Healthy Cranberry Orange Scones Recipe

Happy Saturday all!  It’s been awhile since I shared a recipe from my archives.  I came across this recipe for my Healthy Cranberry Orange Scones when I was browsing ideas for baked goods with icing.  This recipe is my take on making Starbuck’s Cranberry Orange Scones healthy….however, you could easily substitute any dried berry & jam combination to put your own spin on these scones.  Think Lemon Raspberry Scones, Mixed Berry Scones or Iced Cherry scones…The options are endless.  Enjoy!

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As you all read on Sunday night, I sort of have a thing for Starbuck’s Cranberry Orange Scones with icing and cranberry filling.  I really think what makes their Cranberry Orange Scones so tasty is they have this AMAZING filling on the inside.  They are sweeter than your average scone, buttery and melt in your mouth with tons of chewy cranberries inside.  I do not get their scones too often though because they are a good portion my daily points and come in around 490 calories and 18 grams of fat!

I knew there had to be a way to make a Healthy Cranberry Orange scone so I did a little research and busted out my beautiful Kitchen Aid Mixer. I checked out several recipes including Barefoot Contessa’s Cranberry Orange Scone Recipe, but, I couldn’t convince myself to use 3/4 pound of butter with 1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream as much as I wanted too.

I decided you really needed to have some real butter and a little whipping cream to get that buttery flaky texture.  But, I could get away with using a little Greek Yogurt for some of the butter and heavy whipping cream.

This recipe has half the calories and points, and, in my opinion, it tastes even better than the real deal  (I might be a bit biased though)

HEALTHY CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES (print it!)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbsp grated orange zest
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced (2 cubes)
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 18 tsp Cranberry Orange Jelly (Trader Joe’s or Make Your Own ~ it’s easy)

EGGWASH

• 1 egg combined with 2 Tbsp water, lightly beaten

ICING

• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 4 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs, heavy cream, milk and vanilla extract and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy! Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.

3.  Place the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 1/4-inch thick. . Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn’t stick. Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. Place the scones “bottoms” on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the outside edges of the circle with your egg wash and place 1 teaspoon of cranberry orange relish in the middle.  Place one more scone circle on top and slightly press the outsides to seal.  Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles.

4.  Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes and then whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice, and drizzle over the scones.

Makes 18 cranberry orange filled iced scones!

Nutritional information per “stuffed” scone (using Calorie Count), 6 points+ each!

The “SECRET INGREDIENT” is in the filling! You could take some of your leftover Thanksgiving Cranberry Orange Relish to make these or just buy Trader Joe’s Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish.

It’s so good, I could literally eat it off the spoon.

I actually made up 2 versions when I was testing this recipe ~ 1 with filling and 1 without.

STUFFED with Cranberry Orange Filling.

WITHOUT…

If filling isn’t your thing, roll out your dough 3/4 inch thick, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, bake and ice like these.

Deliciousness ~ not too sweet, not too bland with buttery cranberry orange goodness in every bite!

Tadah!!! They are really easier than they sound and totally worth making for everyone you know just to try them I actually froze half the dough so that I could unthaw it and make it up another time.

We are off to watch the Three Stooges, American Reunion or maybe just something on Demand.

Night all!