Cranberry Scones

Let me just be honest with you, before this recipe, I was never a huge fan of scones. I didn’t understand the texture, so I avoided making them until you guys kept telling me how much you love them. So, I set out to develop a recipe that would make me love scones, and boy did I do just that.

❤️ Why You’ll Love Cranberry Scones

These scones are the perfect storm. Buttery, warm, delicious, and EASY. These take the same amount of prep time as your everyday cookie recipe. And the best part is, you can leave out the cranberries entirely and have yourself the best base scone recipe there is.

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Discard- This is just inactive sourdough starter that hasn’t been fed. It is equal parts flour and water that has already risen and fallen and now can be added to a multitude of recipes.

Butter – Cold butter, it must be cold to achieve the correct scone texture.

Flour – All-purpose flour is a pantry staple, but if you have bread flour you can use that too.

Greek Yogurt – I think Greek yogurt gives these scones a tang and richness that only yogurt can achieve, but if you don’t have yogurt, you can use heavy cream as a substitute.

Craisins – Dehydrated cranberries

Sugar – There is granulated sugar in the recipe, and brown sugar sprinkled on top. I think brown sugar is a better topping sugar, but you can use granulated for both.

Heavy Cream – For brushing the top of the scones before baking, or it can be substituted in the recipe for Greek yogurt.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Cranberry Scones

In a large mixing bowl, start by mixing together your dry ingredients. Grate in your cold butter and work with your hands so the butter breaks up and is fully coated in flour making a crumbly mixture. Add in the yogurt and sourdough discard and mix together until combined. Fold in the craisins.

Whether the dough is fully together or not, take it out of the bowl and transfer onto your workspace. Work the dough with your hands to help the dough come together, fold over a couple of times before shaping it into a ball to achieve the texture of a flaky scone.

Cut into 8 equal pieces and place into your cast iron pan. Brush the top of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While your oven is preheating, place the cast iron with the scones into the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

While the scones are baking, mix together your cinnamon vanilla glaze.

Drizzle the scones with your desired amount of glaze and enjoy!

🪄 Tips and Tricks

• Chill the scones in the fridge while the oven is preheating, just to make sure the butter is cold before baking.
• While shaping your scone dough into a circle on the counter, fold it over a couple of times so your scones come out extra flaky.
• I would HIGHLY recommend full fat Greek yogurt in this recipe for extra creaminess.

🗒 Variations

This is an excellent base scone recipe, which means you can take out the cranberries completely, or add whatever other flavors you’re in the mood for.

• Sourdough Discard Scones
• Chocolate Chip Scones
• Blueberry Scones

🗒 Substitutions

You can substitute the plain Greek yogurt for vanilla yogurt or heavy cream, even though I highly recommend using Greek yogurt to achieve a rich and creamy scone.

You can also substitute the cranberries for any other flavor inclusion you like.

🗒 Best Served With

• Coffee
• Dessert

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store your leftover scones in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days.

🤔 Common Questions

5 from 7 votes

Cranberry Scones with a Cinnamon Glaze

Print recipe

Delicious sourdough discard cranberry scones drizzled with a cinnamon vanilla glaze on top.

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Resting time:20 minutes mins

Total Time:50 minutes mins

Equipment

• 1 cast iron pan
• 1 mixing bowl
• 1 dough whisk

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 6 tbs cold butter
• ¼ cup yogurt
• ¾ cup sourdough discard
• ¾ cup dried cranberries

Cinnamon Vanilla Glaze

• 2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 TBS whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
• Grate in your cold butter and work with your hands until the butter is fully incorporated and turns into a crumbly flour mixture.
• Add in the yogurt and sourdough discard, and mix well. Fold in the cranberries.
• Turn the dough over onto your workspace and continue to work with your hands until a cohesive dough forms. Fold the dough over a couple of times before cutting into pieces to achieve a buttery, flaky scone.
• Cut into 8 equal pieces and place into your cast iron pan.
• Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with brown sugar.
• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, and while the oven is preheating, place the scones into the fridge to firm up the butter that is inside the dough.
• Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
• While the scones are baking, mix together all your glaze ingredients.
• Drizzle the glaze over warm, freshly baked scones and enjoy!

Notes

You can substitute the cranberries out for any flavor inclusion you like. Chocolate chips, blueberries, or you can keep them plain. 

Nutrition

Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 567mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 191mg | Iron: 2mg

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cranberry, scones, Sourdough, Sourdough Discard

Servings: 4

Calories: 328kcal