These cherry orange scones are moist, tart, and covered in vanilla icing. They're made with buttermilk, heavy cream, and butter. Soft with just the perfect amount of sweetness. Perfect for breakfast or tea time!

This post has been sponsored by Bob's Red Mill. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Salty Lemon Sister possible!

These cherry orange scones are simple to make and absolutely delicious with Bob's Red Mill products. I love baking, so it's important to me that I choose the very best ingredients for my friends and family. There's no better way to do that than with a little butter and love!

The holiday season is when the baker in all of us comes out. There are so many delicious things on my list to make every year. Cherry orange scones are one of them (although they definitely get made many times throughout the year!). With a little vanilla icing drizzled on top, they are tart, buttery soft, and sweet all at once. Talk about a flavor explosion in your mouth!

My friends and family love getting scones in the little gift baskets I give out every year. I wrap them in colored crinkly paper and tie the top with ribbon. I feel good about giving them out because I believe in the power of dessert and know I couldn't be baking with any better ingredients.

Alright, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Let's talk about how to make these cherry orange scones now!

Ingredients

• Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour: This flour is made with all-natural wheat and has no additives. When you scoop it out of the bag, you can feel the difference right away.
• Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder: Baking powder is a chemical leavener and helps make the scones rise. This baking powder is aluminum-free and healthier for it.
• Bob's Red Mill Buttermilk Powder: Buttermilk powder makes the scones soft instead of dry as you might find in other recipes.
• Sugar: This recipe calls for a small amount of sugar because we are adding a drizzle of icing on top. Scones, in general, aren't very sweet.
• Salt: A small amount of salt is used to balance the flavors.
• Heavy cream: Heavy cream really makes these scones moist and just fall apart in your mouth.
• Egg: This helps keep everything together and helps make the scones rise.
• Butter: Cold butter is cut into the dough. When it melts, it creates air pockets which makes the scones light and fluffy.
• Orange zest: A bit of zest goes a long way in flavoring.
• Orange juice: Add a couple of tablespoons of orange juice for a bit more flavor.
• Dried tart cherries: Chopped tart cherries are the star in these beauties.
• Confectioner's sugar: This is used for the icing you will drizzle on top after they have cooled slightly.
• Vanilla: Vanilla adds flavor to the icing.
• Heavy cream or milk: Add a little liquid to the sugar to make the icing the perfect consistency. If you add too much, just put in a couple more small scoops of confectioner's sugar.

How to make cherry orange scones

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, buttermilk powder, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk the heavy cream together in a glass measuring cup.
• Cut the cold butter into ½ inch pieces.
• Zest an orange and then cut and squeeze the juice into a bowl.
• Chop the cherries.
• Make a hole in the flour and add the heavy cream. Lightly stir it together until a dry dough forms.

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• Using a pastry blender, fork, or food processor, cut in the cold butter until the dough comes together and the butter is cut into pebble-like pieces.

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• Fold in the orange zest, juice, and cherries.

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• Use a ½ cup measuring cup to scoop the dough out and either tap the bottom or use your fingers to scrap the dough out and into a round shape.

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• Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.
• Whisk together the confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream and drizzle over the scones when they have cooled slightly.
• Place the scones on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Variations

There are so many different variations of scones you can make. Here are some of my favorite. Just remove the orange and replace the dried cherries with the ingredient of your choice. It doesn't need to be a dried version, it can be fresh too.

• Blueberry scones
• Cranberry orange scones
• Chocolate chip scones
• Raspberry scones

Baking Tips for cherry orange scones

• Use cold butter and cut it in with a pastry blender, fork, your hands, or a food processor. When the butter melts it makes little pockets of air which make the scones light and fluffy.
• Whisk the heavy cream and egg together before adding it to the flour so you can mix them together lightly instead of stirring and making the dough tough.
• Use tart cherries for the best flavor. If you can't find them, you can use sweet cherries instead.
• Chop the cherries before adding them to the bowl. This will help spread them out more and you won't get big globs of cherry to chew your way through.
• Use a half-cup measuring cup to scoop the biscuits up and put them on the baking sheet. This ensures they are all the same size. If there's a little left in the bowl, you can add it to the other ones.
• Use a silicone baking mat to make sure the scones don't stick to the pan.

FAQ

• How do I get my scones to rise and be fluffy? There are a couple of ingredients that help your scones rise and be fluffy. They are baking power, cut-in butter, and an egg.
• What makes a good scone? Scones are generally drier and can be tough. There are a couple of things you can do for this. Use buttermilk powder, heavy cream, don't over-mix, and don't over-bake.
• Do you need to put eggs in scones? Yes, I recommend it. They help the scones rise and make them more fluffy. If you want denser scones, you can leave out the egg.

You may also like...

• Homemade Buttermilk Waffles
• Grandma Annie's Easy Apple Pie Recipe
• Overnight Oats in a Jar
• 6 Easy Breakfast Smoothies

If you try it out, let me know how it goes in the comments or on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.