Cranberry Orange Scones
Sweet, tart, and delicious!
One of my favourite flavour combinations is cranberry and orange. I’ll often pull out this combo during the holiday season when cranberries are in season. A scone as a vessel for the flavour offers a great opportunity to enjoy this combination for both dessert and breakfast.
Scones are a baking favourite here. They’re flaky, buttery, versatile and super easy to make. These cranberry orange scones are the perfect balance of sweet and tart, with just the right amount of butter-y richness.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
Scones come together in just 20 minutes.
All you need is one bowl and a baking sheet.
Bursting with flavour in every bite.
Top tips for making the best scones:
Keep it cold. For flaky scones that have a great rise keep all your ingredients and even your tools cold. Chilling your bowls and prep tools is great for beginners scone makers, so if you take a little longer to bring your dough together the bowl is keeping the ingredients cold.
Weigh the ingredients. Baking is a science, especially for recipes that rely on specific textures. To ensure the dough is crumbly but not dry use a scale to weigh out all the ingredients according to the recipe.
Don’t overmix the dough. If you over-mix the dough you run the risk of a tough scone. Scone dough should be crumbly but hold together.
The dough should be crumbly. The perfect scone dough is just hydrated enough to hold together but should still be a little crumbly.
Bake the scones from cold. For flaky scones with a high rise it’s best to chill the finished scones before baking them! Just place them in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes while the oven preheats.
How to make cranberry orange scones:
Prep Time: 15 Min | Chill Time: 15 Min | Bake Time: 20 Min | Total Time: 50 Min
Makes: 8 scones
Ingredients
175 g (1½ cups) frozen cranberries, thawed
240 mL (1 cup) soy milk
15 mL (1 tbsp) apple cider vinegar
7 g (1 tbsp) ground flax seeds
170 g (¾ cup) cold vegan butter, cubed
360 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour + some for dusting
12 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
3 g (½ tsp) baking soda
pinch kosher salt
30 mL (2 tbsp) maple syrup
5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
6 g (1 tbsp) orange zest
Orange Glaze:
160 g (1⅓ cups) icing sugar
30 mL (2 tbsp) fresh orange juice
6 g (1 tbsp) orange zest
Instructions
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In a medium-sized bowl combine non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar, ground flax seed, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Mix and set in the fridge until needed.
In a large bowl combine all-purpose flour, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Mix until combined.
Add cold vegan butter to flour mixture. Using a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Having small chunks of butter in the mixture is what will form the flaky layers.
To the flour/butter mixture add the milk mixture. Mix until all the flour is incorporated into a dough. You may need to use your hands to gently fold, but don’t handle it too much or your body heat will melt the butter.
Fold the cranberries into the dough until just combined.
If your dough is feeling a little sticky, generously flour a clean flat surface and turn out the dough onto it. Sprinkle some flour over top and gently knead 1-2 times and press it into a disk about 1 inch thick.
Using a sharp knife cut the disk into 8 slices, then place scones on a lined baking sheet and transfer to the freezer.
Heat oven to 400F.
Once the oven comes to temperature bake the scones directly from the freezer for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow scones to cool about 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
Mix the orange glaze by combine icing sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Drizzle over scones and allow to cool an additional 5-10 minutes before serving.