There is nothing like warm, fluffy cranberry orange scones fresh out of the oven on Christmas morning, or really for any holiday brunch, or as a beautiful gourmet hostess gift. When serving these Christmas morning, I like to prep these ahead of time, cut them out, place on to baking sheets and pop them into the fridge the day before. Then all I have to do the next morning is preheat the oven, bake them and drizzle with the glaze – so easy!
I like to serve these with my famous and easy Sweet Potato Frittata (I also prep everything the day before to keep it simple Christmas morning) or fluffy scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, Cranberry Jelly, and Classic Hot Chocolate– either the peppermint or Aztec versions to make it extra special. Happy holidays! xoxo
Gluten-Free Cranberry Orange Scones
3/4C plain fat-free Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt
1 large egg or vegan egg replacer equal to 1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp Ground Vanilla Bean Powder
2 3/4C whole grain gluten-free flour blend
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine Himalayan salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C organic cold butter or coconut oil, cubed
1C chopped cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/3 C coconut sugar
Zest of 1 large organic, unwaxed orange, finely zested
Glaze
1 Tb melted butter or coconut oil
2 Tb raw honey or maple syrup
1/4 tsp Ground Vanilla Bean Powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp extra fine orange zest
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well to thoroughly combine. Add the butter cubes and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two forks until it similar in texture to coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the cranberries, sugar and orange rind. Pour in the yogurt mixture and stir by hand until just combined.
Turn out the dough onto a clean, gluten-free floured surface and shape dough into a large ball by hand. Roll the dough out to about 1-inch thickness and cut out your desired shapes. At this time of year I like to use a small gingerbread man cookie cutter because I think it is fun and cute, but use whatever shape you like. Alternately you can press the dough into a scone pan.
Place on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet (cover and refrigerate at this point if you are making these ahead of time) and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden.
While baking, whisk together all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. When the scones are done, allow them to cool slightly on a wire cooling rack. I like to place a Silpat sheet under the rack while glazing to make clean up easier. Drizzle the scones with the glaze and enjoy!
*Make it Vegan:
Replace the Greek yogurt with plain, unsweetened coconut or almond yogurt, the egg with your favorite vegan egg replacer equal to one large egg, the butter with coconut oil and use coconut oil and maple syrup in the glaze instead of butter and honey. All measurements remain the same.
Happy holidays!
What is your favorite holiday brunch recipe? How did these scones turn out for you? Let me know in the comments below and on Facebook and Twitter; I love hearing your thoughts!
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