Soft Orange Scones with Fresh Orange Glaze

Our homemade orange scones are filled with fresh orange zest, orange juice and covered with the most delicious sweet orange glaze. This recipe is truly the ultimate orange scone experience. Our soft fluffy scones make the perfect snack or breakfast with a warm cup of coffee. Be sure to also check out a few of my other favorite scone recipes like our Chocolate Chip Coffee Scones or our Foolproof Scones recipe which set you up to choose your own scone flavors and add ins.

🍫 Ingredients

• heavy cream - adds moisture and flavor to the finished scone - also adds a nice shiny top to the scones 
• fresh orange - you will use both the fresh orange zest and orange juice for this 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 - the butter should be very cold for making scones - I prefer to freeze the butter for 30 minutes and then grate the butter directly into the dry ingredients using a box grater.

🍊 Variations

Cranberry Orange Scones - Omit the white chocolate chunks and mix in one cup of frozen or fresh cranberries into the scone dough.

Gluten Free Orange 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.

🧈 Substitutions

White Chocolate - Swap the white chocolate out for 4 ounces of dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate bar.

🥣 Instructions

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.

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 orange scones with a warm mug of tea or coffee.

Hint: Work with cold ingredients. Freeze your butter, chill your liquid ingredients after whisking them together and chill the scone dough before baking it.

🤓 Top Tip

Freeze Your Scones Before Baking Them - One of my favorite scone baking tips is to freeze the wedges of scone dough for about 30 minutes before baking. This give the dough a chance to get good and cold before baking. Freezing the dough contributes to an overall flaky orange scone that won't spread too much in the oven. 

📦 Storing 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 heavy-duty freezer bag. 

1. Line your container or heavy-duty freezer bag with a piece of parchment paper. 
2. Arrange scones in a single layer in your container or freezer bag.
3. Cover with parchment paper.
4. Continue layering until all of your baked scones are in the container.
5. Cover with one final layer of parchment paper. Store in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Freezing Unbaked Scones

1. Arrange the uncooked scones on a parchment lined sheet pan. Transfer to the freezer for 1-2 hours or until frozen solid. 
2. Line your container or heavy-duty freezer bag with a piece of parchment paper. 
3. Move the frozen, uncooked scones to your container or bag and arrange in a single layer.
4. Cover the first layer with parchment paper.
5. Continue layering until all of your unbaked scones are in the container.
6. 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.

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Easy Orange Scones with Orange Glaze

Amanda Smallwood

Light and fluffy orange scones made with orange zest, orange juice and then covered with a sweet orange glaze. Perfect for afternoon tea or Sunday brunch.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 18 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 8 scones

Calories 405 kcal

Ingredients

  

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For the Scones

• ▢ 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon 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 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 405kcalCarbohydrates: 66gProtein: 5gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 263mgPotassium: 243mgFiber: 1gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 626IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!