About This Recipe
These scones combine sweetened dried cranberries, orange zest and honey in a cold butter dough. Two gentle letter folds layer the dough before it is cut into wedges. Keep the butter in visible flakes and give the shaped scones a cold rest before baking. The honey is part of the dough, with a little granulated sugar alongside it.
Recipe
Folded Honey Orange Cranberry Scones
Make orange cranberry scones with honey in the dough and two gentle letter folds. Includes a cold rest before baking and sweetened dried cranberry weights.
10Ingredients
Yield: 8 servings
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g unsalted butter, cold
- 63 g honey
- 25 g granulated sugar
- 125 g whole milk, divided
- 50 g whole egg without shell
- 100 g sweetened dried cranberries
- 5 g orange zest
- 10 g baking powder
- 3 g table salt
Ingredient amounts scale; instructions show the original batch. Cooking times and pan sizes may need adjustment. Season to taste. Honey grams use US measures at 20°C and 17.5% moisture, a density estimate; weigh your honey for precision.
Instructions
- 1Keep the butter in flakesWhisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut in the cold butter, flattening some pieces with your fingers so larger flakes remain. Stir in the dried cranberries and orange zest.
- 2Bring the dough togetherWhisk the egg, honey and 115 g milk. Stir into the dry mixture just until a rough dough gathers. Tip onto baking paper and press together without kneading smooth. If the butter softens while working, refrigerate briefly.
- 3Fold twice and cutPat gently into a rough rectangle. Fold one third over the middle, then the other third over it, like a letter. Turn a quarter turn, pat out gently and repeat once. Pat into a roughly 20 cm square about 2 cm thick. Cut into four squares, then cut each diagonally to make eight wedges.
- 4Chill and bakePlace on a lined tray with space between the wedges. Refrigerate for 30 minutes while heating the oven to 400 F (200 C). Brush with the remaining 10 g milk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and the cut sides look baked rather than wet.
- 5Rest before servingCool on the tray for 10 minutes before serving, or cool fully on a rack before storing. The 90-minute total includes the cold rest and brief cooling. The estimate uses one of eight scones, with no glaze or extra honey topping.
Estimated nutrition per serving
320.4 calories · 11.74 g fat · 49.88 g carbohydrate · 5.3 g protein · 296.71 mg sodium
Serving: 1 of 8 servings
Calculated from ingredient weights and USDA FoodData Central: 168894, 173430, 169640, 169655, 171265, 171287, 171723, 169103, 172803, 173468. Estimates use ingredient input weights; actual portions, brands and cooking losses vary. Omitted nutrient values are unavailable, not zero.
Fold a Cold Butter Dough
The letter folds are the method distinction here. Keep some butter in broad flakes when mixing, then fold the shaggy dough gently. The King Arthur Baking folding guide describes this approach for cold-butter doughs, including scones.
Two folds are enough for this formula. Repeated kneading warms the butter and changes the texture. Use baking paper and a scraper to handle the dough without adding unmeasured bench flour.
Flavor intensity uses an editorial culinary scale: 1 is mild and 5 is bold. These are tasting suggestions, not laboratory measurements.
Sources: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources: cooking with honey; USDA FoodData Central: Cranberries, dried, sweetened; King Arthur Baking: letter folds for cold-butter dough.
1 = mild, 5 = bold. Editorial pairing guidance, not laboratory measurements; jars vary.
- Clover
- Orange and dried cranberries
- Wildflower
- Fruit and butter layers
- Orange blossom
- Citrus fruit scones
Get the Honey Buyer's Cheat Sheet (free PDF)
16 varieties on one page — color, flavor, best use and what a fair price looks like — from the 304 honeys we track.
Name the Cranberries Correctly
The ingredient record is for sweetened dried cranberries. Plain fresh berries and unsweetened dried berries have different compositions and moisture. Use the stated product type for both the recipe and its estimate.
The orange flavor comes from measured fresh zest. There is no orange icing. Clover honey stays mild, while wildflower makes the honey more noticeable alongside the fruit.
Chill before the Oven
The 30-minute rest is part of the total time. It gives the shaped dough a chance to become cold again before baking. Space the wedges apart and use their baked cut faces as a doneness check.
Serve warm after a short rest. The existing honey scones offer another base, while this version adds fruit, orange zest and a stated folding method.
Portions and the Estimate
The estimate includes all the dough, the milk brushed on top and the dried cranberries, divided into eight wedges. No glaze, jam or butter served at the table is counted.
Cool leftovers completely before closing the container. For other baking ideas, see honey cookies or honey pear cranberry crumble.
Choosing the Honey
Use Clover Honey or Wildflower Honey for the flavor described in this recipe. See our honey selection guide for other culinary choices.
