These perfectly tender scones have such a bright citrus flavor and are topped off with a sweet + tangy orange glaze.
These scones… I have finally come around to updating the photos! This recipe is now one of the most popular recipes on my site – check the comments! I make them for Mike’s birthday every year and they have quickly become a favorite of the entire family. Now I’m making them a few times a month! When Mike and I first started dating a while back, his favorite thing to get from Panera was their orange scones and he claims that these are even better than theirs. And if you know him, you know how critical he is about anything he eats! They’re seriously SO delish. And this is coming from a girl who has a love/hate (but mostly hate) relationship with orange flavored anything. This is actually the first recipe on my blog that has any type of orange in it! I didn’t even realize.
The citrus flavors are so bright and pronounced but in a non-overwhelming way. For some reason, I’m on a citrus-y dessert kick lately. And apparently I love orange now too?? I never thought I’d see the day but these things are DELICIOUS! And aren’t they so pretty too? Look at those little orange flecks all throughout the scones. Love.
They have the perfect scone texture – dense and slightly crumbly but soft and tender at the same time. The glaze on top is what truly brings everything together. It’s sweet but tangy and it finishes these guys off perfectly. Just be sure to only add the glaze once the scones are completely cool or else it will seep into the warm scones making them too moist and soft!
If you love scones, you’ve got to give these fresh orange scones a try for the best breakfast/brunch (whenever) treat ever!
Fresh Orange Scones
Ingredients
*Orange Scones*
- 1/3 cup sugar
- zest of one large orange or two medium oranges
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter frozen
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 large egg
*Orange Glaze*
- 3 tbs unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, gently toss flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until completely smooth. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir sugar and orange zest together until sugar is moistened and zest is evenly distributed. Pour in flour mixture and toss to combine. Grate frozen butter into mixture. Using your hands, work in the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Gently stir in sour cream mixture until just about combined. Do not over work the dough! Again, very gently press the dough against the sides of the bowl a few times and form a ball. The dough will be sticky at first but will come together as you form it.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface and lightly pat into an 8" circle about 3/4" thick. Use a very sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles (like a pizza). Transfer triangles onto prepared baking sheet. You can arrange them in two rows, 4 in each row, or arrange them in a circle shape - leaving about 1" between each one.
- Bake scones for 15-17 minutes or until the tops begin to golden. Don't take them out too early or they will be too soft. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. During this time, prepare glaze. Stir together melted butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and orange juice until smooth. Once completely cooled, go ahead and either dip the tops of the scones into the glaze or drizzle it on top with a spoon.
Recipe from My Baking Addiction.
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to know how it came out for you! Please leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #sprinklesomesugar so I can see it!
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I am on a very low sodium diet and one of the things I miss THE MOST are the orange scones from Panera. I was thrilled to find this recipe and am happy to report they are truly delicious! I use my sodium free replacements for the baking soda and baking powder, and I also tried white-wheat flour and these are still wonderful. I make then often.
Thank you!
That’s so awesome to hear! Thanks so much for sharing your low sodium experience!
Yup. I’m another low sodium guy. The only way to control sodium is to not put it in! Man O’ Man are these good. I just tuned 68 today and I just spent it in my man kitchen downstairs making wonderful things. This was one of them.
That’s so wonderful to hear! I hope you had an amazing birthday, Bruce!
These scones were delicious, even GF with cup for cup flour. GF spouse said they were the best scones ever (and I’ve made a lot of scones)! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
So great to know! You’re very welcome, Kate! 🙂
Good recipe. I used Gold Medal flour and found I had to add 1/4 more liquid to get the dough to come together. I used kefer since there was baking soda in the recipe. The texture was excellent, but in my oven it needs about 3 more minutes of baking time. I found the scone light with a very delicate orange flavor. Next time I may try Mary Berry’s technique of boiling a whole orange and then chopping up the whole orange.
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Just made these. Wow, really delicious, flaky and flavorful! Thanks.
I’ve made these scones several times, and I love them. They are amazing! My question to you is do you think there would be a way to make these eggless and still have them turn out? A friend of mine has an egg allergy, and I would like to make a version that she can try ? Any advice would be appreciated!!
I was sold as soon as I saw that your husband loves Panera’s Orange Scones (me too) and that he says these are better.
I am hosting an Easter Brunch this year, and they will definitely be on my menu!
Thanks so much!
These are so perfect for Easter!
They are wonderful! I made them for the first time for a brunch, and everyone loved them.
My eleven year old made these for the family and OH MY GOODNESS are they ever good!!
The BEST orange scones! I love the easy method – grating the frozen butter! Is genius. They came together so easy, thanks for the best tasting glaze too- I used vanilla bean paste and it was perfect. GREAT RECIPE,
I have made these 2x since my sister found this recipe before Christmas. They are wonderful. Mine have a bit of a bitter taste after swallowing. Bad baking powder or soda? I know I didn’t take to much off the orange for zest. Will make these again and again. My hubby is British and says thanks mate. 🙂
Hmm, I’m unsure about the bitter taste. But I’m glad you loved them anyway!
I really liked the recipe. I like my flavors bold so I would do at least the zest of 2 oranges. My glaze was runnier than yours and made way too much. I made it a 2nd time without the orange and added chocolate chips instead. It was also a hit at the baby shower.
Sounds yummy with chocolate chips!
Love the recipe! Easy to make and so scrumptious. My fiancé thinks it needs more orange flavor. I feel it is a perfect subtle hint of orange. I will make these again.
I agree, I think it’s the perfect subtle orange flavor. You can always add more, though! 🙂
OMGosh, these are THE BEST SCONES I’ve ever had….I didn’t have sour cream and used my own Greek yogurt. I had to ad a couple of tablespoons to milk to bind the dough together.
That being said, the scones are light and golden and MOIST! Most scones I’ve had you needed clotted cream and jams to make them palatable…this stand on their own. Thank You!
Yes! They are super easy- that’s why I love them too! 🙂 So glad you loved the scones and that they came out great with your substitutions!
I used lemon instead of orange and added dried cranberries and dried blueberries. So yummy and they don’t even last a day in my house.
Yummy!!
I’ve just made a batch of these and I have to say that they are simply delicious!
The texture is perfect, they’re a little crumbly and buttery and melt in my mouth.
I love eating them with some butter and honey, with fresh strawberries on the side.
One thing – I made the glaze and it’s just too much for my scones, so I think I’ll have to make another batch just to finish it off 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds delicious! So glad you loved them, Megan!
Made these today and my husband really liked them. The dough cane together nicely- very easy recipe. Thanks for sharing!
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
I had never tried scones but these sounded good, but they were fantastic!! And easy, thanks!!
Awesome! Thank you, Nancy!
I will be making these soon. Love orange car too much. A top for you a for fellow readers: I always have fresh orange zest on hand in my freezer. I learned years ago via Cuisinart’s manual and recipe book that whenever I have organic lemons or oranges, I never let the zest go to waste.
Simply peel the oranges or lemons using a potato peeler “before” juicing. Throw these peels into your cuisinart food processor and add a few tablespoons of normal granulated sugar (the sugar provides grit or resistance). Now pulse the peels together with sugar into a fine zest. If too wet add some sugar. I store the zest made in this manner in airtight plastic containers in my freezer and retrieve for recipes as needed. Sometimes it will clump in freezer -no big deal. I will scoop it out with a spoon and cream it into any recipe with butter.
I also will make lemon and orange sugar using this zest. After it is finely minced, I would add sugar, say 1/2 cup at a time until I get the saturation I desire. I use this sugar for dusting scones, muffins, loaves etc before baking. Trust me this works. You’ll always have zest for baking, dusting sugars and best of all never let organic fruit zest go to waste.
I freeze juice I cannot drink or use in ice cube trays for future use.
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A tip for you and for fellow readers: I always have fresh orange zest on hand in my freezer. I learned years ago via Cuisinart’s manual and recipe book that whenever I have organic lemons or oranges, I never let the zest go to waste.
Simply peel the oranges or lemons using a potato peeler “before” juicing. Throw these peels into your Cuisinart food processor and add a few tablespoons of normal granulated sugar (the sugar provides grit or resistance). Now pulse the peels together with sugar into a fine zest. If too wet add some sugar. I store the zest made in this manner in airtight plastic containers in my freezer and retrieve for recipes as needed. Sometimes it will clump in freezer -no big deal. I will scoop it out with a spoon and cream it into any recipe with butter. Or just let it defrost in a minute or so and use.
I also will make lemon and orange sugars using this zest. After it is finely minced, I would add sugar, say 1/2 cup at a time until I get the saturation I desire. I use this sugar for dusting scones, muffins, loaves etc before baking.
Trust me this works! You’ll always have zest for baking, dusting sugars and best of all never let organic fruit zest go to waste. And it is efficient and productive. You get lots without scraping any knuckles on zester or microplaner.
I also freeze juice I cannot drink or use in ice cube trays for future use.
These are some really great tips, thank you!
I made them with lemon and they turned out amazing!
I just made these scones and they are absolutely delicious! (By the way, I was out of sour cream and used plain Greek yogurt instead without a problem.) Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Good to know! Glad they were a hit.
HI! Can you use non fat plain greek yogurt? It’s just what I have on hand or should I get full fat? Thanks!
Full fat would probably be the best substitute but I don’t see why non fat wouldn’t work! Let me know if you test it out! 🙂
Definitely going to make these, but adding cranberries to it!
I love this recipe! I have made them about half a dozen times and they’re always amazing! Thank you for posting this recipe!
That’s so great to hear! Thank you, Shane!
I made them.today with my son.
We added cranberries to the mixture and they look amazing.
Easy recipe and great flavor.
Cranberries sound like a delicious addition!
Hi Jessica ? These orange scones sound yummy. How do you think it would be adding crasins?
That sounds awesome, actually!
These were SO GOOD. And, mine looked just like the pictures. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! Thanks so much for sharing!
HI! I am going to make these for Mothers Day but I want to do the prep work ahead. Can I make the dough and freeze it and thaw it out or should I just make and bake them on Saturday?? I am new to scones, have never made. Also, if I freeze the dough, how long should I let them thaw out for before baking? If I bake them on Saturday will they still be ok on Sunday? Are they best when they are just out of the oven??
Also, I am not sure if I will do the glaze or just sprinkle with bigger sugar granules. Thank you for your help!
I’m looking for a delicious dessert recipe. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I will try and make it to celebrate birthdays with my kids at sagame home.