This Easy Orange Scone Recipe is So Simple and Yummy

Have you ever made scones before? I know it might seem complicated, but I’m telling you, it is so easy! This orange scone recipe took me less than 20 minutes to make. Scones are super straight-forward baking, even for super novice bakers. The other great thing about this particular recipe is that you can use any type of citrus or you could even swap out the orange for another fruit if you don’t like orange flavoring.

I used two types of oranges for this orange scone recipe. I had some mandarins left that I needed to use, so I zested and juiced those for the dough recipe. As a word of caution, juicing mandarins isn’t that simple. They are pretty small so unless you have a juicer, it’s kinda tough. But, it worked. I just used my hands over a large bowl to catch all the juice. Then, I used some larger navel oranges for the zest topping over the glaze.

The original recipe I found called for orange extract, but I don’t like using extracts very often. I prefer to load the recipe with zest to get that natural orange flavor. My glaze turned a little bit darker than I anticipated. I would have preferred it to be whiter with the orange zest up against it, but that didn’t work out. The mandarin juice was very bright orange so it made the glaze a bit more beige. Nonetheless, it tasted really yummy and still looks pretty. 

If you’re looking for other scone recipes, or for muffins, click those links!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 3 mandarin oranges (or one large orange)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
orange juice, to thin the glaze (start with 2-3 tablespoons and add more until proper consistency)
grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Put the sugar and orange zest in a food processor and process until the tangerine zest is finely ground and the sugar is pale orange. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the machine and pulse to combine.

Drop in the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 20-25 times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With the machine running, pour in the milk and extract, and run the machine just until the dough comes together. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands until there is no dry flour left. Pat the dough into a flat round, about 1 1/2 inches thick (thicker if you like,) and cut out 8 scones. (Cut just like a pizza!)

Bake the scones for about 15-20 minutes until just barely starting to turn golden, but don’t over bake. They will still be quite pale when done. I baked mine for only 16 minutes. Allow the orange scones to cool completely before adding the glaze.

To make the glaze, mix the confectioner’s sugar with enough orange juice to make a thick glaze. Whisk or stir well, and let the glaze set for a few minutes to dissolve any lumps in the sugar. Dip the cooled scones into the glaze and flip them over to dry on a rack. Sprinkle immediately with orange zest while the glaze is still wet. I hope you enjoy this orange scone recipe!