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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 Scones
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Scones
- ⅓ 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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I had Panera’s orange zest scones about a month ago and have not been able to forget about them… I found this recipe and couldn’t wait to try it… These are so good, I wished I had tripled the recipe so I could share with everyone I knew!! Thank you! – the pregnant lady craving orange zest scones <3
Nicole-
That’s great to hear! Thank you so much for stopping in to share. Have a great day and thanks for following MBA!
-Jamie
I just found your site tonight through Pinterest. I love, love Panera orange scones! I can’t wait to try this recipe. The only thing I would comment from just looking at the ingredients is I think I might add orange zest to the glaze as well. One thing I love about the ones at Panera is the visible zest in the glaze. I adore orange in baked goods. Your recipe looks absolutely yummy! Thank you for posting it!
Thanks for stopping by, Laura! Orange zest in the glaze would be perfect!
-Jamie
I made this exactly to recipe but i’m still not exactly sure what i did wrong with the glaze. The scone itself turned out amazing it tasted just like panera’s but the glaze just didn’t taste right. Because the glaze wasnt very good the scone was a bit dry. If anyone has any suggestions I can use the next time I make these that would be awesome. Thanks
I have been making these for a few weeks now, cause since I’ve made them for my boyfriend’s family, who “hated scones”, and let’s just say now I’m making 2 batches every weekend, 1 for me and 1 for them. I noticed that if you refrigerator the dough for 5-10 mins. before cutting it makes it a bit easier and gives cleaner cuts. You can also make and freeze after they cool, then heat them up for a yummy snack. I can’t tell you how long they will last though cause they never make it past a week. Best scone recipe, used for different flavor types and just replaced the orange part of your directions. AMAZING! Thanks so much!
Can I use plain yogurt instead of sour cream?
Marlen, that should work just fine.
– Jamie
My sister recommend this recipe. She said she made it a few times and everyone that tasted/ ate them loved them.
I just made them myself and I agree!!! The are delish!! Thank you
I am enamoured with the berry scones at Panera Bread.
they are moist and flavorful without being overly sweet . . . just the perfect treat with a favorite cup of java. I wonder how I could adjust your wonderful recipe to a very berry treat – mixed berry’s or blueberry or something of the sort.
would love to hear from your expert hands on this.
thank you!!!
Hi Soni,
I’m sure you could mix in some mixed berries here without too much trouble. You might need to add a little extra flour if they’re juicy berries.
– Jamie
I was tasked with making scones for a bridal shower in April for ~60 people. I have never made scones before and this was the first recipe I made as a trial. I brought them into work and everyone loved them! They were really easy to make and did not dry out at all. I will definitely be making these for the shower. I may try with lemon instead or orange next time!
These are wonderful! I love Panera orange scones and this is a perfect recipe. Thank you! I live in NM, it’s very dry here so I had to add a splash of milk to the dough. Other than that it was amazing!
I’ve recently fallen in love with Panera’s orange scones as well. So happy to have found your recipe! Haven’t made them yet, but from the other comments posted..I won’t be disappi.