Try this easy and healthy recipe for Cranberry Orange Scones. Uses whole wheat Einkorn flour and coconut sugar. Can even be made dairy-free! Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee using our Homemade Vanilla Bean Coffee Creamer.
I love a nice cranberry orange scone for breakfast. Mmmmm, you know the kind from Starbucks when you’re craving a special treat for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee? Yes! That one.
Except…
Did you know that Starbucks discontinued that decadent morning treat? Yep, it turns out it has been discontinued for some time now.
But…Have no fear, cranberry orange scone lovers!
I started thinking about making cranberry orange scones, myself, for those times when the kids and I are in the mood for something yummy and satisfying for breakfast.
I wanted to make them healthier than Ina Garten’s version, so I used whole wheat Einkorn flour and coconut sugar. You can even make these scones dairy-free if you like!
Let me tell you….these scones turned out so delicious with just the right flaky texture, that you will love them even more than the ones you can find in coffee shops!
Cranberry Orange Scones
Besides the fact that these scones are SO delicious with a hot cup of coffee and very easy to make with real food ingredients, this recipe is also:
- Healthier. This recipe is a healthier and more versatile version of a classic cranberry orange scone, using Einkorn whole wheat flour.
- It uses natural sugar. Coconut sugar is less processed than refined sugar and also contains minerals.
- Can be made dairy-free. You can swap the heavy cream for full fat coconut milk.
- Frugal. Making your own scones (and even freezing extras) is MUCH friendlier on the budget than buying them at the coffee shop.
Ingredients for Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe
At first, it may seem like a lot of ingredients, but they are simple and easy-to-find in your supermarket. You might even have them on-hand in your pantry!
- Whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat Einkorn flour)
- Coconut sugar (or your preferred granulated sugar)
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Butter
- Cranberries
- Egg
- Heavy cream (or coconut cream for dairy-free)
- One large orange, zested, OR 2 tsp orange juice concentrate
- Cream or milk
- Sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling
What can I do with raw cranberries?
If you have extra fresh cranberries, you can easily freeze them in 1 cup portions for future recipes. You can also dehydrate cranberries, which make great snacks, and are perfect toppings for oatmeal and salads like our Cranberry Apple Spinach Salad. YUM!
Use them in our Homemade Cranberry Orange Granola, or our homemade Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce, which tastes SO much better than the canned version from the supermarket. Use the leftovers to make a turkey and cranberry sandwich, panini style!
Is it okay to eat fresh cranberries?
Yes, it’s okay to eat fresh cranberries, but they are VERY tart unless prepared in a recipe. Have you ever tried raw cranberry juice? They taste like that.
Can I make cranberry orange scones without heavy cream?
Yes! You can use full fat canned coconut milk.
How Do You Bake Scones?
Baking scones is actually very easy, and once you try it, you will always want to make them at home!
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Cut in the butter.
- Add in the cranberries and orange zest, then the whisked egg and cream.
- Shape dough into balls and brush with milk, cinnamon and sugar.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden.
That’s all there is to it! Serve warm with a hot cup of coffee or tea, for breakfast or anytime!
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Tips for Making Buttermilk Cranberry Orange Scones
Buttermilk can be used in lieu of HALF of the heavy cream. So that’s 50/50 buttermilk and heavy cream.
If you substitute 100% buttermilk, you run the risk of not enough fat, which means not enough rise.
How do you eat scones?
I like to eat these plain, but my kids love them with a pat of butter, jelly, or a drizzle of glaze. You can make a quick glaze with:
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 2-6 tablespoons of milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
Just whisk the ingredients together and spoon over your scone. VOILA!
Can you freeze glazed scones?
Yes. Just make sure they are completely cooled before freezing. Freeze them on a baking sheet first, then transfer to freezer containers. Freezer bags are helpful to save space.
Why are my scones flat?
If your scones comes out flat, you can double check a few things.
- Make sure that your baking soda is very fresh. Avoid using the baking soda that sits in the back of the fridge.
- Also, your butter and heavy cream need to be cold. Store them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
- Be sure that you ‘mish-mash’ the butter into flour, as described in the recipe card.
Other Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Breakfast Sweet Potato Apple Bake
- Oatmeal Peach Breakfast Crumble
- Breakfast Porridge
- Spiced Carrot Bread
Cranberry Orange Scones
Try this easy and healthier recipe for Cranberry Orange Scones. Uses whole wheat Einkorn flour and coconut sugar. Can even be made dairy-free!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cup whole wheat flour (I used einkorn)
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or your preferred granulated sugar)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces*
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 large egg*
- 1/2 cup heavy cream*
- One large orange, zested, OR 2 tsp orange juice concentrate
- 2–3 tsp cream or milk
- additional sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Drop in the pieces of cold butter and working quickly, mash the butter in your fingers while coating the pieces with the flour mixture. You want the pieces to be small, but you don’t want to make a paste. Squishing, dropping and coating seems to be the method that works best. If you’re fancy or got skills, feel free to use forks, knives or a pastry blender. 🙂
- When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, add in the cranberries and orange zest and toss to coat with flour. Whisk the egg and cream together in another bowl and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix gently with a spatula until it becomes gooey, then form the mixture into a ball using your hands and knead it gently against the sides and bottom of the bowl (5-10 times or so), taking care not to squish too many cranberries in the process. You want a good looking ball of dough in a bowl that’s fairly clean.
- Break off a small fistful of dough, shape into a ball and place onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each ball for expansion. Brush the tops with cream/milk and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cranberry orange scones are golden brown along the edges.
Notes
* If you’re challenged at cutting in the fat too, leave out the butter and egg and increase the heavy cream to 1 cup.
* Another fun variation is to use eggnog in place of the heavy cream. Follow the original recipe for a hint of ‘nog flavor, or use the variation above for a full-bodied eggnog scone!
Keywords: Cranberry Orange Scones
When I use fresh cranberries in my cranberry bread, I usually cut them in half and rinse the seeds out as much as possible because it makes the bread feel grainy. With cranberries cut in half and seeds rinsed out the bread has a much nicer texture and no gritty seeds stuck between teeth.
Have you noticed any gritty feel/seeds between the teeth using the cranberries whole in this recipe?
(Yes, the cutting and rinsing process is time consuming and requires patience, which is why I’m the only in my family allowed to make the cranberry bread, because no one else has the patience, but everyone prefers it with the cranberries cut and seeds rinsed out!)
I would like to try this recipe but I’m not confident about the outcome because cup measurements as opposed to grams (or even ounces) leave so much room for error. If you include gram measurements I’ll certainly give it a try and report the end result.
Hi There!
You are more than welcome to try this recipe by googling a simple online tool to convert cups into whatever measurement you are most comfortable with. Hope this helps! We hope you enjoy this recipe! It’s a good one!
Something to try if you don’t like cutting in butter into your flour in recipes, I use my food processor with the sharp blade and leave the butter cold. Pulse it a few times until it looks crumbly, then dump it into your mixing bowl and continue. Takes less than a minute. 🙂
Thank you for sharing!
Tried this recepie after googling recepies for my new kitchen aide. They came out beautiful and delicious!!! Super easy .thank you
Hi There!
We’re glad you loved them! Thanks for sharing!
Just tried the eggnog variant from the notes. They’re excellent! Thank you!
★★★★★
We’re so happy to hear that you like them! Thank you for sharing.
These are going in the oven now!
I learned a trick for cutting the butter through another blog. I freeze the butter and then use the the cheese grater to cut it into shreds for biscuits and scones. Makes it easier to get that pea consistency.
Enjoy! Thanks for sharing the tip.
Look yummy, but I didn’t see your Diary-Free substitute ingredients/measurements. Please provide. Thanks!
I would use a heavy cream and milk alternative from Silk or Carnation.
I’m going to try these tomorrow. My grocery store used to have them between Halloween and New Year’s and now they only have them two weeks before Halloween. I haven’t been happy since they made this change. Blueberry or Pumpkin are NOT an acceptable substitute.
I agree. Hope you can find enough cranberries to stock up on!
How much orange juice concentrate do you use? Thanks!
Sorry about that Jenny! I use approx 2 tsp.
Gorgeous photo! Girlfriend, you are on a roll! Love it! 🙂
★★★★★
yum! i want these. now.
I have to say they are truly delicious scones and I am so glad you overcame the cutting-the-fat- challenge! Thank you for such a special message and for being a wonderful friend! You truly are a wonderful caring person and I cherish you and our friendship!
I’m so glad you liked them! Happy Birthday!