Freeze & Bake Dried Cranberry Scones

This easy dried cranberry scones recipe is ideal for busy bakers. Make the scone dough ahead of time, then freeze and bake at your leisure!

Let me introduce you to my new favorite scones recipe! These cranberry scones are deliciously light, flaky, and tender - thanks to a new technique that I've co-opted for ALL of my scone recipes.

Want big, beautiful, bakery-style scones? This is the secret - freeze the sliced scones for 30 minutes before baking. The difference this simple step makes is pure magic!

Freezing scones before baking has two benefits:

1. Freezing helps relax the gluten in the flour, which in turn makes the scones rise higher.
2. It also chills the fat, which produces a flakier, more tender crumb.

After trying this method, I was completely sold. But what got me even more excited was realizing the bigger advantage it offers...

Make Ahead Scones

Here's where it gets really good... You don't HAVE to bake the scone 30 minutes later.

Instead, you can store them for future use, while still maintaining all the benefits! Simply transfer the partially frozen scones to a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag, then store in the freezer for up to a month.

Got a scone craving? The frozen scones can be baked right from the freezer without thawing, just add a few extra minutes to the bake time.

Hot and fresh cranberry scones at a moment's notice!

Cranberry Scone Ingredients

This walnut cranberry scone recipe comes together with just a handful of pantry staples: flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Fridge staples include eggs, butter, and milk - although I prefer using half-and-half.

I'm a bit of a rebel when it comes to butter in that I pretty much use salted butter across the board. Yes, even when baking! Feel free to use unsalted at your discretion.

The ingredients I want to call out are:

• cinnamon: optional, but highly recommended. Cinnamon provides a hit of warm spice, that pairs beautifully with the tart, dried cranberries and roasted walnuts.
• dried cranberries: as noted below, fresh cranberries may be substituted. If you find the usual sweetened dried cranberries to be too sweet (same!), I think you'll appreciate this 50% less sugar variety!
• toasted walnuts: for extra nutty roasted flavor, toast the walnuts before incorporating them into the scone dough.

And finally, let's talk about the "optional" coarse white sugar. Skip it at your discretion, but for me, it's a non-negotiable. If bakery-quality scones and muffins are your goal, you need this ingredient in your pantry!

Scone Baking Tips

If you want to bake your very best scones ever, I've got a few more useful parting tips to share!

• Use cold butter. The colder the better! I put my butter in the freezer to chill while I toast the walnuts and measure out the other ingredients.
• Don't overwork the dough. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. It's okay to still have a few floury spots. Handle the dough as little as possible to avoid warming the butter.
• Avoid over-baking. Over-baked scone will be tough and dry. Bake them just until they're a light shade of golden brown.

Of course, none of this matters if your oven isn't calibrated correctly... Even if you only bake occasionally, it's absolutely worth it to pick up an inexpensive analog oven thermometer.

Without one, I would have never realized that my new oven needs additional time to reach the proper baking temperature! When the notification tells me it's reached the proper temp, my oven thermometer shows it still has another 25℉ to go.

Ready to make some scones? Let's go!

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