This homemade orange scone recipe is bursting with fresh orange zest and orange juice in every bite, then topped with a sweet orange glaze that makes it impossible to eat only one. Soft, fluffy and full of sunny citrus flavor, this is the only orange scone recipe you will ever need - the perfect excuse to slow down, savor that morning coffee and bake up something delicious. Looking for more scone recipes? Check out our decadent Chocolate Chip Coffee Scones or our Big Fluffy Scones recipe where you can customize your own flavors and add-ins.
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Ingredients for Orange Scones
Heavy cream - Heavy cream adds moisture and richness to the dough and gives the tops of your scones those beautiful, shiny tops. Don't substitute the heavy cream with milk or half and half. The fat content in the heavy cream is what keeps the scones nice and tender.
Fresh orange - Fresh orange is the way to go for this scone recipe! You will use both the fresh orange zest and orange juice. The flavors from the zest and fresh squeezed juice can't be beat for adding serious citrus flavor to this orange scone recipe. I used a large navel orange when I tested the recipe but you can use any orange that you prefer for this recipe.
Cold butter - Cold butter is the true secret to light, fluffy scones. When the cold butter hits the heat of the oven, it releases steam. These tiny steam pockets create space between the layers of dough which creates that flakiness. I liked to freeze my butter for 30 minutes before baking and then grate the frozen butter directly into the dry ingredients. Use your box grater to do this. This will ensure that the butter is in small pieces that you can easily distribute throughout your orange scone dough. If your kitchen is warm, pop your mixing bowl in the fridge while you are prepping your ingredients - cold everything makes a huge difference when you are baking scones.
How to Make Orange Scones
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
Combine the eggs, orange juice, heavy cream and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Whisk until well combined.
Combine dry ingredients and orange zest in a large mixing bowl.
Grate the frozen butter directly into the dry ingredients.
Use a pastry cutter or fork to work the grated butter into the dry ingredients.
Pour the combined liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until the dough just comes together. Don't over mix the dough as this develops the gluten and will make your scones tough instead of tender.
Add the white chocolate chips and mix gently to combine.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and fold the dough over itself 3-4 times until the dough comes together. Shape the dough into a circle.
Use a bench scraper to cut the circle into 8 wedges.
Move dough to a quarter sheet pan and chill for 20-30 minutes in the freezer or refrigerator.
Place chilled scones onto a half sheet pan. Brush with heavy cream and bake at 400° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.
Drizzle the baked scones with the orange glaze.
Serve scones warm with a cozy mug of tea or coffee.
Notes From My Test Kitchen
Don't skip chilling the dough. Freezing the scone dough for at least 15-20 minutes before baking makes a noticeable difference. When I skipped this step in recipe testing, my scones flattened out. Cold dough gives the butter a chance to firm back up which means your scones will rise better and hold their shape when you put them into the hot oven.
Invest in a citrus zester. I find that a citrus zester works better for zesting fresh citrus and it's well worth the investment if you don't have one. I tried using a cheese grater and it just doesn't really work.
Stick with white chocolate chunks. I tested this orange scone recipe with both the white chocolate chunks and white chocolate chips. The chunks melt into bigger, gooey pools of white chocolate throughout the dough.
Orange Scones Substitutions and Variations
Substitutions
Gluten Free Scones - Swap the all purpose flour out for your favorite gluten free baking mix. I've had good luck with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour and King Arthur's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.
White Chocolate - Swap the white chocolate out for 4 ounces of dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate bar.
Variations
Cranberry Orange Scones - Fold 1 cup of fresh or frozen whole cranberries into the dough in place of, or alongside the chunks of white chocolate. Fresh cranberries will give you bright and juicy pockets of tartness. Frozen cranberries will work just as well and help keep the scone dough extra cold (no need to thaw them first). Cranberry orange scones make for a perfect fall or holiday bake. Just make sure that you don't skip that bright orange glaze!
Use Dark Chocolate - Swap the white chocolate for 4 ounces of chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips. The bittersweet chocolate together with the bright citrus is an indulgent combo. Drizzle with melted dark chocolate and garnish with fresh orange zest or a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Storing and Reheating Orange Scones
Store baked scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Freezing Baked Scones
When freezing scones (baked or unbaked), it's important to make sure that the scones are separated by a layer of parchment paper so that they don't stick together. I like to use either a large airtight container or a freezer bag.
- Line your container or heavy-duty freezer bag with a piece of parchment paper.
- Arrange scones in a single layer in your container or freezer bag.
- Cover with parchment paper.
- Continue layering until all of your baked scones are in the container.
- Cover with one final layer of parchment paper. Store in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Freezing Unbaked Scones
- Arrange the uncooked scones on a parchment lined sheet pan. Transfer to the freezer for 1-2 hours or until frozen solid.
- Line your container or heavy-duty freezer bag with a piece of parchment paper.
- Move the frozen, uncooked scones to your container or bag and arrange in a single layer.
- Cover the first layer with parchment paper.
- Continue layering until all of your unbaked scones are in the container.
- Cover with one final layer of parchment paper. Store in the freezer for 2-3 months. Bake scones directly from the freezer according to the baking instructions in the recipe.
Reheating the Scones
They are truly best enjoyed when they are fresh and warm from the oven, but they do reheat beautifully. Here are a few easy ways to warm your scones back up:
Oven (best option) - Wrap the scones in a piece of parchment paper and warm at 300° for 8-10 minutes. You can remove them from the parchment paper for the last minute or two to crisp up the edges. This will keep your scones nice and soft in the middle.
Toaster Oven - Reheat at 300° for 5-8 minutes. This is a great option if you are only warming up a scone or two.
Microwave (quickest) - Wrap your scone in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20-25 seconds. Quick and easy but you won't get those crispy edges that you will get from warming your scones up in the oven.
Note: If your scones are already glazed, the glaze will soften when you warm the scones up. That's totally normal and the glaze will set back up as they cool. I prefer to warm my scones without the glaze and then add a fresh drizzle of orange glaze to the warm scones.
Tips For the Perfect Orange Glaze
The orange glaze is the true star of this recipe - it takes these scones from good to impossible to eat just one. Here are a few tips for getting the glaze right every time:
Always glaze your scones once they are cool. When you drizzle the glaze over warm scones, the glaze will sink straight into the scone and you won't get that nice, glossy finish. Let your scones cool for 15-20 minutes before glazing or plan to apply a second round of glaze.
Consistency is important. The glaze should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but thin enough that you can drizzle it. If your glaze comes out too thick, add a little more fresh orange juice. If your glaze is too thin, whisk in powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until you are happy with the consistency.
How to glaze your scones. For a light drizzle, use a spoon or whisk and drizzle the glaze back and forth over the scones. For full coverage, dip the tops of the orange scones directly into the glaze. A little bit of fresh orange zested over the top of the glaze is a next level garnish.
Orange Scones FAQs
Fresh orange is always going to give you the best flavor in the recipe - the combination of the fresh squeezed juice and the zest is what gives these orange scones that sunny citrus flavor and you just can't replicate that with orange extract. If you are truly in a pinch and don't have fresh orange, use ½ teaspoon of orange extract and swap the orange juice for an equal amount of heavy cream. But trust me - it's worth grabbing a fresh orange if you can!
Dry scones are almost always one of three things. The first is too much flour - make sure you are scooping your flour into the measuring cup with a spoon rather than scooping directly from the container of flour. For best results, use a kitchen scale and weigh your flour! The second reason scones will be dry is overbaking. Pull your scones from the oven just as the edges are golden brown. They will continue to firm up as they cool. The third is overmixing - working the dough too much causes the gluten to develop and this squeezes out the moisture. Mix until your dough just comes together and stop there. Heavy cream is also your friend here - it adds that extra moisture and keeps your scones tender and moist.
More Easy Scone Recipes
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Fluffy Orange Scones
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- large glass measuring cup
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- citrus zester
- chef's knife or bench scraper
- cheese grater
- whisk
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- pastry brush
Ingredients
For the Scones
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100g) sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons (10g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) sea salt
- 1 tablespoon (6g) fresh orange zest
- ½ cup butter frozen for 30 minutes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 4 ounces white chocolate bar chopped into large chunks
For the Glaze
- 1 ½ tablespoons orange juice
- 1 ¼ cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon (2g) orange zest
Instructions
For the Scones
- Zest and juice 1 large orange.
- In a large glass measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together egg, heavy cream, 2 tablespoons orange juice and vanilla extract. Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the dough.
- Combine dry ingredients and orange zest in a large mixing bowl.
- Chop the white chocolate bar into large chunks.
- Remove frozen butter from the freezer and use your cheese grater to grate the frozen butter directly into the dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender or fork to work the butter into the flour mixture.
- Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add the white chocolate chunks to the dough. Gently fold the chocolate into the dough. It's okay if the dough is not well combined.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough over itself and then flatten it to incorporate the chips. Do this 4-5 times to be sure that the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough. You want the dough to come together and look uniform with flecks of butter throughout.
- Form the dough into a 8-10 inch circle and use a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 triangles.
- Arrange on a quarter sheet pan and place scones into the freezer for 15-20 minutes before preheating the oven to 400°.
- After 20 minutes, arrange the chilled scones on a parchment lined, half sheet pan. Brush the scones with heavy cream and bake at 400° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
For the Orange Glaze
- While the scones are baking, make the orange glaze. Combine 1 teaspoon orange zest with the powdered sugar and 1.5 tablespoons of orange juice. Whisk until smooth.
- Once the scones have finished baking, move scones to a cooling rack and cover them with the sweet homemade orange glaze.
Jane Fuller says
What a wonderful recipe. I used cranberries rather than the white chocolate and the scones have a tart and sweet flavor. This will be my go to recipe for an afternoon treat. I did freeze the scones and reheated in my convection oven at 250 degrees for about 15 minutes. Perfect
Amanda Smallwood says
Sounds delicious!! Thank you so much for the feedback!!