These gluten free Cranberry Orange Scones are bursting with citrus flavour. Once you've learned the tips and tricks for baking gluten free scones you can use this recipe and vary the flavours for a year round treat. Raspberry White Chocolate or Bacon Cheddar, if you love scones this is the recipe!
Scones have a slightly different texture than biscuits and some people love them. They can be made sweet or savoury and are always best the day they're made.
🍊 Ingredients
The flour blend you choose is the key to baked goods that don't taste gluten free. I find that baking with what I now call 'my EGFG gluten free flour blend' are more moist and don't go stale as quickly as other blends. Sweet rice flour instead of white rice flour one of the reasons. To learn more about rice flours check out this post, How To Use Rice Flour.
- EGFG gluten free flour blend* (220 g)
- sugar
- baking powder
- xanthan gum
- butter
- fresh cranberries
- orange zest
- sour cream
- egg
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Clotted Cream vs Whipped Cream
Scones are British and are typically served with clotted cream and jam. Whipped cream is the easiest replacement for clotted cream and it's unsweetened. I’m probably having jam on mine so I don't need to sweeten the basic recipe.
If you’re a scone aficionado clotted cream is the most decadent choice. It has more fat than whipping cream and tastes like smooth, delicious, unsalted butter. You can probably buy it somewhere and of course you could make it from scratch.
Jam and freshly whipped cream is decadent enough for me.
Tips For Gluten Free Scones
Gluten free bakers always have two parts to learn when baking something new. In this case I needed a refresher to know exactly what defines a scone. That tells me I’m looking for a light, tender scone with a buttery flavour and subtle sweetness.
Second, what adjustments will help to make up for the difference between wheat flour and gluten free flour. I go to my America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks for that kind of information. I refer to those books over and over so I know lots of the tricks but I know the learning never ends.
Here are some tips for gluten free bakers searching for the perfect scone.
- Xanthan gum and an egg help with structure.
- Egg gives these scones moisture and elasticity.
- The resting time prevents a gritty texture.
- Replacing the usual milk or cream with sour cream prevents them from spreading.
- Preheating the oven beyond the cooking temperature, then reducing it, ensures complete browning.
- Doubling up the baking pan prevents over browning on the bottom and let’s the scones cook fully.
Tips for Gluten Free Flour
No single flour can replace all the properties of wheat flour in every recipe. The good news is that you can get excellent results with different flour blends. To learn how to improve recipes by adding to the flour blend you like check out How To Use a Gluten Free Flour Blend. Keep good notes and get cooking!
Copycat Starbucks Mini Scones Gluten Free
I wanted to make mini scones like I see in the Starbucks display case and it was simple!
For the full recipe I shape the dough into a six-inch circle and cut it into six triangle pieces. For mini scones I divided the dough in half to make two smaller circles. I cut the dough the same way and got twelve mini scones that were exactly the size I wanted.
Variations
In the winter cranberry-orange or blueberry-lemon are delicious combinations. Once you’ve got the flour and the technique figured out you can try any combination you like. From bacon-chive to raspberry-white chocolate you're only limited by your imagination.
Storage
Scones, like buttermilk biscuits and cheese biscuits, most baked goods are best eaten the day they’re made. The second best scone is the homemade one you baked yesterday.
Gluten free baking, unlike baking with wheat flour, goes stale more quickly. You can learn to store your baked goods soon after they have cooled completely. I'll keep reminding you of that in the instructions of every recipe. You've probably already eaten something that went stale overnight, that's a problem worth solving.
I store only enough scones that I can eat within two days of baking and freeze the rest. Slim chance we can't eat them all but it's possible.
Equipment
You can use a stand mixer, food processor or just your hands, whatever is easiest for you. Then all you need is a baking pan and parchment paper for easy clean up.
- Full baking sheet, always buy them in pairs.
- Parchment paper roll or parchment paper sheets (the sheets always stay flat if them rolling up annoys you).
- American's Test Kitchen The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook, Volume 2 The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook and their 2020 book, How Can It Be Gluten Free Collection; 350 Groundbreaking Recipes For All Your Favourites.
If you tried these I’d love to hear how you liked them and if there was a tip that you think made all the difference. Happy Baking!
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Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups EGFG gluten free flour blend* (220 g)
- 3 tablespoon sugar (decrease to 1 tablespoon for savoury scones)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 6 tablespoon cold butter cut into ½-inch pieces
- ⅓ cup fresh cranberries chopped
- 1 tablespoon orange zest finely chopped
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Set oven rack to the centre of the oven. Preheat to 500°F. Use two baking sheets to prevent over browning. Line baking pan with parchment then transfer parchment directly onto the counter. Spray or brush with oil.
- In a large bowl measure flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum. Whisk until combined.
- Using a stand mixer, food processor or your hands, add cold butter and mix until the mixture resembles fine crumbs with no butter pieces visible.
- Stir in cranberries and orange zest.
- In a measuring cup stir sour cream and egg until combined. Stir into dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Transfer dough to greased parchment paper. Using wet hands shape the dough into a 6-inch round about 1-inch thick.**
- Grease a large knife and cut into 6 or 8 wedges. Transfer parchment to baking sheet and arrange scones 2-inches apart. Lightly sprinkle tops with a little extra sugar.
- Transfer to oven and immediately reduce temperature to 425°F. Bake until golden brown, 15-18 minutes.
- Cool on a baking rack 5-10 minutes before eating. When completely cooked store in airtight container.
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