The next time you need something sweet and comforting, try this recipe for cinnamon scones with orange spiced glaze.
The scones are lightly spiced and super fluffy. And the orange glaze brings a beautiful sweetness with just a hint of citrus. Yum!
The Best Cinnamon Scones Recipe
I should start this one with a warning: these scones are addictive!
Sweet, fluffy, and deliciously spiced, they’re perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a mid-morning treat. And they’re so yummy with a hot vanilla coffee on the side!
You’ll make a pretty standard scone recipe to which you’ll add cinnamon and brown sugar for an excellent depth of caramel flavor.
But that’s not all! There’s also a scummy orange glaze that lifts all the flavors and leaves you wanting more.
Feel free to add dark chocolate chunks or dried cranberries to the mix. But they’re terrific as is.
Ingredients:
This recipe is enough for 10 decent-sized scones or 15-20 minis, depending on the size of your cutters.
For the Scones
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cinnamon
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Cold Butter
- Eggs
- Cream or Half + Half
- Brown Sugar
- Vanilla Paste
For the Glaze
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Paste
- Orange Juice
- Cinnamon
- Orange Zest (optional)
How to Make Cinnamon Scones:
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
- Mix the dry ingredients, then add the cold butter and mix until it looks like breadcrumbs.
- Add the eggs and vanilla, followed by half of the cream.
- If the dough holds its shape, it’s ready. If not, slowly add more cream.
- Let the dough rest for about ten minutes, then press it into a circle.
- Cut the dough into 8-10 portions, brush them with a bit of milk or cream, then bake until golden - about 10-15 minutes.
- To make the glaze, just mix the ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
Recipe Tips
Scones are pretty easy to make, but there are a few things to keep in mind before you start:
- Use cold butter and cream - you don’t want the butter to blend with the flour. Instead, you want little beads that pop in the oven, creating steam, and a fluffy finish.
- Be gentle - stop mixing when the dough looks shaggy and don’t knead it like bread. Just press it together on the counter.
- Weigh the flour - scones can go from soft to dry in a snap. And too much flour will ruin them. So be sure to weigh it so you get the right amount.
- Preheat the oven - it needs to be nice and hot so the scones pop up nice and tall.
- Check them with a toothpick - hopefully, your scones grew in the oven. But that also means they might not be fully cooked inside. So, stick a toothpick into the middle (from the side, not the top). It should come out clean.
- Chill the dough - if it’s warm in your kitchen or you notice the dough is sticky, just pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes.
Recipe Variations
I think this recipe is spot on as is. But there are a bunch of ways you can make it your own.
For example:
- Cranberry Orange - add some dried cranberries for color and sweetness.
- Chocolate Orange - add dark chocolate chunks to make them melty and delish.
- Pumpkin Spice - use pumpkin spice instead of cinnamon, then add 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree to the scone batter and reduce the cream to 60 ml.
- Ginger Orange - add chopped crystallized ginger to the batter for pops of sweet spice.
- Maple Pecan - add chopped pecans to the scone batter and mix maple syrup into the glaze instead of orange juice.
- Chai Spiced - use chai spice instead of cinnamon.
Cinnamon Scones with Orange Spiced Glaze
The next time you need something sweet and comforting, try this recipe for cinnamon scones with orange spiced glaze.
Ingredients:
- For the Scones
- 285 grams of All-Purpose Flour (2 1/4 cups)
- 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons of Baking Powder
- 1 small pinch of Salt*
- 115 grams of Cold Butter (1/2 cup)
- 2 whole Eggs
- 120 ml of Cream or Half + Half
- 50 grams of Brown Sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Paste
- *use 1/4 teaspoon of Salt if using Unsalted Butter
- For the Glaze
- 50 grams of Powdered Sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Paste
- 1 tablespoon of Orange Juice
- 1/4 teaspoon of Cinnamon
- 1-2 teaspoons of Orange Zest (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and cold butter on low-medium speed until it looks like breadcrumbs.
- Turn the mixer to low and keep it going.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly with the vanilla, then add them to the mixer.
- As the eggs mix into the dry ingredients, slowly pour the cream into the mixer.
- When half of the cream is in, check the texture before adding more. If it’s still crumbly, slowly add more, stopping when you have a quarter left.
- Stop the mixer and gently squeeze some of the dough in your hand. If it holds together without crumbling, it’s ready. If not, add small amounts of cream until it does. It should still be quite shaggy - not a smooth dough.
- Let the dough rest for about ten minutes. Then, turn the dough onto a floured surface and gently press it into a circle.
- Cut the dough into 8-10 portions/wedges and transfer them onto the baking sheets.
- Brush each one with a small amount of milk or cream, and bake for 12-15 minutes.
- When tall and golden, remove the tray from the oven and leave them to cool on the sheet.
- Make the Glaze
- When the scones are cool, whisk the powdered sugar with the vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest (if using) and half of the orange juice.
- Add more juice as needed. It should be thick enough to hold on to the scones but thin enough to pour from the spoon.
- Drizzle the glaze over the scones. Serve and enjoy!
NOTE: The scone dough needs to rest before rolling. This is how they get nice and fluffy!