starbucks treats when you can make these at home?!
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour (or 7.9 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoon sugar
- 6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into little cubes
- ¾ cup buttermilk or homemade buttermilk using whole milk (if you don't have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to a measuring cup and pour milk into it until it reaches the ¾ cup mark. Let it sit a few minutes and it will start to thicken).
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a non-stick baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
- Add cold cut butter pieces; using a pastry cutter, work it into flour mixture until it is well distributed but some butter the size of peas remains.
- Stir in buttermilk, cranberries and orange zest gently until combined.
- Using the pastry cutter or a spoon, work the dough in the bowl a few times just until it comes together (do not overwork or scones will be tough). Turn the dough ball out onto a floured surface (I use a cutting board sprinkled with a little flour on it). It may be sticky at this point but you want to work quickly so the butter remains as cold as possible. Put a little flour on your hands (use the least amount possible for it not to be overly sticky), and knead it 2-3 times, then place the dough ball on a non-stick baking sheet and using your hands quickly pat it out to a 8 inch circle. Using a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Don't worry about cutting all the way through.
- Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon remaining sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Let scones cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Modified from Cooking Light's Orange Cranberry Scones
Christine @ Love, Life, Surf says
I love scones. I truly do but haven’t made them in forever. These looks delicious and super simple. Can’t wait to try it!
Christine @ Love, Life, Surf recently posted..A day in the life of compassion
Melanie Flinn, MS, RD says
Christine- I totally had a dream about you last night and some other bloggers. We were taking group pictures out front of an Old Navy- you were SO EXCITED to go into the store and were getting inpatient with our picture taking. I can’t remember who all was there. Can you say random?!! lol!
Angela @ Happy Fit Mama says
I make a very similar scone recipe. I love the flavor combo of orange and cranberry. Such a delicious breakfast (or any time treat) and much better when it’s homemade!
Angela @ Happy Fit Mama recently posted..2013 Seacoast Half Marathon Recap
Miz says
I recently learned of my husbands LOVE OF THE SCONES (kinda shocking to me after 20 years together)
Hed fall over if I made these for him…
Miz recently posted..Watching what our BRAINS eat.
Linz @ Itz Linz says
these look SO GOOD!!!
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Amanda @runtothefinish says
OHH these might be nice for david’s birthday tomorrow…I’m just afraid I’d end up eating them all at once!
Amanda @runtothefinish recently posted..NYC Marathon Questions and Answers
Sandra Laflamme says
I just love scones and cranberry and orange are the perfect thing for this time of year. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Sandra Laflamme recently posted..Weelicious Lunches: Recipe for Cucumber Yogurt Dip and a Giveaway
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
These look amazing! I love citrus in breakfast goods. Nice and bring in the morning!
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Dina says
they look yummy!
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The Candid RD says
Oh I love scones!! Strangely I’ve never made them homemade, but when I have kids I want to make some type of scone tradition or something…seriously, that or a special pancAke. I used to love weekend breakfasts when I was young, but now we rarely do anything special. That’s gotta change!!
The Candid RD recently posted..Sweet Sugar and Cinnamon Biscuits (Vegan and Gluten Free)
Gretchen says
Question. Could you use fresh cranberries? I have some in my from my coop box that I would love to use in this recipe.
Melanie Flinn, MS, RD says
Sure you could, but you would have to increase the sugar. So I thought I’d quick look online to see a good ratio and wouldn’t you know the first 20 I looked at ALL used dried cranberries! I finally found one that used 1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries roughly chopped with 1/2 cup, plus 3 T sugar. They also had a little more flour in that recipe 2 1/2 cups. With that being said, I say give it a try with whatever amount cranberry/sugar you like. These definitely are not very sweet scones. Let me know how it turns out!
Gretchen says
Just made the scones. I used 1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries, 2 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup sugar. I used all the rest of your ingredients. I baked at your temp and had to bake them 5 more min. I ate one fresh from the oven, and they are good, I might bump the sugar up some more if I make them with fresh in the future. Thanks for modifying the recipe for me. We have breakfast for the morning now.
Gretchen says
I was curious what my kids would since the scones aren’t sweet. They LOVED them!
Melanie Flinn, MS, RD says
That’s great! I thought the exact same thing with my kids because this recipe is definitely less sweet than the other I make. They had no complaints!
Nancy McCoy says
I just made these! Delicious! The only change, is that I used fat free plain yougurt. Mine came out nice and flaky! Oh! I also squeezed my own juice and used frozen whole cranberries! YUM!
Melanie Flinn, MS, RD says
Great! Did you add any additional sugar since you used fresh instead of dried cranberries?