There is nothing better than a freshly baked scones for morning, this Orange Scone will surely make you look forward to breakfast. It is flaky, absolutely delicious and oozing withe fresh orange flavor in every bite.
Congratulations! You just found the BEST Scone recipe! I am not exaggerating, this scone is very soft and flakey and every bite melts in your mouth. Just what a perfect scone should be. I tried several recipes, but nothing turned out as good as this one. I am excited to share this with you, another one of my successful for keeps recipe.

I love orange flavour as you can probably tell from my Orange Chiffon Cake, Chocolate Orange Cake, Orange Biscotti and now I have this Orange Scones to add in my orange flavoured bake goodies. This is another quick breakfast option that can be made ahead of time. The dough freezes well, maybe up to 2-3 months. Although, this is a small batch, you can always double it for a larger serving.

The first scone that I tried that I really liked was the Blueberry Scone from Starbucks. From then on, I started looking for a basic scones recipes. I tried quite a few, but I was not lucky enough to find the one I am looking for. I finally decided to mix and match recipes to get to this one. This scone recipe is very simple, but it turned out really good!

Scones requires only very few ingredients and simple steps. There are just key things to remember to get a soft and flaky scone. All cold ingredients and don’t over mix. If you keep this in mind, you’ll get a scones that is worth sharing to your friends and family just like this one. This is my favorite Scone, and I hope it will be yours too. Let’s get started!

Tips to a Successful Flaky and Light Scone
- Cold Ingredients: This is one of the secret to a flaky Scones just like with biscuit and pie crust. Eggs, cream/milk/water should be cold not only the butter. Using cold ingredients prevents the butter from melting before the scones are baked, leaving it instead to melt in the oven and create a super-flaky end result
- No Over Mixing: Just like when making bread over mixing could result to a tough scones. This is why it is very important to handle the dough with care, slightly and gradually push it around but do not knead it too much to make the texture smooth. Stop as soon as you are able to gather it up together. With scones, lumps and bumps is perfectly fine, in fact, it is advisable.
- Chill or Freeze Before Baking: The dough will soften as you handle it because of the warmth of your hands, so as extra precaution, chilling it or even freezing it before baking is highly recommended for a flaky texture.
- Hot Oven – Pre-heated hot oven is recommended when baking Scones or Biscuits. This is important so that the Scones could reach its fullest height and lightest crumb.
Big Batch Ingredients (Makes 8 pieces)
- 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 cup granulated White Sugar
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp of Salt
- Zest of 2 large Oranges
- 1/2 cup + 5 tbsp frozen unsalted Butter, grated or cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3/4 cup Buttermilk, plus extra for brushing the top of the scones
- You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar to 3/4 cup milk. Leave for 5 minutes before using.
- You can also use powder milk. Add 3 tbsp of powder milk to 3/4 cup of water then and 1 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar. Leave for 5 minutes before using.
Small Batch Ingredients (Makes 4 pieces)
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoon granulated White Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/8 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon of Salt
- Zest of 2 large Oranges
- 1/4 frozen unsalted Butter, grated or cut into 1-inch cubes
- 7 – 8 tablespoon Buttermilk, plus extra for brushing the top of the scones
- You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar to 8 teaspoon milk. Leave for 5 minutes until it curdle
- You can also use powder milk. Add 2 tablespoon of powder milk to 8 tablespoon cup of water then and 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar. Leave for 5 minutes before using.
Sugar Glaze:
- 1/4 cup Icing/Confectioners Sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon freshly squeeze Orange Juice (pulp removed) OR milk, OR water
- Zest of 1 Orange
Using food processor Using pastry cutter
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF / 180ºC. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of a food processor, put flour, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. Process few seconds just to mix (around 10 seconds).
- Manual: Alternatively, you can mix everything in a large bowl, from all the dry ingredients to wet ingredients
- Add Butter & Orange Zest: Scatter butter and orange zest over this mixture, and pulse a few times until the butter is the size of peas.
- Alternatively, you can use a large cheese grater, a pastry cutter
- Buttermilk: Transfer into a large mixing bowl (if using food processor) and gradually pour buttermilk and mix everything until most of it is moist enough to make the mixture to clump together. You may NOT need to use all the buttermilk, so it is important to add it gradually. STOP when you are able to form a ball out of the dough.
- Shape: Dump it onto the kitchen counter and quickly give it a few turns to avoid very dry spots. Do not over mix,the more you touch it and mix it, the tougher the baked scones will be. Stop once it starts to clump together. Form it into a disk, about 5-6 inch diameter, cut in quarters and stacks each portion of top of each other. Gently press- down and re-shape into a 6-inch disk. The stacking will help create layers in the scones.
- Cut: Cut the scones into 8 (if making a large batch or 4 if making a small batch) arrange them on the baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Brush Top: Brush top with additional buttermilk.
- Bake for about 20- 25 minutes or until top turned golden brown and the scones are puff-up and tall. If baking a frozen scone straight from the oven, bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until top turned golden brown and rise. Cool in wire rack.
- Make the Glaze: Mix icing sugar, orange juice and zest of orange. Stir until smooth. If you want a thicker glazed, just add more sugar.
- Drizzle: Drizzle the glaze on top of the cooled scones
- Re-heating: Re-heat in a 300F for 10 -15 minutes. If you have the sugar glaze on top, expect that this will melt. I suggest adding glaze only to the one that you are consuming for the day.
- Storage: Scones are best served the day they are made but if you have leftover, cover and store in room temperature (away from sunlight) for 3 days, more than that it is best kept in refrigerator. If you plan to eat it for few days, I suggest add the glaze on top so you can re-heat the scone when you want to it eat.
Makes 8 pieces
Sugar Glaze Instructions:
- Mix icing sugar and milk. Add orange juice/milk/water gradually. Start with 1 tsp, then mix. Add the remaining milk until you get the consistency that you like. If you want it thicker and sweeter, use more sugar. If you want it runny and less sweet, add more orange juice/milk/water.
Recipe Notes:
- Make sure to use very cold ingredients. Do not take out the ingredients (butter, milk) from the fridge unless you are ready to use it.
- Do not leave the scones at room temperature while pre-heating the oven. Take it out from the fridge only when you are ready to bake it.
- Do not over mix it. Knead it just enough to form it. Over mixing it will make it tough and you will not get a flaky texture.
- Orange zest can be replaced by lemon zest, or if you do not want any citrus flavoring, you can totally omit it.
- You can freeze the dough for 2-3 months. No need to leave in room temperature, bake directly from the fridge. Expect a difference in texture as freezing makes the dough a little bit dense.

Enjoy! If you make this, share and tag me in Instagram #SweetNSpicyLiving. I would like to see your creations too.
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These look delicious! We aren’t big fans of zest, however, and I wondered if you would recommend using orange extract in the scones and if so, approximately how much? Thank you so much!
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Hi Erin,
Yes you can use other flavoring and extract (vanilla extract, almond extract) 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon should be good. Mix it with the rest of the wet ingredients. You can also use Blueberry if you like fruit mix in.
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Definitely going to try these! The flaky layers caught my attention and I love your idea to stack the dough to achieve those layers. I have a great recipe for orange cranberry scones made with milk. I’m anxious to try yours with buttermilk.
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Let me know how it goes when you try it Julie 🙂 I love Orange Cranberry Scones too!
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Just made these they are beyond good they’re awesome so delicious
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Ièm glad you like it Gloria. Thanks for sharing your feedback. 🙂
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