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Topped with a sweet orange glaze, Orange Scones are sweet, tangy, and tender. They are the best breakfast or afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

Three glazed orange scones on a white plate next to a ramekin of orange marmalade

I am so over winter right now. And let me tell you, it’s not helping matters that it’s supposed to be 4°F here on Sunday.

Every single winter I ask myself why we continue to live in the Midwest. Sure, changing seasons are great, but I could really do without the freezing cold temps after Christmas.

I mean, it snowed here in early May last year and I think we went over 20 days without sunshine.

Since the weather is less than amazing, I thought I’d brighten your day and mine with these sweet and tangy orange scones.

They’re simple to make and absolutely delicious for breakfast with a cup of tea.

Ingredients for orange scones on a blue countertop

MY FAVORITE ORANGE SCONE RECIPE

The very first scone I ever ate was a glazed orange scone from Panera. I’ve been smitten with scones ever since then. 

In my opinion, they’re the perfect balance between biscuits and cake – I mean is it possible to go wrong with that textural combination? I think not.

Whisk mixing together the dry ingredients for orange scones in a glass mixing bowl

I’ve made a number of scones over the years, including Cranberry Orange Scones, Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones, and Lemon Raspberry Scones

But it was high time I came back to the scone flavor that started it all for me: Orange Scones.

These scones have just the right amount of sweetness from the glaze, orange flavor from orange zest in the scones and orange juice in the glaze, and tang from a secret ingredient.

Grated butter added to dry ingredients for scones in a glass mixing bowl

MAKING SCONES WITH SOUR CREAM

If you’ve ever found yourself trying to figure out how to make buttermilk after forgetting to pick some up at the store, you might have used sour cream in your baked goods before.

Instead of cream or buttermilk, these scones use sour cream mixed with an egg as the wet ingredients.

The sour cream keeps the scones moist and adds just the right amount of tang to them. The tanginess is perfect for balancing the sweetness from the sugar and the orange in the scones. 

Wet ingredients being added to the dry ingredients for orange scones in a glass mixing bowl

HOW TO MAKE ORANGE SCONES

To make these Orange Scones, you’ll need:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • zest of two medium oranges
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg
Orange scone dough shaped into a circle and cut into 8 triangles on a piece of parchment paper

Just like when making my Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake, start by rubbing the orange zest and sugar together with your fingertips. This will release the oils in the zest and make the scones extra flavorful. 

Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

Grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture and then use your fingertips to work the butter into the dry ingredients. You want the mixture to resemble a coarse meal. 

Unbaked orange scones arranged on a parchment-lined baking sheet

Whisk together the egg and sour cream and use a fork to stir this mixture into the dry ingredients until large dough clumps form. You’ll need to use your hands to form the dough into a ball; it’ll seem sticky at first, but it will come together. 

Use your hands to pat the dough into a circle on a lightly floured surface and cut it into 8 triangles. 

Baked and glazed orange scones arranged on a cooling rack

After baking and cooling the scones, whisk together the glaze ingredients. You can either dip the scones into the glaze or spoon the glaze on top of the scones.

Want to be really extra? Let the glaze dry and then give them a second coat! I love a double-glazed scone.

Now all I need is a coffee with some cinnamon dolce syrup and I can have my Panera scone and my Starbucks coffee all from the comfort of home.

Orange scone with a bite taken out of it stacked on top of two other scones on a white plate
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Orange Scones

By: Jamie Lothridge
4.46 from 107 votes
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 17 minutes
Total: 32 minutes
Servings: 8 scones
Topped with a sweet orange glaze, Orange Scones are sweet, tangy, and tender. They are the best breakfast or afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

Ingredients  

For the Scones

  • cup sugar
  • zest of two medium oranges
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter frozen
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 large egg

For the Glaze

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar sifted
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Instructions 

  • Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, combine sugar and orange zest; mix with your fingertips until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
  • Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream and egg until smooth.
  • Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough will be sticky first, but as you press, the dough will come together.
  • Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and prepare the glaze.
  • In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and orange juice. Whisk until smooth. Dip the top of the scones into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden.

Notes

Scones store well in an airtight container for up to two days.
Adapted from Pam Anderson via All Recipes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1scone, Calories: 396kcal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 74mg, Sodium: 249mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 26g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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202 Comments

  1. Kaeri Carroll says:

    5 stars
    Just made these using a little bit of leftover candid orange peel and they look gorgeous!

  2. Cindy Holmes says:

    I used yogurt instead of sour cream. The dough seemed dry so I added 2tsp milk. They were delicious!

    1. Jamie says:

      Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Happy baking!
      Jamie

  3. Dave says:

    First time making scones. These were amazing. Only thing I would do different next time is wait a bit longer to ice them, Mine were still too warm, but we couldn’t wait to eat them.

  4. Anastasia says:

    This is my second time making scones and this recipe by far better than other one that I’ve tried. I love the fact it calls for sour cream because it makes it so much more richer and the grated butter gives the perfect flake. I will be making these scones frequently, I’m a scone lover and love these so much!

    1. Jamie says:

      Hello-
      So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving y our feedback. Have a great day and happy baking!
      -Jamie

  5. Pru says:

    A little bit different to the typical scone recipe we get here (Australia) but worth the extra steps. I only had mandarins and the results were soooo delicious.

    1. Jamie says:

      I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback in the form of a comment. You can also rate the recipe using the stars in the recipe card. Happy Baking!
      -Jamie