Cranberry & Orange Scones
Cranberries and orange are a great flavor combination in these tender breakfast scones. If you’d like a little extra sweetness, drizzle over some orange icing and top with some orange sugar crystals.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it forms pea-sized crumbs. When the scones are in the oven, the heat causes the large pieces of butter to release steam that separates the layers of the dough, making them flaky and tender.
If using a biscuit/cookie cutter, don’t use a twisting motion to cut out the dough. Push down and pull up – the twisting motion can pinch the cut edges together, which can seal it so much that it prevents the edges from rising up. You can reroll scraps, however they will never be as tender as the first batch.
You can also shape into balls (work quickly butter doesn’t melt), then press down with your knuckles to flatten to 1”. Although its hard to get the biscuits all to be the same size this way (which will affects cooking times), unless you use a kitchen scale. 
Cranberry & Orange Scones
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups GFC Baking Flour Blend divided
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- Zest from 1 1/2 oranges
- 1 ½ cups butter or margarine cubed
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup cream* or undiluted evaporated milk cold
- 1 cup dried cranberries coarsely chopped
Glaze
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 3-4 tsp orange juice
Orange Sugar Topping
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- Zest from ½ orange
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together 4 cups of the flour, xanthan gum, and baking powder until well blended. Stir in the sugar, salt and zest. Cut in the butter until pea-sized crumbs form.
- In a small dish, whisk together the eggs and cream. Slowly pour into the flour mixture, mixing until just blended.
- In a small dish stir together the cranberries and the remaining ¼ cup of flour, then stir into batter, until dough forms. If time allows, shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Let dough to rest for 30 minutes so the flour can completely absorb the liquids.
- On a floured surface, roll out to 1 ½ “ thick. Use a large circle cookie cutter and press out the shapes – taking care not to twist as you press down. This can pinch and seal the edges closed, preventing them from rising well (and gluten free baking needs all the help it can get!).
- If desired for a smooth and shiny top, brush the tops with a mixture of 1 egg + 2 Tbsp water or with a bit of cream.
- Bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes until fully cooked or the internal temperature is over 202°F on an instant read thermometer.
- For the glaze, mix together all ingredients until smooth then drizzle over warm scones (you can make the glaze as thick or thin as you like).
- For the orange sugar, mix together until evenly distributed. Then sprinkle over the freshly glazed scones.
Notes
Allergic to citrus- what can I substitute for the orang zest,etc.
Constance
You can omit the orange and cranberry and just use the basic scone recipe as a blank canvas for whatever you like; raisins & cinnamon, raspberries, blueberries, cheddar and chive (I would cut the sugar in half for a savory-type scone)…
Loved the scone receipe. I used undiluted evaporated milk instead of cream and they still came out delicious.
So glad you liked them! Great idea to substitute the cream, I will add that to the recipe, thanks for letting us know!
I’m a little late but I’m allergic to dairy.Would Coconut Cream,chilled worked instead of the cream? I’d love to try these.
I think using full fat canned coconut milk would work…please let me know how they turned out!
Thanks Angie.I may not get to try this right away.I sold my house & am in the middle of moving but I will.
Betty
For people with cholesterol issues what are substitutions for the amount of butter and eggs that are used?
For biscuits/scones I don’t recommend substituting out the butter/margarine and eggs, you are not going to achieve the same results taste or texture-wise. Having said that, you can always check out our Dairy & Egg Substitution Guide for ideas on what you can use. If you do decide to try something, please let us know what you used and how it turned out!
Love your recipes, my son is gluten intolerant so I try the have goodies for him especially during the holidys. My question has to do with substituting sugar with Stevia. Have you or any of your followers experimented?
Thanks so much! I don’t use Stevia when I bake, however on various recipes members have left comments if they used Stevia in place of sugar. Check out our article How to Substitute Sugar in Recipes for some helpful information.