Almond Flour Cranberry Orange Scones made grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free. Bursting with citrus and cranberry flavor, these easy scones are fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and perfect for enjoying for breakfast or brunch!
During the holiday season, I love baking batches of scones to share with friends and family for little on-demand treats! They make the perfect breakfast, brunch, snack, or even dessert.
These almond flour cranberry scones are all-things festive and flavorful, with bright citrus flavor and tangy cranberries studded throughout. Plus, they are a great option for most dietary restrictions as they are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.
The texture is on par with regular scones with a soft and fluffy inside and a lovely crisp around the edges. They are one of my all-time favorite cranberry orange treats that I return to time and again!
If you love all things cranberry orange, be sure to try my Almond Flour Cranberry Orange Cookies and my Almond Flour Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake too!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for cranberry orange scones.
Ingredients for Cranberry Orange Scones:
Almond Flour: We’re replacing regular all-purpose flour with almond flour in these grain-free scones. Almond flour generates a light and fluffy texture and it brings healthy fats, fiber, and protein to the scones.
Tapioca Flour: While I’ve made many scone recipes with almond flour only, I do love adding tapioca flour for a texture that’s closer to regular scones. Tapioca flour is full of starch, which gives the scones a softer texture for a fluffy scone.
Eggs: A couple of eggs help bind all of the ingredients together and ensure they hold together nicely. They also help the scone dough rise and expand.
Avocado Oil: The addition of oil makes a tender crumb and adds rich flavor to the scones. I like using avocado oil because it has a neutral flavor and is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids.
Orange Zest: Responsible for the big orange flavor, we need the zest of 3 navel oranges, which equates to about 2.5 to 3 tablespoons of orange zest. You can still eat the fruit after zesting the oranges, so don’t let the fruit go to waste.
Dried Cranberries or Fresh Cranberries: Bringing tangy classic cranberry flavor to complement the orange, we need either dried or fresh cranberries. Fresh tart cranberries add an even bigger contrast due to their sour flavor.
Pure Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla brings warm flavor to the scones.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The leavening agents here. We need baking powder and baking soda to help the scone dough rise so that the inside is fluffy and the outside has a lovely crisp.
Sea Salt: A big flavor enhancer, salt ensures we maximize all of the bright citrus and cranberry flavors.
Recipe Customizations:
- If you don’t have tapioca flour, simply use 5 cups of almond flour and omit the tapioca flour.
- You can replace the avocado oil with ⅓ cup of melted coconut oil or ½ cup (1 stick) of melted butter.
- When using fresh cranberries, carefully chop them in half or fourths using a sharp knife.
- Use a cookie cutter to shape the dough into different shapes.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients for this cranberry orange scone recipe, let’s make it!
How to Make Cranberry Orange Scones:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Mix well until the wet ingredients are well combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt until the dry ingredients are combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the flour mixture and mix everything well until a thick and sticky dough forms. Mix in the dried cranberries.
Form your desired size and shape scones out of the dough using your hands. It is very sticky – this is normal! I make 8 large triangle shaped scones, but you can easily make smaller ones and/or do drop scones by dropping the dough onto the baking sheet using two spoons.
Be sure to leave plenty of room between each mound of dough, as it grows during the baking process.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes for large scones or 15-18 minutes for smaller scones, until they’re golden brown. Adjust the bake time based on the size of the scones.
Remove the scones from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
If you’d like to make the optional sweet orange glaze, mix powdered sugar and orange juice (or water) in a small bowl until smooth.
Drizzle this glaze over the cooled scones and enjoy! You can wait for the glaze to harden before serving it you’d like.
Storage Tips:
- Room Temperature: Store the scones in an airtight container or a zip lock bag on the counter for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate scones in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: For longer storage, transfer the scones to a freezer bag or a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 2 months.
And that’s it! The next time you’re looking for a tasty breakfast treat to serve friends or family, whip up these orange cranberry scones!
They’re the perfect breakfast pastry on a slow chilly morning.
If you love these gluten free cranberry orange scones, also try some of my other reader favorites!
More Scone Recipes:
- Vegan Blueberry Scones
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Scones
- Cherry Scones
- Blackberry Scones
- Carrot Cake Scones
- Apple Scones
Enjoy these lovely flaky scones for all your special occasions with a hot cup of coffee, Greek yogurt, and fresh fruit.
Cranberry Orange Scones Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup (78ml) avocado oil *
- ¾ cup (177ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp (6g) orange zest (2 to 3 navel oranges, zested)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups (454g) almond flour
- ¾ cup (100g) tapioca flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup (140g) dried cranberries
Optional Powder Sugar Glaze:
- 1 cup (100g) powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp (30ml) water or orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Mix well until the wet ingredients are well combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt until the dry ingredients are combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the flour mixture and mix everything well until a thick and sticky dough forms. Mix in the dried cranberries.
- Form your desired size and shape scones out of the dough using your hands. It is very sticky – this is normal! I make 8 large triangle shaped scones, but you can easily make smaller ones and/or do drop scones by dropping the dough onto the baking sheet using two spoons. Be sure to leave plenty of room between each mound of dough, as it grows during the baking process.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes for large scones or 15-18 minutes for smaller scones, until they’re golden brown. Adjust the bake time based on the size of the scones.
- Remove the scones from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
- If you’d like to make the optional sweet orange glaze, mix powdered sugar and orange juice (or water) in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle this glaze over the cooled scones and enjoy! You can wait for the glaze to harden before serving it you’d like.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This recipe can be made sugar-free and lower in carbohydrates with a few tweaks.
First, swap the dried cranberries for fresh cranberries. Carefully chop fresh cranberries in half or in 4ths before mixing them in. Most dried cranberries contain added sugar, which doesn’t bode well on a sugar-free diet.
Also, omit the tapioca flour and use 5 cups of almond flour.
Omit the pure maple syrup and replace it with ⅔ cup of your favorite sugar-free sweetener such as monk fruit sweetener or allulose.
And finally, add ⅔ cup of your favorite kind of milk. If you also want to make the glaze, use a sugar-free powdered sugar for the glaze.
I don’t recommend making flour substitutions in this recipe, as it is designed specifically around almond flour and tapioca flour.
If you are up for experimenting, you may be able to replace the almond flour and tapioca flour for 3.5 to 4 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour, although I haven’t tested this myself yet.
Don’t attempt to replace the almond flour with coconut flour, as coconut flour requires more eggs and liquid, so it needs its own dedicated recipe.
Made these today!!! They’re on my A list for holiday breakfasts, fast, easy, Delicious!!!! Show stoppers!!!
Used recipe as is, will add cinnamon snd cardamom for a little pizzazz next time but the were outstanding as they were!
Wahoo! I’m so thrilled to hear you enjoy them as much as I do! I’ve been going bonkers over them (cranberry orange anything is my favorite), so it makes me happy to hear you’re enjoying them too 🙂
(As soon as I see “almond flour” in the email preview, I know who the mail is from!)
My first attempt at scones. I used both types of specified flour, used melted butter for the fat, and fresh cranberries. Made the glaze with orange juice.
Slicing the cranberries in half is a MAJOR pain if the berries are small and you’re old and tend to have shaky hands. No fingers were displaced, however. I think I’ll try a rough chop, next time.
For shaping, I figured: oil the parchment paper, form the dough into a thick disk, cut the disk into 8 pieces, use a bench scraper to push the pieces apart. Theories are fine things. Turns out, this dough won’t push. I had every strange shape imaginable when I was done.
I really like the end result, though. The texture is perfect, delicate. The taste of almond is rather subtle, underneath the orange flavor.
Thank you for the thorough review, Joe! I’m thrilled to hear no fingers were harmed in the chopping of the fresh cranberries…that must have been a bit nerve-wracking! I appreciate you sharing your experience and the fact that you powered through in spite of the dough being a challenge to work with 🙂
Hello, I’m making these for my niece, who is gluten free but also can’t have almond flour. Do you have another flour suggestion? Perhaps a regular gluten free flour blend?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Dawn! You can try making this recipe and add orange zest and dried cranberries instead of blueberries: https://www.theroastedroot.net/vegan-blueberry-scones-gluten-free/ Happy baking!
These are delicious! I did use fresh cranberries. I did not cut them and they came out amazing. You could use blueberries or raisins and even add some chopped nuts for a different twist.
Ooh, I’m so thrilled to hear that, BJ! I like the idea of adding chopped nuts, too! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I made these today using orange grape seed oil in place of the avocado oil. I used an ice cream scoop and ended up with 18 scones. They are delicious and I will be making them again once I stock up on more almond flour!
Wahoo! I love hearing that! I’m positively obsessed with these scones, so I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying them too. Thanks so much for the sweet note!
Can the tapioca be substituted with something else, as I don’t have any tapioca powder?
Hi Delia! I mention this in the post, but you can swap the tapioca flour out for an additional cup of almond flour (for a total of 5 cups). Let me know if you have any other questions!
I used arrowroot starch and they came out lovely.
Thanks so much for sharing this – it’s super helpful to others who want to try the recipe and need a substitution for tapioca flour 🙂