Orange Scones are tender, buttery pastries infused with a double dose of orange flavor. Finished with a drizzle of orange powdered sugar glaze. The perfect sweet treat for breakfast or brunch.
Have you ever had the orange scones at Panera? If you have, then you know how scrumptious they are. So full of bright orange flavor. So decadent.
Those scones were my inspiration for this recipe. To achieve a bold punch of orange flavor, both the juice and zest of the orange are added to the dough.
Then, the scones are glazed with powdered sugar icing spiked with more orange juice and more zest. The flakes of zest are so pretty. There is no mistaking these are Orange scones.
Ingredients
- Butter
- Cake flour has a finer texture, which contributes to the tender crumb of these scones.
- Granulated and powdered sugar
- Heavy cream
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Oranges - zest and juice
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Step-by-step instructions
See the recipe card for complete instructions and ingredient amounts.
- Grate the butter in a mixing bowl and freeze while prepping the rest of the ingredients.
- Zest and juice the oranges. Set aside.
- Remove the butter from the freezer. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and half of the orange zest. Using a fork, toss the ingredients to combine.
- Add the heavy cream and ¼ cup of orange juice (for one cup of total liquid). Stir until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Form the dough into a circle one inch thick. Cut into 6 equal pieces. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the scones for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool.
- For the icing, in a small bowl, combine the melted butter, powdered sugar, remaining orange zest, and enough orange juice to achieve desired consistency. Approx. ¼ cup will yield a drizzling consistency.
Tips for making scones
- Grate the butter and freeze it while gathering the rest of the ingredients. These small shards of frozen butter create a flaky texture and can easily be dispersed throughout the flour by tossing it with a fork. Grating the butter takes the place of cutting it into the flour with a pastry cutter.
- Cold butter is essential for flaky scones. After forming the scones, chill them while the oven preheats to ensure the butter stays cold.
- Cake flour yields an extra tender crumb, but all-purpose flour can certainly be used.
- Don't overwork the dough. This will create tough dough. Work the dough just enough to bring it together and form the scones.
- Fresh orange zest and juice - this is a must! The zest packs so much fresh citrus flavor, as does the juice. And the zest is so pretty!
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📖 Recipe Card
Orange Scones
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Ingredients
Scone dough
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold)
- 3 oranges (zested and juiced, divided, should yield approx ½ cup juice in total)
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¾ cup heavy cream
Glaze
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Grate the butter in a mixing bowl and freeze while prepping the rest of the ingredients. (Alternatively, cut the butter into cubes and, using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs.)
- Zest and juice the oranges. Set aside.
- Remove the butter from the freezer. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and half of the orange zest. Using a fork, toss the ingredients to combine.
- Add the heavy cream and ¼ cup of the orange juice (for one cup of total liquid). Stir until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Form the dough into a circle one inch thick. Cut into 6 equal pieces. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉. Bake the scones for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool.
- For the icing, in a small bowl, combine the melted butter, powdered sugar, remaining orange zest, and enough orange juice to achieve the desired consistency. Approx. ¼ cup will yield a drizzling consistency.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific ingredients used.
Renee says
This recipe is incredible! Light fluffy scones is the way to go! I added cranberries to the recipe and it was delicious.
Abbey McDermott says
Renee,
Thank you so much! I'm so happy you enjoyed this recipe. The addition of cranberries sounds amazing!
Wendi says
Can this recipe be made gluten free?
Abbey McDermott says
Wendi,
This recipe has not been tested using gluten-free ingredients, so I don't recommend making substitutions as I can't guarantee the results.
Rachel says
These were light, tender and super tasty! Will make again
Abbey says
Thank you so much, Rachel! I'm so happy you enjoyed them.
Angeline Prado says
Why is there no egg in this recipe?
Abbey says
Scones can be made with or without eggs. This recipe does not have eggs in it.
Dee says
Is this recipe supposed to have any eggs in it? Because I thought scones needed eggs too.
Abbey says
Dee, Scones can be made both with or without eggs. This orange scone recipe does NOT have eggs in it. I do have other scone recipes on the blog that call for eggs. If you'd like to try any of those recipes, just type "scones" in the search bar. Thank you!
D says
These are just plain amazing! I used plain milk as I didnt have cream. I use a gluten free flour blend and it is not high rising usually, very dense. The shaved frozen butter made all the difference. I will try that on other baked items, maybe its the key to making gf flour more like regular.
Abbey says
I'm so happy you liked the recipe. And I'm glad you had good results with gluten-free flour. I love using frozen shaved butter in pastries. Thank you and enjoy!