Date Cardamom Orange Scones

Date Cardamom Orange Scones. Wake up the flavours in your weekend brunch with these warmly spiced orange scones with pieces of sweet dates baked right in.

Date Cardamom Orange Scones

Originally published October 2014.

Regular readers of Rock Recipes will know that brunch is a well established weekly favourite in the Parsons household.

Freshly baked scones are a particular weekend favourite. We’ve added some 20 Scone Recipes over the past 7 years from blueberry oatmeal to raspberry white chocolate and many more.

Last weekend when tidying the pantry cupboard, we seemed to have an abundance of dried fruits. I determined that I would make a mental note to try and put them to good use.

There were quite a few dried dates that needed attention, so they were the main inspiration for this recipe.

Dried dates for Date Nut Bread

Mom as inspiration.

My mom sometimes adds a twist to one of our tradition Newfoundland favourites when she makes Orange Date Crumble Bars, so I knew that would work.

One of my favourite complimentary spices to use when baking with orange is cardamom so in that went too. If you don’t have it on hand and are looking for a cardamom substitute, try mixing cinnamon and nutmeg in equal parts.

These fragrantly orange scones baked up beautifully, with crispy edges and a warm soft centre. That’s just how I love them and the flavours all worked together beautifully.

In the interest of full disclosure I ate two and then had warmed a third as dessert after dinner.

Date Cardamom Orange Scones, delicious warm from the oven.

They are just amazingly delicious with melting butter. I know my mom would love these too.

I must remember to invite her for brunch when she returns from vacation in Ontario and be sure to have these on the menu.

When it comes to reheating I hate rewarming baked goods in the microwave, I just despise it.

Orange zest brings great orange flavour to these scones.

It often overheats them and turns baked goods rubbery or steams them and makes them too soft. I often stretch a batch of scones over 2 brunches.

To do this, I seal them in a single layer of aluminum foil and reheat them for about 5 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.

Date Cardamom Orange Scones

I also freeze baked scones in the same way and it takes about 15 minutes to reheat them. I have also very successfully frozen unbaked scones, thawed them in the fridge overnight on a cookie sheet and baked them off in the morning.

That’s a great way to enjoy just a few scones at a time for singles, couples or small families.

Dried dates for these scones. They add great fiber too.

Love scone recipes?

For even more delicious ideas for scones, we have put them together into one amazing collection of our 25 Best Scone Recipes.

Like this Date Cardamom Orange Scones recipe?

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Date Cardamom Orange Scones

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Date Cardamom Orange Scones

Yield: 18 scones

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Date Cardamom Orange Scones - Wake up the flavours in your weekend brunch with these warmly spiced orange scones with pieces of sweet dates baked right in.

Print

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ¾ cup very cold butter cubed
• Zest of one large orange finely grated or minced
• 1 cup chopped pitted dried dates
• Juice of one large orange plus milk to total 1 cup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

1. I start these in my food processor because it is so fast but they can be made just as easily in a large bowl by cutting the butter in with a pastry blender or even 2 knifes held between the fingers.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt.
3. Pulse in the cold butter until this mixture resembles a coarse meal. It is very important that pea sized pieces of butter remain in this mixture.
4. Transfer to a large bowl and toss in the dates and orange zest.
5. Juice the large orange that you zested and add that to a measuring cup.
6. Add enough milk to bring the total volume of liquid tot he 1 cup mark., then stir in the vanilla extract
7. Pour this liquid over the surface of the dry mixture. Toss all together gently with a fork only enough to form a dough ball.
8. It is important that you work this dough as little as possible or the finished scones will be too dense and heavy.
9. Roll to 1 inch thickness and cut out scones with biscuit cutter or in triangles with a sharp knife and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
10. If desired you can brush the tops of the scones with an egg wash of 1 egg beaten together with 1 tbsp water.
11. You can sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar and a little more orange zest if desired but this is, of course, optional.
12. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on the size of your biscuit cutter.

Notes

Makes 8 to 10 large scones or about 18 smaller scones.

Nutrition Information

Yield

18

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 212Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 21mgSodium 305mgCarbohydrates 32gFiber 2gSugar 14gProtein 3g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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