One of my favorite things about winter and the holidays is cranberry-orange everything. This flavor combo is like a little bright spot in the middle of the cold, harsh winter, and I can’t get enough. These cranberry orange cream scones come together quickly and easily, with a soft, tender texture and a lightly sweet, slightly tart flavor that makes them the perfect treat for Christmas morning.
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“This recipe was so fuss-free that I was amazed at how lovely these turned. out. The crumb was so tender and delicate—yet the recipe couldn’t be easier.”
DESTINY
Easy cranberry orange cream scones
I love these cream scones because they really couldn’t be any easier to throw together. Heavy whipping cream replaces the use of butter, so you don’t have to worry about the arduous task of working butter into dry flour. Just stir everything together and go! So if you think you can’t bake, definitely give these cranberry orange cream scones a try.
Though I love serving these scones around the holidays, they are great any time of year, as dried cranberries are usually available year round.
Recipe Success Tips
- Heavy whipping cream is a must. Heavy whipping cream and heavy cream both contain over 30% fat, which replaces the need for butter in this recipe. The fat keeps the scones light, tender, and moist. Using a lower fat liquid will produce heavy, dense, and dry scones.
- Buy the ingredients on sale. If you see any of the ingredients on sale, make a batch of the scone dough and freeze it to bake another time.
- Make sure your baking powder hasn’t expired. Combine ½ tsp (2g) with ¼ cup (60 ml) of hot water. If it starts to fizz, then the baking powder is good.
- For a more intense orange flavor. Add more zest to punch up the orange flavor.
- Swap the cranberries. I think cherries or raspberries would make a good substitute, either with or without the orange zest.
- Make them gluten-free. Use Cup4Cup all purpose blend flour to make gluten free scones.
Cranberry Orange Cream Scones
Cost $3.65 recipe / $0.20 each
Ingredients
- 1 small orange ($0.83)
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour (plus some for dusting, 150g, $0.22)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (90g, divided, $0.27)
- 2 tsp baking powder (8g, $0.08)
- ½ tsp salt (3g, $0.02)
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries (40 g, $0.47)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (2.5 ml, $0.32)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (240g, $1.44)
Video
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200°C). Use a zester or small-holed cheese grater to zest the orange. Squeeze the juice into a separate small bowl. Set the zest and juice aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together 1¼ cups flour (150g), ¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar, 2 tsp (8g) baking powder, ½ tsp salt (3g), and ⅓ cup (40g) dried cranberries.
- Stir ½ tsp (3g) of the orange zest and ½ tsp (2.5 ml) vanilla extract into 1 cup (240g) heavy whipping cream. Pour the cream mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir them together until a sticky ball of dough forms.
- Generously dust a clean work surface with flour, then scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the work surface. Divide the dough into three pieces and shape each piece into a disc, about 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter and about ½-inch (1.25 cm) thick. Cut each disc into six wedges.
- Place the cut scones onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the scones for 15 minutes, or just until they begin to turn slightly golden brown on the edges. Allow the scones to cool completely after baking.
- While the scones are baking or cooling, stir together the remaining ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar with 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of the orange juice (or just enough to make a thick glaze) and another pinch of orange zest.
- When the scones are completely cool, drizzle the orange glaze over top and serve.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Cranberry Orange Cream Scones Step-by-Step Photos
Get the oven going and prep the orange: Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200°C). Use a zester or small-holed cheese grater and zest the orange into a small bowl. After you’ve zested it, squeeze the juice into a different small bowl. Set the zest and juice aside.
Combine the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine 1¼ cup (150g) all-purpose flour, ¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar, 2 tsp (8g) baking powder, ½ tsp (3g) salt, and 1/3 cup (40g) dried cranberries.
Add the wet ingredients: Stir about ½ tsp (3g) orange zest and ½ tsp (2.5 ml) vanilla extract into 1 cup (240g) heavy whipping cream. Once combined, pour the cream into the bowl of dry ingredients.
Stir: Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until they form a sticky dough.
Shape the dough: Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a well-floured work surface. Divide the dough into three pieces, then shape each piece into a disc of about 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter and about ½-inch (1.25 cm) thick. Cut each disc into six wedges.
Transfer to baking sheet: Place the cut scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake: Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, or just until they begin to turn golden brown around the edges. Let the scones cool completely.
Make the glaze: Combine the remaining ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar with 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of the orange juice and another pinch of the orange zest.
Frost: Once the scones are completely cooled, drizzle the orange glaze over top, then serve!
How to Store
Store uneaten scones in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap on the kitchen counter for 2-3 days.
If you want to get a head start on these scones, you can prep the dough and refrigerate it up to 24 hours ahead of time or freeze it until you are ready to bake. You can bake directly from the fridge or freezer, just add a few minutes to the bake time.
To freeze them, cool them to room temperature. You can either freeze them without the glaze or glaze them and wait about 30 minutes for the glaze to dry slightly. Then place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag. The glaze will absorb a little moisture while in the freezer, but they’re still quite tasty. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw the frozen scones, either let them sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or microwave for about 30 seconds straight from the freezer.
If you enjoy your scones warm like I do, just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds until they are warmed through.
Serving Suggestions
When I serve these scones on Christmas morning, I like to have a few sweet and savory options to choose from. For a hearty alternative, this easy and quick homemade baked oatmeal never fails to satisfy, while simple scrambled eggs are always a hit. And, of course, no holiday breakfast is complete without air fryer bacon.
I made them. Soft. Delicious. Easy. The one thing I didn’t do was cut them apart. I just cut/scored them and baked in the circle shape. They were actually much softer than the second batch I made and baked individually. I will make them again and again. Thanks for sharing.
Love these scones! We make them all the time and they always come out perfect. My daughter has an egg allergy so this recipe works great for our family.
These are delicious=====however my scones were flat—not tall and fluffy. They were also a bit wet when I cut them. what went wrong?
Assuming that you didn’t intentionally make any substitutions in the recipe, there are a few things that could have happened. First, your baking powder could be expired, or perhaps you accidentally grabbed the baking soda instead of powder. Secondly, you may have over mixed the dough a bit. But keep in mind that these aren’t huge bakery-style scones by any means. We use heavy cream as our fat source instead of butter, and cold butter is often what gives scones that super tall appearance. I hope that helps!
I’ve made these so many times and LOVE them. Easiest and best scone recipe ever! Do you think it would be okay to prep the dough and shape the scones, and then refrigerate for several hours before baking?
That should be fine!
To be sure, do I bake and glaze the scones before freezing?
Yes. :)
I just LOVE these great Scone Recipe’s you post, as they are quick, easy and DELICIOUS! This one was extra good as I added more zest to increase the orange flavor and they were devoured very quickly! I love the MINI sizes, as my four women friends, thought they were so cute and didn’t hesitate taking more than one!!! LOL
Whenever I need recipe’s, Budget Bytes Always comes through with delicious options in Every recipe!!! Thank you so much!!!
I’m shocked at how moist & delicious these scones were, even the next day!
I really limited the stirring of the batter as I heard that causes a dry hard scone. I poured the wet ingredients into the dry and mixed just enough to form a dough. I plopped the dough onto a floured surface, pushed it together to form 1 x 1/2 inch thick circle, then I cut it up like a pie into triangles. Bake time was 18 minutes.
One change I made was adding the zest of 2 navel oranges to the wet ingredients. I wanted to ensure a strong citrus flavor and it was perfect!
Had to add more flour because I used almond flour and it was like a soup. Easy and good thanks!
When I was reading the directions, I thought you said to squeeze the orange juice into the bowl with the zest….so when I went to make the frosting, it was all mixed together and too bitter so I had to start over with that which really stunk. If I had looked at the pictures, I would have seen them separated, but I don’t have time for that in the mornings. Maybe you could make that part of the written instruction a little more clear so someone else doesn’t make the same mistake. The scones turned out well. Mine were done at about 11 minutes. I do feel like the scone to frosting flavor ratio is a little off so if I make them again, I think I’ll make extra frosting and dip them while they’re hot to get some of the flavor to soak in and then add more on top once they’re cooled. Do you think I could add some of the orange juice to the batter? If I do, what other ingredient would I have to increase to counteract that?
Thanks for pointing that out, I just edited the directions for clarity! :) If you add juice to the batter it will change the ratio of wet to dry, so you’d need to add more flour. But adding more flour will then change the ratio of flour to fat, which affects the softness of the scone. So unfortunately there’s no easy answer there, it’s something you’ll need to experiment with to see what works.
I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with little morsels of deliciousness. So, I made them again just brushing the tops with some of the cream mixture and sprinkling with coarse sugar and they turned out well too. A wonderful, easy recipe with guaranteed professional looking scones!
This recipe was so fuss-free that I was amazed at how lovely these turned. out. The crumb was so tender and delicate — yet the recipe couldn’t be easier.
Yum! I don’t do a lot of baked goods but decided to give this a try since scones are so easy to make.
For anyone wondering if it’s possible to make this dairy free, the answer is YES. I used some canned Coconut Cream (usually located in the Asian aisle) after I learned it can be used to make vegan whipped cream. It turned out great! I just dumped the can into a bowl and mixed with a hand mixer for about 20 seconds, due to the fat separating from the liquid in the can. I then measured out a cup. I feel like I did have to add a little more flour than the recipe called for, but only a tablespoon or two I til I felt like the dough consistency matched the photos. It made the recipe more expensive to make, but that comes with the territory when you have dietary restrictions unfortunately.
LOVE this recipe! I made them twice and then decided to nix the orange zest/juice and replace the cranberries for cherries. Turned out great! Thank you for this simple and easy scone recipe!
I’m so grateful for your web-site you give me so much confidence in myself. I made these scones tonight an I’m over the moon at how well they turned out. They tasted amazing. Thank you for creating budget bytes. It’s a huge blessing.
So simple and I am still amazed that I baked something that tastes this good! Super fluffy; I could see this getting eaten quite quickly.
Agreeing with other comments–this would also be great with chocolate chips, or subbing raspberries or lemon for the flavor profile. Thanks again, Beth!
I’d always been intimidated by the idea of making scones. This recipe really was simple and soooo yummy! I will definitely be making these again and trying different flavor combos.