Well hello there! I’ve been dreaming of you, Mini Orange Cream Scones. With that sticky sweet orange icing, and almost petit four shape, you really are quite a fancy sight to behold.
Winter in Arizona means crisp, sunny days, people flocking to the great outdoors, and rows and rows of citrus trees heavy with ripe fruit. It’s not uncommon to see cars with out of state plates pulled over to the side of the road in my neighborhood filling up bags of lemons and oranges to take home to their frozen tundras. We don’t mind at all… never wanting to see good fruit fall to the ground.
Obviously not giving into the pressure of narrow minded eating that is so rampant this time of year (still love you January do-gooders), I added the zest and juice of some lovely, sweet naval oranges picked straight from my grandmother’s tree to a delicate, buttery cream scone recipe. And since I am a lover of all things sweet, I added an icing laced with the same zest and juice. Divine!
One little trick to make your scones extra light and flakey is to chill the heavy cream before adding melted butter into it. When the cream is very cold, the melted butter forms hardens into tiny solid globules, perfect for creating steam and air pockets (read: deliciousness) in the biscuit. I believe this handy little trick came from my friend, Chris, am I right?
You can cut these into wedges or rounds, but I like the way they look with my 1 3/4 inch fluted cutter.
I know there’s so much snow coming down in much of the country, and I can’t deny that pang of jealousy that arises when my friends post winter wonderland pics on Instagram, but it’s nothing a good hike and a Mini Orange Cream Scone can’t fix. Stay cozy friends!
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Mini Orange Cream Scones
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 13 mins
- Total Time: 33 mins
- Yield: 12 mini scones 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
With that sticky sweet orange icing, and almost petit four shape, these Mini Orange Cream Scones really are divine!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- additional 1 tablespoon heavy cream
For the Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- zest of one orange
- 2–3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and orange zest. Set aside.
- Place a 1/2 cup of heavy cream into the freezer for 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter, and squeeze the orange, straining out any seeds.
- Add the butter to the chilled cream, along with the orange juice and vanilla extract.
- Pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture, and stir until you have a crumbly dough. With your hands, bring the dough together, kneading a few times on a very lightly floured surface until mostly smooth.
- Pat the dough into a rectangle, and cut out scones. Reshape dough as needed and cut. Place the scones on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.
- Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream.
- Bake the scones for about 12-14 minutes, or until the tops and bottoms are slightly golden.
- Allow the scones to mostly cool, and then top with orange icing.
For the Icing
- Add powdered sugar and orange zest to a small bowl. Start with 2 tablespoons of orange juice, whisking until you have a thick paste. Slowly add a tiny bit more juice until the icing is thick, but will just barely drizzle off the whisk.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Mini Scone
- Calories: 188
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 220mg
- Fat: 6.2g
- Saturated Fat: 3.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.8g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 31g
- Fiber: 0.7g
- Protein: 2.6g
- Cholesterol: 18mg
Chris Scheuer says
Oh my goodness, these look amazing Julie! The cold cream/buttermilk wasn’t my original idea but Cook’s Illustrated instead. But I have also used the technique for scones and it doesn’t get any easy or more delicious. I love, love, love the citrus saturation here 🙂 (and quite jealous that you have citrus growing right in your neighborhood!)
Brittany says
Looks delicious!!!! I’m wanting to make these but don’t have heavy cream on hand right now. Can half/half be used instead of heavy cream??
Julie says
Good question, but I would hesitate to recommend that since I haven’t tested the recipe that way. Better go grab some heavy cream. 🙂
Amanda Haynes says
I have interchanged heavy cream and half and half before in scones. It’s just fat content. It’s totally fine!
Annette says
How thick/thin should you pat the dough?
Julie says
Hi Annette, good question- you want it about 3/4 inch thick. Hope you enjoy!
Annette says
Thank you! Believe it or not, I am 55 and have never made scones, although I’ve eaten plenty! We have a cafe at church that we take turns baking for, so my turn is next weekend and I thought I would try these. They look delicious.
Julie says
That’s wonderful! I think they will be a hit :0)
Annette says
So, i just made these- they are delicious! However, how come mine don’t look right after they baked? They looked just like yours when I cut them, but when they baked they became misshapen. Any ideas?
Julie says
Not sure, but maybe not quite enough flour. Glad you like the taste!
Hannah says
Hi Julie,
I made these a couple weeks ago and got rave reviews from my family. They requested I make them again for our Easter meal. Also, made the brown butter almond cookies last week and LOVED those as well. Keep the yumminess coming please!
Julie says
Hannah, that’s so awesome! Thanks for letting me know, and for making my recipes!
Diedra says
I am about to have my third child and I’m trying to find things I can make ahead and freeze and cook on hectic mornings. Have you ever froze this recipe?
Julie says
I haven’t tried freezing these yet and I think the orange glaze would get sticky. Best wishes to you with the new baby! Good for you for trying to get ahead while you can!
Chirstina says
The recipe is amazing and easy to make. I did them for my son 2 days ago and he asking me to make them again today 🙂
Julie says
I’m so glad you all like them!
Jackie says
Would it be possible to substitute lemon for the orange or would the scones be too tart? I LOVE the orange, but have leftover lemons.
Julie says
Jackie, you definitely could do lemon! I usually start with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, plus the zest. I know every lemon has it’s own amount of juice and tartness, but this is a good place to start.
Julie says
Sorry I meant to say tablespoons, not teaspoons.
Jackie says
Thank you! I’ll try it this evening.
Heather Vest says
My scones turned out great, but the icing looks different from yours. Mine isn’t white ish, but looks more like marmalade and tastes it too. I was expecting more of a sweet orange flavor. I am wondering if there should have been some milk or cream added to the glaze?
Erin says
No baking powder? Thanks for the recipe.
Becky Buckland says
I also noticed the recipe does not call for baking powder. Is this an error in the listing of ingredients???
Or does the recipe truly call for no baking powder to be used??
Aimee says
I’ve made these several times now and they’re always a hit. Works great baked from frozen (cut, freeze separately, then into a freezer bag until ready to bake) by just adding a couple of minutes to the bake time. We usually skip the glaze and serve with jam, a spiced Christmas cranberry being the favorite so far.