These zesty and light Copycat Panera Orange Scones are a replica of the Panera Orange Scones! Perfectly zesty, orangey, not too crumbly, and filling! I love that these are a softer scone, not crunchy. Enjoy with coffee first thing in the morning.
How to make orange scones like Panera
In my opinion what makes the Panera orange scones so irresistible comes down to two things: flavor and texture. Let’s talk about the texture first.
These orange scones are not hard and crunchy, they’ve got a softer interior with only a slight crunch in the top and bottom. Since these are a scone made with sour cream, the added moisture is helping to keep these nice and soft and not dry and crumbly.
Now the flavor. The orange zest combined with the sugar makes these bright, light, and refreshing. You’ll love all that orange in the scone and in the glaze. The glaze for these isn’t just a sweet topping, it’s packed with orange juice and orange zest so it really enhances the citrus flavors.
To make the orange scones, it’s really going to help to have a pastry cutter. You’ll need it to cut in the cold butter into the dry ingredients. Trust me on this. Get a pastry cutter it’s going to save you time and energy. In a pastry recipe when a mixture is referred to as a “course meal” you’re looking to get a texture like the photo on the top right here. It’s grainy, and will fee slightly wet from the butter.
The recipe notes that the ball of dough should measure 7″ across. Keep a tape measure handy in the kitchen for times like these when you need to measure. Once you’ve got your 7″ dough ball, slice it into 8 triangles and you’re ready to bake!
I love a scone for breakfast. They’re not as cakey as a muffin, and they can be made as sweet or savory. These orange scones fall into the sweet category, but they definitely aren’t sweet like a cupcake. The dough is hearty and dense, but remains soft and most from the sour cream. The orange juice and orange zest lighten the flavors and keep these from tasting too heavy. Now you can enjoy the taste of a Panera orange scone right from your own oven!
What I love about this scone recipe is it can also be very versatile. Omit the orange zest from the dough and what you have is the foundation of a basic scone recipe! Have fun with it by adding other ingredients like chocolate chips, blueberries, or lemon!
Tips for making these scones
- Get yourself a pastry cutter. You really need this to create the course meal texture correctly.
- You can freeze these are keep them in the fridge!
- The glaze will harden on top of the scones. After it hardens you can add more glaze to each scone.
You might also like these other recipes:
Edible Cookie Dough Bars
Amaretto Blueberry Puff Pastries
Copycat Panera Orange Scones
Copycat Panera Orange Scones are an easy recipe to replicate the bright and soft orange scones from Panera. Tons of orange flavor and a softer not crunchy scone, these are the perfect companion to morning coffee.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones
- Category: Scone
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Makes 8 scones
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 2 navel oranges
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons butter, diced into cubes
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
Glaze
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed OJ
2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400. Combine the sugar and orange zest. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in butter, using a pastry cutter combine until mixture has formed a coarse meal. (See the step by step photos in the post)
2. In another bowl, combine the sour cream and the egg. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Using your hand, form dough into a ball and make sure all the dough crumbs are combined into the dough.
3. Place on a lightly floured surface and form into a circle about 7″ wide. Cut into 8 triangles. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake 16-17 minutes.
4. To make the glaze, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. When scones have cooled, spoon glaze evenly over each scone. Let set, then repeat to double-glaze if you have any left.
Notes
Adapted from: My Baking Addiction
Keywords: scones, panera orange scones, copycat panera orange scones
You say add the salt, but it isn't in your ingredient list. How much?
oh my gosh, how did I forget that?! 1/2 teaspoon!! 🙂
I made this today after first trying Panera orange scones for the first time a week ago. It was very good, but a tiny bit dry. I cooked for 17 minutes. I did accidently leave out the baking soda, but texture/rise seemed okay. I was a little confused by the butter. You have the scone and glaze ingredients listed seperately, but for the butter in the the scone section, you say 8 tablespoons divided, then you show 3 tablespoons in the glaze. Do you only put 5 tablespoons in the scones? If so, I would just change that number to 5 and have the glaze entirely as it's own separate list of ingredients. I only used half an orange for the juice for the glaze. I may put the other half in the scone mix next time.-Roger Baker
Roger, the butter is added in step one. Happy baking!
So do you add all 8 tablespoons of butter in the scones in step 1?
yes! All 8 tablespoons go into the scone batter.
Hi Roger,No, it is not 5 tablespoons in the scones.For the scones, put in 8 tablespoons of butter that have been cut into tablespoon-sized portions. For the glaze, take an additional 3 tablespoons of butter.Hope that helps!
Can light sour cream be used instead of regular sour cream.
I haven’t tried with light sour cream before…there should be some consistency changes as you’d have lower fat content. Flavor wise I think it would be OK!
These were really good! My grandkids requested coarse sugar instead of glaze, but the flavor and texture were perfect!
I’m so glad you and your grandkids liked these!!
These are incredibly good and very easy—my four year old is my baking assistant and he stayed engaged through the whole thing (quick and easy). These scones are moist and flavorful. Watch towards the end of the bake period. Mine needed to come out at 15 minutes.
So glad you like them!!
Just made these, they were so perfect! To add extra fluff to the texture, after making a 7″ circle, I folded the circle once onto itself and made a 7″ circle again for an extra fold of the buttery dough. They turned out great! Thanks so much 🙂
Made these this morning, though I didn’t have navel oranges, so used 1/3 cup mandarin orange zest and let it sit overnight mixed with the dry ingredients and butter. Also, substituted homemade Greek style yogurt for the sour cream. I baked for 15 minutes as someone else suggested. I also used mandarin juice and the zest of one mandarin orange for the topping. These were better than Panera. Now to try with lemon!
Greek yogurt sounds so good in these!
Made these just as written, but cut down on the icing a little. They were heavenly!! Just as good as Panera, if not better. I will be using this recipe as a base for all different kinds of scones. Thanks a million for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
I’m so happy you liked it!! Thanks for the kind words.
Can I substitute sour cream for heavy cream?
I don’t that would work. Sour cream is more of a solid and the heavy cream will dilute the batter probably making it too watery. Greek yogurt might be an option, but I’ve never made that swap so I can’t say if it will come out the same.
I made these today and they came out great! Soft, fresh, and delicious! Wow, this is a ‘keeper’ and I will make this frequently for my family! Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear this!! Enjoy! 🙂
I make these at least once every two weeks. They are my husband’s favorite! I have also done lemon blueberry with this same recipe only I do the exact measurement with the lemons as you would with the oranges and add a cup of fresh blueberries! They were superb
★★★★★
so glad you enjoy! And those lemon blueberry ones sound delicious!
I really love little things, and I’m planning on doing a pretty big Christmas brunch spread. If I were to divide into 16 minis instead of 8, how do you think you’d adjust the bake time? Thanks for the recipe! I was so bummed when I lost my tried and true recipe, but these look really promising🤞🏻💜
Maybe give them a check at 14 minutes to see how browned they are getting!
I made these they were awesome i almost ate them all myself! Next I am going to try lemon raspberry. Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
so glad you loved these!!
Best scone recipe! So delicious 🙂 thank you!
★★★★★
yeay!! So glad you like them!
Easy and Delicious!!
these were very easy and quick to mix together. Used my food processor which helped with the prep time. Ready after 14-15 minutes. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you !
★★★★★
glad they you liked them! Hope they make your mornings cheery 🙂
Thank you for shearing recipe
★★★★★
hope you enjoyed!
I made these this morning. They were awesome. I folded the dough a couple of times to get layers.
Thanks for the awesome recipe
★★★★★
First I’d like to thank you for this recipe. I love Panera’s orange scones and was hoping this recipe would come close. It does!! The scones are just as good as the ones at Panera Bread. I used a food processor to mix the dry ingredients with the cold butter. I pulsed the ingredients a few times and it worked out great. The scones are soft and the icing is delicious! Thank you again.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked them!!
Thank you so much for the kind words!!! I’m glad you liked them 🙂