Cranberry Scones Recipe
With 36 Variations

Try some of these 36 cranberry scone variations for yourself, a bake sale, or a beautiful tea and scone gift basket.

Makes 8 large or 16 small scones

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

If you are using fresh or frozen cranberries, sweeten ½ cup of them first with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Let stand at least 5 minutes.

Sift together

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

with 1/2 cup sugar. If you choose low calorie or alternative sweetener like stevia, please check their conversion recommendations.

Add 4 tablespoons of chilled unsalted butter chopped into small pea-sized pieces (soy or vegan margarine works great also). Gently work the flour-butter mixture with a pastry blender until the dough looks like coarse meal.

In a separate bowl, beat together

1 large egg, or 2 egg whites (Vegans may substitute soy milk)

2/3 cup buttermilk

Add sweetened fresh cranberries, or use ½ cup dried cranberries.

Add to flour mixture and stir just until blended.

If you are making large triangular scones with this cranberry scones recipe, pat the dough into a circle on a floured board and cut into wedges. Or you can roll out to 3/4 inch thickness and use your cookie cutter or selected shape.

If you are making small scones, divide the dough in half, pat into two rounds, then cut into wedges.

Brush tops with 1 tablespoon milk or buttermilk.

Place on the baking sheet, bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks.

Serve warm with a lemon or cranberry green tea. These also work well with Mao Feng or a light Japanese sencha.

Variations for this cranberry scones recipe:

Flour: substitute ½ cup cornmeal or whole wheat flour for same amount of all purpose flour.

Fruit: add ½ cup chopped fruit, either dried or fresh. Try apple, peach, orange, lemon, blueberries, dates, or figs.

Nuts: add 1/4 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds. Top with chopped nuts or sliced almonds

Grains and seeds: add 1/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal, sesame seeds, flax seeds, or chopped raw sunflower seeds.

Spices: add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, or mace.

Cranberry scones recipe variations for spreads and toppings:

Spreads: in a food processor, blend 2 tablespoons fruit or jam to 4 ounces of a spread. Try dates with butter, cranberry or apple chutney with cream cheese, peach jam with cream cheese, whole cranberry sauce with cream cheese, marmalade with cream cheese, or an easy maple syrup with butter blend.

Toppings: Brush with milk or 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon milk. Choose one of the following: dust with confectioner’s sugar, sprinkle decorative sugar, sprinkle chopped nuts, sprinkle oatmeal, or drizzle a fruit flavored icing ( ½ cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 tablespoon marmalade, lemon juice, peach jam, cranberry sauce, fruit chutney, apple butter, plus 1 tablespoon milk or cream until right consistency).

Perfect for a Christmas baking session.

More Tea Recipes