Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Scones
These Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Scones will be your new favorite vegan breakfast. This easy scone recipe is made with fresh and dried cranberries, fresh orange juice and zest, and a simple orange glaze for maximum flavor. Thanks to Silpat for sponsoring this post!
I’ve become a full scone addict. Flaky, tender, and absolutely delicious – I could eat one (or three) for breakfast every single day. First were these chocolate chip scones. Then came the maple pecan scones. And now, the latest scones to join the crew are these epically delicious cranberry orange scones!!
Studded with fresh and dried cranberries, flavored with orange zest and juice, and topped with an orange glaze, these scones are tender and flaky with crunchy edges.
How do you make the dough for these Cranberry Orange Scones?
These cranberry orange scones (and all of my scone recipes) are EASY to make, and if you ask me, pretty hard to mess up. The dough is forgiving. To start, you’ll combine all of your dry ingredients. For this recipe, the flours we use are blanched almond flour and tapioca or arrowroot flour. For sweetness, we use coconut sugar. We also add baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.
Once your dry ingredients are combined, we’ll incorporate the coconut oil. To get a flaky texture, we’ll want to cut in the coconut oil, the way you would for a pie crust. I use a pastry blender for this, though a food processor would also work. This creates flaky pockets of fat which when baked, puff up and give us the most delicious texture.
Next, we’ll combine all of the wet ingredients and stir them into the dough. We use coconut milk, fresh orange juice and zest, a flax egg, and vanilla extract. Mix these in and stir to bring the dough together. Then, stir in the fresh and dried cranberries. I used frozen cranberries for these cranberry orange scones because I couldn’t find fresh and they worked just as well!
After you’ve made the dough, you’ll want to refrigerate it for at least an hour. This helps the dough to firm up and allows the coconut oil to solidify to make the scones flaky. Once it’s firm, time to roll it out!
I rolled the cranberry orange scone dough out on my Silpat Perfect Pastry, which is a silicone baking mat marked with guides to help you roll things out exactly as wide as you need them. It also grips on the bottom, so no sliding around while you roll out your dough. Perfect for pie crust, cookies, and in this case, scones! Once you’ve rolled out the dough, you can choose to cut the scones out into circles, as I did, or simply cut the circle of dough into 8 wedges.
Then, arrange the scones onto your baking sheet, brush with coconut milk, and sprinkle with a little extra sugar for sparkle. I baked these on my Silpat Cook & Cool lined with a Silpat Silicone Mat. The Cook & Cool is a perforated sheet pan that doubles as a baking sheet and a cooling rack. When you line it with the silicone mat, it’s the perfect nonstick baking situation. After you’re done baking, flip it over and use it as a cooling rack.
When these cranberry orange scones come out of the oven, don’t resist the urge to try one warm – they’re SO good warm from the oven! You can opt to leave them as is, add a slather of vegan butter, or make the quick orange glaze from coconut butter and orange juice. Whatever you choose, they’re so delicious!
What makes these Cranberry Orange Scones so great?
- They’re super tender
- Crispy edges with a soft inside
- Easy to make
- FULL of orange & cranberry flavor
- Topped with a simple orange glaze
- They freeze well!
I hope you love these Cranberry Orange Scones as much as I do!
Want more delicious treats? Try these:
- Gluten-Free Cranberry Orange Cookies
- No-Bake Vegan Vanilla Bean Cranberry Bars
- Cranberry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Scones
- Yield: 8 to 10 scones 1x
Description
These Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Orange Scones will be your new favorite vegan breakfast. This easy scone recipe is made with fresh and dried cranberries, fresh orange juice and zest, and a simple orange glaze for maximum flavor.
Ingredients
For the scones
- 2⅓ cups (224g) blanched almond flour
- ¾ cup (96g) arrowroot flour
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup (100g) coconut oil, firm
- ¼ cup full-fat canned coconut milk, plus a little extra to brush on top of the scones
- 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
- 1 flax egg, see Notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
- Raw turbinado or coconut sugar, to sprinkle on top (optional)
For the orange glaze
- 3 tablespoons coconut butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, optional
- 2 to 3 tablespoon orange juice
Instructions
- In a food processor or large mixing bowl, combine the blanched almond flour, arrowroot flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Pulse or whisk together.
- Add in the coconut oil and pulse or use a pastry cutter or fork to work the coconut oil into the dry ingredients until only very small chunks of coconut oil remain.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, orange juice, zest, flax egg, and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and stir or pulse until completely combined. Stir in the cranberries.
- Dump the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap or similar wrap and form into a round. Wrap it up and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours to chill.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Dust the dough with tapioca flour and roll the dough out into an 8” to 10” circle, depending on how thick you want your scones. I did this on my Silpat Perfect Pastry.
- Use a circle biscuit or cookie cutter to press out 8 to 10 scones. Alternatively, you can cut the circle into 8 wedges. Place the scones evenly spaced on a baking sheet. I used a Silpat-lined Cook N’ Cool baking sheet.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the scones with a small amount of coconut milk. Sprinkle with raw turbinado or coconut sugar, if using. Bake for 22 to 27 minutes or until golden brown.
- For the glaze: whisk together the melted coconut butter, maple syrup, and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Add more orange juice to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over the scones as desired.
- Serve warm or let cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
For the flax egg: whisk together 2½ tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon flax meal. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened and gel-like before using.
Looks gorgeous! Do you think anything can be substituted for the arrowroot flour? Or a gluten free flour could be used instead of arrowroot and almond?
Thanks for any assistance!
Hi Carly, tapioca flour works well in it’s place!
Hi looks yummy. Can you explain why you say to “half” the fresh cranberries?
Hi Car, I find that they incorporate better in smaller pieces, you can leave them whole if you prefer.
Hi! My mom and I have been making your maple pecan scones on repeat and we wanted to try these!! I was wondering if you could replace the dried cranberries for fresh? We only have fresh cranberries :)
Hi Dana, yes that should work well! I’d maybe just use a little bit fewer so they don’t make the scones too soft. Enjoy!!
Hi! I loved your Apple cinnamon scones so I came searching for your take on lemon/cranberry. Do you think that lemon would work here in place of orange? I only have dried cranberries as well. Any recommendations would be super helpful!!! I fly mean to be a pain but I have a craving for an old sour cherry lemon tart I used to eat and I’m trying to satisfy it with 100 dietary restrictions! Please help lol
Hi Josie!!! Happy to help :) yes, lemon will totally work in oranges place. It will add a bit more tartness, of course. All dried cranberries will be fine, as well! I’d recommend rehydrating them before adding them to the dough. Enjoy :D
This looks amazing do you suggest sweet or unsweetened coconut milk ?
Hi Deborah, I always use unsweetened canned coconut milk.
Hi! I made these scones and accidentally doubled the recipe. I was wondering if there was any way to freeze the extra batch of scones?
Hi Stacy, absolutely! You can freeze the dough in the wedges, or you can bake and freeze them in an airtight container. Hope this helps!