Orange and Oat Scones Recipe

Rustic orange-scented oat scones peppered with currants inspired by a recipe in Romney Steele's new Big Sur-based My Nepenthe cookbook.

Orange and Oat Scones

I spent most of the week under my favorite blanket on the couch - sniff, cough, cough, sniff, sneeze, repeat. The good news is I'm on the mend, and after a short walk today something tells me I wasn't alone in my misery. It seems as if half the city is coughing into their elbows. So yeah, last week was all about the small victories for me - going downstairs to get the mail, finishing a load of laundry (as in one), writing letters, and eventually, as I was starting to feel better, making a batch of orange and oat scones from the My Nepenthe cookbook. If only you could have been there when they came out of the oven, yum.

Orange and Oat Scone Recipe

They were good later too though. I nibbled at a golden corner of one of the scones a couple hours after they came out of the oven, then four hours later, then six - they seemed to be improving with age.

In fact I wish I had one right now. In hindsight, I should have frozen some of the dough, then baked them off a few at a time.

Orange and Oat Scone Recipe

I'm so looking forward to trying more from Romney's new book, she includes an eclectic mix of recipes including the full range of mains, soups, side salads. But it's the sweets and breakfast recipes that I suspect will make an appearance in my kitchen in the near future - the wheat germ buttermilk hotcakes, persimmon pudding cake, and the triple berry pie.

Orange and Oat Scone Recipe

If you haven't seen the book yet, look around for it. I think it's just starting to show up in stores. It's just the sort of cookbook that takes you to another place and time - beautifully designed and photographed, and the story she tells of her life and legacy at Nepenthe in Big Sur is very special. For those of you who love the Tessa Kiros cookbooks, aesthetically this book is similar in spirit.

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Orange and Oat Scone Recipe

I made a few tweaks to Romney's original recipe, and they are reflected below. I use whole wheat pastry flour here, but you can use unbleached all-purpose flour, or a blend of both if you like. This version of the recipe makes 8-10 huge scones. The next time I make these I'll likely pat the dough into two 4-inch rounds and cut each of those into 6-8 smaller scones before baking.

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups rolled oats
zest of 1 orange
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup coarse turbinado or Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
2/3 cup dried currants

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse 15-20 times or until it looks like sandy pearls. (If you are working by hand, cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter.) Transfer the dough to a bowl and stir in the oats and zest. Stir in the buttermilk and currants until just moistened.

Bring the dough together with your hands. If the dough is still too crumbly, stir in more buttermilk a tiny splash at a time, but try to avoid over mixing. After bringing the dough together, gently pat it into an 8-inch round. Cut into triangle shapes (see photo) and transfer to the prepared baking sheet with some room between each scone. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minute or until the bottoms are deeply golden.

Makes 8 extra-large scones, or 12 to 16 larger ones.

This recipe was adapted from My Nepenthe by Romney Steele. Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, November 2009.

Prep time: 10 minutes - Cook time: 15 minutes

If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it - tag it #101cookbooks on Instagram!

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Comments

I made these Christmas morning, too. Had to add more buttermilk to get dough to come together. Cut into 16 scones (still come out very large) and baked for about 30 minutes. They were so good - crumbly, not-too-sweet. Perfect with coffee and a dollop of creme fraiche.

Brooke

Made these on Christmas morning with dried cranberries. I cooked them for probably 30 minutes. They were a hit!!

Julie

made these this weekend for my family, and everyone loved them! thanks for the great recipe :) for anyone wanting to try something slightly different, i used 1 cup fresh cranberries instead of the dried currents, and I added 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. they turned out wonderfully, although i wish i had used more cranberries.

stephanie

Thanks for a wonderful site. Just trying these scones - they smell great! I've had to leave them in quite a bit longer than 15 minutes though... don't know if that's a problem with my oven.... we'll see how they turn out. Thanks again and best wishes from Barcelona, Spain!

Michael Terry

Just baked these with the same results as comments above. Even though I cut them into 16 SCONES (as Heidi suggests), they took much longer than 12-15 minutes to fully cook. More like 30+. And then, I left them in the oven after it was turned off and cooling. So, in all, they were in a hot oven for an hour before being sufficiently cooked inside. I know my oven temp is correct because I have a separate thermometer in it. Very tasty results, although sweeter and more "cake-like" in texture than a true British scone.

Angela

Just made these and am enjoying them as I type! This was my first ever scone-making experience, and I am so delighted! I squeezed a little bit of the orange juice in, and used Craisins instead of currants because I already had them in my pantry. The flavors are so subtle and perfect. I saved the second half in the freezer for later as you mentioned. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hilary

Made them day before & they are the best, healthiest scones we've ever had! Wriiting to you as I mix the stuff to make a second batch today. Followed your advice & made smaller portions...they stay YUM for 2 days (that's as long as they lasted here). Thank you for posting them!

deeba

Heidi, I wondered if you tried baking these with the original recipe first? I made them yesterday, by the book, and found them too dry to shape until I added another 2 T cream. Like Melinda and others, I also had to bake them an extra 20 minutes before the inside puffed. I'm wondering how the recipe compares using buttermilk instead of cream. Could that be the reason for the issues with crumbliness/bake time?

Christine

These have a wonderful flavor! Mine "relaxed" while cooking, and I had to bake them about 20 minutes longer than the recipe specified/ I used quick oats. Would that have caused the dough to be softer and not as crispy a scone?

Melinda

J like all your recipes.Thank you.best wishes from Macedonija.

mrmova

Just made these and they're perfect! Add a cup o' Earl Grey tea, some holiday music in the background and snowflakes falling lightly from the sky. Heaven on earth. Thank you.

Kirsten

I am definitely bookmarking this page and sharing it with my friends. :)

For_ex_stra_tegy

A few days ago I ordered two copies of My Nepenthe -- one for me and one for a dear friend who introduced me to the restaurant about 6 years ago. Then this morning I tried the scones (using more buttermilk than what was called for; zest of two oranges and chopped dried cherries). And I sat down to flip through the book. Scones were perfection. Here it is almost 7 pm (Mountain) and I've just closed the book having read it cover to cover. First cookbook I've ever read thoroughly like that. Beautiful story about my favorite part of the U.S. Wonderful photographs. And come next summer when the berries are in season, I"m definitely trying that triple berry pie. But sometime this winter, it will have to be the chocolate fudge cake (even though I'm at 7,500 ft.).

Martha Finney

This looks beautiful. It is a perfect breakfast recipe for a family.

jennyccy

These look really delish. Kudos on getting them sliced into perfect triangles. I really like the addition of citrus in this recipe. Scones always need a little pick-me-up in some way so they don't feel so dull or heavy. I've made 'em spiced with sweet spices, nuts, and dried fruit. I also really like to cut some of the whole wheat spelt and buckwheat a la the Whole Wheat King Arthur book. Have you every tried it? http://blog.asmartmouth.com/2008/11/26/spiced-whole-wheat-scones-with-currants-and-walnuts/

Anjuli Ayer

Yum! Made these today and they were well received. Looking forward to baking off the rest during the week and having hot scones for breakfast.

Mary

These are fantastic! I substituted snipped prunes for the currants. Am considering using choc. chips for a decadent treat! I grated the cold butter instead of cutting it up - strangely satisfying, I highly recommend it.

Sara

Thanks Torea. Kind of you to suggest. As it happens Bob's Red Mill is not available in India :( and if at all in some speciality boutique then more likely to NOT have pastry flour but the spelt, Teff kind of grains. Say does anyone know how WWPF is made? I could mill it...

meera

Made these last night, froze half the dough and cooked them up this morning for breakfast - they are delightful! Thanks Heidi for a great recipe *again* @meera - if you can not find particular dry goods in your area, you can try ordering what you need from Bob's Red Mill (http://www.bobsredmill.com/) They still stone grind all their flowers and meals and they have a great variety of organic and gluten free products if your heart desires. This is where we get our WW Pastry Flour from.

torea

I’m lactose intolerant and have always dreaded the holidays, as all the food seems to be loaded with dairy. After a recommendation of one of my friends, I found this nutrition coach named Rose Cole who has a holiday cookbook and has tons of dairy free recipes. Her site is www.RoseCole.com/HolidayCookbook

Fran

Yum. I love the idea of orange and oats together.

mary

one more thing - divided the dough into 2 8-inch disks and cut each into 8 scones. Next time I'll try 4-inch rounds to see how high they bake....

rubber duck

yum! I used rye flour (1 c) and white (unbleached, 2 c) flour mix. Although I found that 1 c of buttermilk wasn't quite enough (needed ~1 1/4 c total). Turned out wonderful. I used my doughmakers pan and didn't need to line with parchment paper.

rubber duck

Using oats in scones is such an amazing idea! There's nothing more that I love more than oatmeal cookies so I know these are going to be a match made in heaven!

Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen

These were a huge hit on the weekend. Next time I am going to try these with ginger and dried physalis (Cape gooseberry). Not sure if the ginger will overpower the Cape gooseberries, but the combo really sounds great right now.

Martha

Awesome scones! I made some substitutions due to not having the energy to go to the store. I used some barley flour + regular all purpose, brown sugar, mandarin orange zest + some of the juice, swedish yoghurt (thicker than buttermilk, thinner than the US version of yoghurt). The currants were simply omitted. Turned out great!!! Just had omse leftovers from yesturday and they still tasted great!

Hellena

hey, heidi, great timing!! i've been improvising a variety of scone recipes over the past coupla weeks--fantastic comfort food!!! thanx to you, i've also been experimenting with ww pastry flour, too! this morning we had lemon blueberry scones with our tea. i've also tried the following: cinnamon spice, chocolate chip, cranberry/orange, blueberry, and pumpkin oat w/ chocolate chips! that last one is my hubby's personal fave! i've got some beautiful crystal ginger that's just begging to be chopped up in the next batch. now, if you could please share that persimmon pudding cake recipe, i'd have something other than jam to make with all that gorgeous orange fruit hanging just outside my window! you rock!!!

~karen

Heidi, your baked goods are never anything but delicious. I made these today and then my friends came over and ate the lot between just two of them! Thankfully I still have half the batter left. Also I love the way you use buttermilk in your recipes. It made these scones so light yet satisfying. I'm looking forward to your next baked treat! One for Christmas maybe?

Leo Morgan

Hi all, I made them with lemon instead of orange and added raisins. Wonderful. Makes a lot though, so I had to freeze some. Delish as usual Heidi. thank you again.

Beverly Jane

These scones looks absolutely yummy!

Jill

Ohhhhhhhh these scones are the best. Made them a few days ago w/ blueberries and lemon zest because that's what I had available. Golden and crunchy on the outside...light tecture on the inside. They freeze beautifullly and are the same when warmed. My husband keeps stealing them from the freezer so guess I'll have to make another batch!

Anonymous

These look delicious! I wonder how long they would stay fresh (in a sealed container of course!) I don't know if the two of us could eat a whole batch!

Lauren and Jesse

This recipe is fabulous. The orange zest really adds so much, Took about 8 mins longer to bake than indicated. I made 16 out of this recipe, but why no egg in this recipe? Next time I would brush the tops with an beaten egg white and then sprinkle on the sugar

Sutton0856

I have to agree with Jan about the metric measurements. Could you pleaaaaase ;) add those measurements for this recipe? These scones look gorgeous, but I've already tried one scones recipe with "cups" instead of "grams" and I only barely managed to save that dough. (The little "cups"-set I bought is appearantly not accurate :( ) Would love to have a real recipe with metric measurements so I know how these delicious treats are _supposed_ to taste. Other than that: Thanks for the wonderful inspiration and mouth-watering pictures :)

Kimm

This sounds like the perfect! I love that you toasted the oatmeal and used maple syrup for the sugar and glaze! Ingenious! I’m certainly going to try these. Thanks for sharing your ideas. Regards,

Shenandoah bed and breakfast

Beautiful scones! I had saved the zest off my kids oranges today and then happened upon this recipe. I adapted it by changing up the sugars and the flours. I'd love to blog about my version with your permission. So good I just ate one rather than waiting for breakfast!! Thanks for the beautiful blog. Yours is my favorite and I refer to it consistently!

Angela @perfectlycrazyfitness

I just talked myself out of making scones and then I had to come here! Wow they look good!

Mimi

These look fantastic and I am going to have a go at making some right now. We've all had the flu here (in the UK) and reading your post has made me feel a whole lot better. As we are a gluten free household I will have to make some adjustments, but I am delighted to have some gluten free oats with which to experiment. As for those of you who commented on scones in the UK, most of the ones I've had in the last 24 years have been appalling and the ones they sell at Harrods are amongst the worst. If you want a delicious scone, you really have to make them yourself.

Adriana

Ohh, I absolutely love these! So homey and comforting :-) Hope you feel better soon!

Krista

thank you, these scones are WONDERFUL! (made them yesterday) .....very light and delicate yet quite hearty. this "base" recipe is going to stay handy for other fruit/nut combos!

bewilderbeeste

I was just reading about My Nepenthe on another blog. The book sounds amazing. These scones look so lovely.

Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home

Bummer--I hope you get better quick. Being sick is the pits! These scones look amazing and hopefully they'll help you get better faster ;-D!

Marisa

I read your post with interest, but was initially not motivated to follow-up. Then I sneezed, Then I coughed. While making a pot of tea, I remembered your post and decided to make some scones of my own. I never got sick. I have not sneezed again. Thank you for this recipe and for my good health. ps - I hope you feel better soon.

The Runaway Spoon

@susan - thank you so much for the info!!! I use a web-converter, and usually remember to choose the appropriate imperial mesure :-D

Anne-Renée

I baked these this morning, only I halved the recipe and used dried cherries reconstituted cuz that is what I had on hand. The flavor is wonderful, mine came out more cake like rather than very dry, and they were nice and high. My question is Why cake like? I buy scones and they are always the delicious dry version. Is the oven not hot enough? Also, an aside: Tom from Tall Clover Farm::) are you married? If not, would you like to be? Thanks Heidi, I like your style for food and photography of beautiful food. Keep using your immune system boosters!

Teri

Yum! These came out great! I added some frozen blueberries instead of the currants and the orange-blueberry combination was delicious. Thank you for the recipe and for inspiring me to buy buttermilk for the first time!

Katine

Heidi!! You are the most talented person!!! I truly believe you eat and make the best food in the world. I love your style of cooking and the dishes and flavors you use. Thank you so much!

kyle

I just love your photos!

Donna

Great review! It's nice to see that there are such great stories in these books!

Warren Farrell

Hi Heidi, These scones look awesome. Except I am not going to find wheat pastry flour. So what are my options? I can get wheat flour, and really decent ones, and the refined white flour which is like b-l-e-c-h! Do tell me pls? For your cough, cold etc, grate 1 inch piece of juicy ginger into 2 cups of water, boil it 7-8 mins, strain it, add 2 tsp honey and 2 tsp lemon and drink it hot...helps in ways we cannot imagine...If you can find the Holy Basil (different from the Italian ones I'd imagine) add 10 leaves to the boil, to the count of 7. Then let it sit. Then add the honey ( no lemon). Get well soon and fully Heidi... meera

meera

Delicious. I soaked the currants in the juice of the orange for a bit (blitz the currant/orange juice mixture in the microwave if you are in a hurry). Then I added the lot - orange juice and all. I used ordinary milk, as I usually do with scones. It was fine.

Anne

These look so fantastic! I love a warm scone on a cold, winter day with a cup of tea, so these will be on the baking list for sure. Thanks for sharing!

Erin

Hi there (frequent reader - first time commenter), I love scones and look forward to trying these. Has anyone tried using soy milk instead of buttemilk in recipes (like this one)? My youngest daughter is allergic to dairy so I'm always converting recipes. I've avoided buttermilk recipes though until now. If I try it before getting a response, I'll let you know how they turned out. :)

Becky

My parents ate at Nepenthe while their way to Carmel on their honeymoon, back in 1983. Needless to say, they have taken their kids back with them a few times when we were in Northern California. Absolutely delicious and a stunning vista too. Good memories, thank you. Perhaps the cookbook will make a nice holiday gift for them? Oh, and the scones do look really tasty. I'll try to remember to put the recipe on my to-be-baked list.

Mari

I love a recipe like this because it becomes a vehicle for what you like best, a base recipe that you can monkey with using what's on hand. I'm going through my cupboard and freezer mentally and already I can use the recipe to make: -candied ginger, dried fig oat scones -quince and cardamom oat scones -preserved lemon oat scones -blackberry oat scones -pumpkin and date oat scones And I'm just getting started--thanks Heidi!

tom | tall clover farm

So good! I made this first thing this morning and we ate them all day long. They were very crumbly though - I wonder if it is because I used a buttermilk powder reconstituted with water? I might try using a larger ratio of powder to water next time as it was quite thin.

Tessa

Hahahaha! I think I just realized my mistake. I looked back at your pictures and I see your triangles on the pan. I baked them still in the round pie shape. I didn't separate the triangles! That was most definitely why they took so long to bake right!?!? Duh!

Danielle

I made these and they were delicious! Thank you! So moist and flavorful. The whole family loved them. My 3 year-olds called them "Pine Cones" until they finally realize they were "Scones!" Ha! One quick question. I think I ended up cooking them for at least 20 minutes! And they were still a little underdone in the center. Do you think I left my 8" round too thick? I didn't alter anything else, though I did have to use a bit more buttermilk. Also, do most scones have no salt? I was surprised.

Danielle

ohhh- i have a buddha's hand citron on my table right now - I bet these would be great with citron zest. mmm. Will make them tonight.

Fruit Maven

these look delicious, and i am a scone addict. i'll have to try them when my store runs out- i actually bake the entire batch and freeze them once they're cool. that way, you don't have to bother to turn on the oven and wait the 20 minutes. they thaw out quickly in a toaster oven, or even easier, on top of a radiator. if you take it out of the freezer as soon as you wake up, breakfast will be ready by the time you're dressed! hope you're feeling better. be sure to drink some tea (dosed with honey and lemon) with your next batch of scones.

Ana

Wow...we are lovers of scones in my home and this certainly looks like a good recipe. With oranges almost in season here this couldn't be more timely. I adore Tessa's books and recipes and will have to look for this book right away.

Jan (Mixing Bowl Kids)

Heidi, I've been to many different stores looking for whole wheat pastry flour with no success, can you recommend a brand or a store where I can find it? I live on the very tip of Long Island, NY. Thanks!

Christineabella

I made these last night (with lemon and cranberries because it was what I had in the pantry) and they were SO GOOD! Thank you for another great recipe, Heidi :-)

Diana

there's a little bit of snow on the ground and these are just about finished baking. bliss!

pom.

Those look lovely, perfect for these cold months ahead.

Hannah

hope you are feeling even better- thank you as always for a beautiful and inspiring site.

ellen

Wow, these sound amazing. Although I have to admit, I prefered them when I thought the currants were chocolate chips (chocolate and orange is my favourite flavour combo). I think I'll try them with chocolate chips and clementine zest. I'll report back.

Amanda

Sorry to hear that you've been sick. Hope you are feeling better now. Although I live in California, I still haven't been to Big Sur yet. I need to visit there sometime and check out Nepenthe and Big Sur Bakery as well as the beautiful scenery. By the way, these scones look fantastic. I want some for tomorrow morning!

Kitchen M

What is turbinado sugar? Is that a brand name or a specific type of sugar? Is the consistency of the scones dry and crumbly? They look awesome.

sarah

This is amazingly a picturesque food!!! I like it. I wanna try this when I finally get an oven. Good thing you're already well =)

The Artist Chef

Update Despite having the cranberries squished in at the last minute, they are fabulous! They were however the size of a slice of pizza, and very thick. Could definitely cut in two and freeze half for later.

Kim

It's so dingy and wet/cold here in Kansas — the perfect weather for a warm, toasty batch of scones. Can't wait to bake these up!

Christine

No, that was totally my fault! I'm so sorry for the oversight. Chalk it up to being woozy on cough medicine. Romney's original recipe had the currants listed as optional, so somehow I forgot to add them to the step-by-step. While I'm at it, I also thought these would be really great with some toasted chopped walnuts added. You could go that route in place of the currants. Again, my apologies, and thanks for the heads up!

Heidi

Kim - I did practically the same thing :) They still came out delicious! Glad I'm not the only one who missed them. I felt reeeeeeeally dumb posting my comment.

Wendy

Like Wendy, above, I too am a novice at baking. As I was making these tonight, following the recipe very, very carefully , it wasn't until I was patting them out did I realize that the dried cranberries (no currents on hand) were not in it! I just pushed them into both sides and will keep my fingers crossed. I had printed the recipe this afternoon at work and when I came back to post I see you have made the changes to the recipe. Well they've just come out of the oven and look great - but they are massive!

Kim

These look absolutely perfect! I am intrigued by the use of sturdy wheat flour--it sounds like it gives them a gorgeous, well-rounded flavor!

CakeSpy

measurements/degrees in metric would be more international as befits the Internet

jan

To answer an above question: A vegan substitute for buttermilk would be to add a teaspoon of lemon juice or cider vinegar to a cup of your favorite non-dairy milk (soy works best for me because it has more protein than rice or almond milk) and let it sit for a few minutes before using (just as if you were using a dairy substitute for buttermilk). You can also use an equivalent amount of soy yogurt (no lemon juice or vinegar), but that might make this recipe a bit too moist. And for the butter, use a non-dairy margarine such as Earth Balance. These look/sound lovely!

Maggie

Hedi, you mention freezing these and baking them off later. That sounds like a brilliant solution for the time crunch durring upcoming holidays. Any suggestions on how you've done that? I've frozen yeast bread dough before, but never quick bread. I'd love to know how to do it, especially since these scones look amazingly delicious!

KS

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm a complete novice cook. I just prepared the scones and realized they don't look like yours because I didn't add the currants. But I don't see that step in the directions. At what point should I have added the currants? Thanks

Wendy

Usually, when I eat scones in the US I am disappointed. In the US they are often times very cakey but in the UK scones have a very different texture - dense, crumbly and less leavened. These look right on the mark and delicious.

Amber @ Native Food and Wine

ohhhhh... these look divine... i initially thought the currants were bits of licorice, which might be good, or might be really weird. i'm definitely going to try making the currant version of these! thanks again!! :)

taghag

The kids think these are heaven. Thanks for all the excellent ideas. Glad you are feeling better.

From Africa

This looks like a great variation on a scone which I will be trying. Here is a brilliant quick scone recipe when you need something in a hurry. 4 cups self raising flour.1 bottle (300ml) cream. 1 can lemonade (sprite or 7up in US). Put flour in bowl,stir through cream, and tip in lemonade,mix quickly to a sticky dough, pat out on a well floured board, cut as desired and get into a hot oven (220C) FAST. They are soft, fluffy and delicious. Try with home made raspberry jam and whipped cream.

anniem

@ Anne-Renee: a pound of butter (454g) has 4 sticks, so 1 stick is about 115g. Just to confuse the rest of the world more, we also refer to 1 stick of butter as 1/2 cup or 8 Tablespoons of butter. And also note when you're doing conversions that American pints, quarts, and gallons are smaller (i.e., have fewer fluid ounces) than those in the UK. Measuring dry ingredients by weight is SO much more sensible and accurate.

Susan

Wow, these sound absolutely wonderful. Glad you're feeling better! I think I'll have to make a gluten-free version. (To Jeff: I have found that a combo of sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and brown rice flour, plus a bit of xanthan gum, subs well for flour in biscuit-y recipes like these. However, if they come out as well as I hope - I'll definitely post!)

Alta

Wow, these sound absolutely wonderful. Glad you're feeling better! I think I'll have to make a gluten-free version. (To Jeff: I have found that a combo of sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and brown rice flour, plus a bit of xanthan gum, subs well for flour in biscuit-y recipes like these. However, if they come out as well as I hope - I'll definitely post!

Alta

I have been on a hunt for true, dense, tasty scones. Seems they've changed over the years and its hard to find something thats not cake-like in texture. And you have two of my favorite ingredients!

Carole

Hope you are all better now Heidi. I think I will make these for hubby this afternoon. I may use lemon in place of the orange as lemon is his favorite in the whole world. :-) Thanks for such lovely recipes.

Beverly Jane

These sound wonderful! However, I'm wondering if you have any insights on how to offset real whole wheat flour. I grind my own and am wondering if I can add dough enhancer or wheat gluten or something to "make" my flour reflect the properties of a pastry flour. Any ideas? I really appreciate your time/thoughts on this. Thank you!!!

Susan

Having never had a scone, I've always wondered what a scone is. I've looked at them at bakery shops, but they seemed heavy, so I grabbed the lighter weighted pastries or buns. Reading your recipe (like reading other scone recipes) doesn't give me a clue as to what to expect if I bit into one. What's a scone? I guess I may have to try one someday...

RiverWhispers

Yogurt will work just fine on these. I use no fat yogurt for all my Irish breads and scones. We have a perfect scone day here on the B.C. West Coast. Thanks Heidi I'm off to make a batch. Keep well.

sonia

I'm glad to see that this looks like a pretty dry batter. I made Deb's Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones a few weeks ago and they were a complete disaster! I'm sure this was completely my fault as a scone novice, but I don't think I am going to try another recipe with egg in it for a little while.

BigGirlPhoebz

This so takes me back to my fabulous lunch @ Nepenthe......it was years ago, and I have never been back (I live on the east coast). DARN... I will put it on my list for the next trip west!!!! Thanks for the memory.... Susan

SUSAN

i am loving scones at the moment! i've been baking up batches of jalapeno-cheddar ones and triple chocolate ones... and lemon scones... just loving them. :0) thanks for adding another option to my list!

Lynne

These sound great, but would it be possible to make them gluten/dairy free? Thanks!

Jeff

Perfectly shaped scones! I cook a lot of yummy food, but I have to say it never looks so picture-perfect.

Michelle @ Find Your Balance

Glad you are feeling better, Heidi - and these scones look to die for! (and another book I MUST get...) Take care, xx

keiko

oh my! I'm craving scones now ;-)

French Cooking for Dummies

I love the addition of the currants.

Jessica @ How Sweet

YUM. I would so experiment chopping up crystallized ginger to sprinkle on top instead of sugar. Or, I've never thought of this before but would be nice to soak sugar with fresh ginger to see if it gets gingered flavor (like vanilla sugar) and sprinkle that!

Susie

these sound phenomenal. and I was just looking for a scone recipe - perfect timing!

brandi

These sound fantastic with the oats, orange, and currants, and I have a scone problem anyway. I have to bake pretty much every scone recipe I see. I've been hearing a lot of great things about that book. Can't wait to see it.

lisaiscooking

I love oat scones...these look delicious...and yes, I wish I was there when they came out of the oven!

Winnie

When i first saw the picture I thought yum! orange and mini chocolate chips; then read recipe, I still think I′ll go with the chocolate chips

Betty Potter

This looks like the perfect scone for this time of year! It's hearty enough to act like a muffin, I'd say (often plain scones are like cake to me, even the more traditional British recipes). I'll try baking these this week. Usually I use 1/2 cup of butter for every 2 cups of flour/grain ... I wonder if they butter here can be reduced? Do you think it would still turn out?

Katherine @ NightOwlChef

These look like total comfort food - can't wait to try them!

becca

What a great idea to make this scone ahead of and freeze. I like how hearty this scone recipe is, and your substitution of whole wheat pastry flour makes it even better! I hope you continue to feel better!

Christine@ Fresh Local and Best

It's nice to have a recipe for scones with some redeeming nutritional value - i.e. whole wheat flour and less-processed sugar. And one that doesn't use egg in the batter (we've had a little problem making successful scones in the past).

smallkitchcara

Yummy.. I want to try this one on my catering services.

LittleRockCatering

Your maple syrup scones are a favorite of ours. I'll be trying these later this week. The kids will be so happy!

kristin

it was ultimate i am really yhriling

natu

o.O - can't wait to try these! but... being norwegian, without sticks of butter... how much does a stick of butter weigh? the weight in imperial mesures will do fine - I'll do the conversion :-D

Anne-Renee

You're great! This recipe is fantastic, i want to try it!

Gloria

this recipe looks great! However, I only have yogurt in my fridge, can I substitute it for the buttermilk? It's hard to have buttermilk on hand, cause whenever I buy it much gets wasted.

renee

Cravings used to sell orange scones and I missed them when they stopped. Now I can can try making them myself. Thanks! Love the scone photos too!

momgateway

I've been dying for orange season to come around, and putting orange zest in everything these days. I make a similar scone from Nick Malgieri, and they've made me popular several times :)

The Leftoverist

These look super good. I have never had currents before, but my family loves orange cranberry muffins I make sometimes. I think I might try cranberries if I can't find currents. looks awesome, love the photos.

Miss Rachel

Whoops-didn't see that I posted anonymously. The above comment is from me, Romney, author of the book you wrote about. Thank you again Heidi.

Romney Steele

I'm just posting here quickly to say a big thank you Heidi for reading my book and posting a recipe from it; I'm really honored. Also fascinated to read all the comments, always enlightening and interesting. Love the idea of using whole wheat pastry flour too-sure to be delicious that way. Sometimes we made these with the addition of fresh berries, so in answer to the above query I'd say either could work. As for vegan buttermilk-that's a hard one. What are you using for butter, I wonder. Oil, of course could work, though it would be lacking the buttery tenderness; I was going to suggest yogurt for the buttermilk, but of course that wouldn't work either, and I often make them with heavy cream instead but that's out so soy milk, or something similar, is probably the obvious choice. I'll tell you something-these scones split and toasted the next day, or re-warmed in an "oven" not a microwave are fantastic. But day old, they are also really tasty dipped in your morning coffee or afternoon tea. For a variation, you can coarsely cut the oats, or by steel cut and use them instead of whole oats. Best, Romney HS: Sounds great Romney, congrats on a beautiful book!

Anonymous

Bummer for you being sick - I had H1N1 recently after caring for one of my kids who was sick with it and it stinks. If I had those scones I'm pretty sure I would have recovered more quickly!

Cooking with Michele

Two quick questions: fresh or dried currants, and do you have a recommendation for vegan buttermilk substitution?

Nate

I'm in search of the perfect currant scone with white flour (am allergic to whole wheat). I like them dense, not fluffy, and can't figure out if I should use cream, buttermilk or whole milk. I was just in London and tried a couple from Harrod's food court. Huge disappointment! Shouldn't Harrod's make the quintessential scone? Go figure!

Lentil Breakdown

I'm excited to try these. I think people usually think of scones as terribly unhealthy, full of white flour and devoid of fiber. But these use whole wheat flour (!) and oats (!). They also sound terrific for winter, with those standbys of orange zest and currant. You have such terrific taste in recipes.

Kylie of Thin Crust Deep Dish

oh, yum. I see scones in my near breakfast eating future.

deanna

I am on the hunt for the perfect scone recipe. They always seem to come out too cake-like for me. I need them dry, crumbly, and begging for a cup of hot tea. I hope these are it!

Sara

I love scones but haven't seen one out of oats that I've liked yet but these look so good I think I'll give them a try. Thanks!

Holly

Everyone on the east coast is sick too. Maybe I should take your advice immediately and stock the freezer with dough. The vitamin C will certainly help ward things off in meantime. Thank you... Michaela

The Gardener's Eden

Hi! Just started exploring your blog, I used to think scones were like little biscuits :) . this one looks lovely great recipe to try on my 2 yr old who hates oatmeal :)

peanutts

These look delicious. Anything flavored with orange is a plus in my book :)

Nutmeg Nanny

I love the idea of orange in a baked good. This sounds wonderful... so quintessentially autumn, with the citrus, oats, and currants. And sugar crystals! Bookmarked :)

candice

Being British, I have to say that I'm quite partial to a good scone! These sound wonderful! The orange zest is a brilliant addition!

Jennie

Quick questions: Whole oats as in steel cut or old fashioned? The picture looks like old-fashioned, but I want to be sure before I try these. Thanks. Roberta HS: Sorry for the confusion Roberta, I used old-fashioned rolled oats.

Roberta Hershon

These look lovely. I adore scones and I think they are so underappreciated in America. I can't wait to try these out.

arugulove

These sound fantastic!

christie @ honoring health

Scones are my absolute favorite! It's my favorite food to have in the morning w/coffee :) I've never actually made them from scratch... don't know why, but I've always felt intimidated by scones... Your recipe looks great! I need to give it a try!

Estela @ Weekly Bite

Wow, those look absolutely beautiful, perfect and delicious! Glad to hear you're feeling better!

Simply Life

There's something very refreshing about orange with oats. It sounds mildly astringent and yet enough grain to satisfy. We have an expert scone maker here on Hornby Island who specializes in ginger scones. I'll have to turn him on to these orange scones to add to the repertoire.

Rachelle Chinnery

These look amazing! I made vegan Lemon Blueberry Scones recently and might need to adapt the recipe to this great flavor combination! Here are my vegan Lemon Blueberry Scones. Yum! Anna

Two Blue Lemons

These look beautiful! Did you find the dough was very crumbly when you made it? I made blueberry scones earlier this Fall and I ended up with very sticky, moist dough and had to add lots of flour to counteract that. Even still, they were almost too sticky b/c the scones ended up very dense. Either way, I think this might be my next scone recipe! :) HS: Hi Katherine, the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup buttermilk, and the dough was too crumbly. That sometimes happens when I switch to a whole wheat flour. Anyhow, I just added more buttermilk until the dough came together - ended up using 1 cup total.

katherine

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