Cranberry orange scones made with ghee.

How to Bake Scones Using Ghee Instead of Butter

Written by Published on in All Recipes, Baking, Breakfast & Brunch, Christmas recipes, Desserts & Treats, Holiday & Seasonal, Thanksgiving Recipes
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Ghee can be an easy swap for butter or oil in cooking, but I wanted to see how it worked as a swap for butter in baking. My Cranberry Orange Scones are a holiday favorite, perfect for Christmas morning or a Thanksgiving brunch, so I thought I would start there. I couldn’t find any recipes for scones made with ghee online, so I decided to use my recipe and swap out the butter for ghee at a 1:1 ratio.

The ghee is harder to accurately measure since it’s in a jar rather than a stick that can easily be cut. Using a tablespoon to scoop it seemed like the best way, so I did that and then placed my bowl of ghee into the freezer to chill. Once it was cold, I roughly chopped it with a knife. It’s easier to mix into the dry ingredients if it’s in pieces. I found that the ghee combined with the dry ingredients even better than butter does.

Dry ingredients for cranberry orange scones after the cold ghee has been cut into it.
Dry ingredients for scones mixed with ghee.
A large glass mixing bowl with dry ingredients and butter that have been mixed evenly until the dough starts to form little balls the size od peas. There is an orange to the side of the bowl and a wooden tray above in. The bowl is sitting on a pink holiday tea towel.
Dry ingredients for scones mixed with butter.

From here, I added my wet ingredients and proceeded as I normally do with my scones. They baked up perfectly. I was worried that they might spread more while baking than my scones made with butter. I’ve read that baked goods made with ghee can be denser or chewier than when they are baked with butter, but I didn’t experience this with my scones. They came out light and fluffy with a tender crumb which is exactly what I wanted.

Sixteen cranberry orange scones with an orange glaze, freshly baked, on a rimmed baking sheet.
Scones baked with ghee.
Sixteen freshly baked cranberry orange scones with a freshly squeezed orange juice glaze that's been drizzled over them on a baking sheet with brown parchment paper.
Scones baked with butter.

I wanted to fully replace the butter with ghee for these, so I made the glaze with melted ghee rather than butter. I do personally prefer the flavor of my glaze made with butter over the glaze made with ghee if I’m tasting the glaze on it’s own. But once it’s on the actual scones, I didn’t notice a difference.

Cranberry orange scones made with ghee.
Scones baked with ghee.
Six cranberry orange scones on a white tray garnished with orange slices, rosemary and fresh cranberries. There is a plate with rosemary in the background as well as sliced oranges, a whole orange and a glass container holding extra glaze.
Scones baked with butter.

Whichever way you decide to make them, these are a wonderful addition to any holiday brunch! They would also make a beautiful baked gift if you are preparing gift baskets for friends and neighbors around the holidays. Scroll down for my recipe using ghee and you can find my original scones recipe here.

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Cranberry Orange Scones Made With Ghee
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Cranberry Orange Scones Made With Ghee

Recipe by Sarah
0.0 from 0 votes

These scones really are the best! They’re soft and fluffy, made with buttermilk, fresh orange zest, dried cranberries, and topped with a freshly squeezed orange juice glaze.

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Snacks, DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

16

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

22

minutes
Calories

227

kcal
Chilling time

30

minutes
Total time

1

hour 

22

minutes
Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

  • Scones

  • 3 3/4 c all purpose flour

  • 1/3 c granulated sugar

  • 1 tsp fine pink Himalayan sea salt

  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • 3/4 c very cold ghee

  • 1 tbsp orange zest

  • 1 c buttermilk, cold

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1/2 c dried cranberries

  • Other

  • 1 tbsp buttermilk to brush on before baking

  • 1 tsp granulated sugar

  • Glaze

  • 1 c powdered (confectioners) sugar

  • 1 oz freshly squeezed orange juice

  • 1 tbsp ghee, melted

Directions

  • Place 3/4 c of ghee into the freezer for about 15-20 mins so that it is very cold. I found that the best way to do this was to measure it out using a tablespoon. You want 12 tbsp total. I left my bowl of ghee in the freezer until I was ready to add it to the dry ingredients.
  • Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and mix them with a whisk.
  • Using a microplane, grate in the zest of one orange.
  • Remove the ghee from the freezer, place it onto a cutting board and give it a rough chop so that it’s easier to mix in with the dry ingredients.
  • Add the cold ghee to the dry ingredients and using either a fork, a pastry cutter, or your hands, mix ingredients together until they start to form little balls the size of peas. Your ingredients should look like this:Dry ingredients for cranberry orange scones after the cold ghee has been cut into it.
  • Pour in buttermilk and vanilla extract and then add cranberries. Mix until combined. If the dough seems too wet to handle, add more flour, 1 tbsp at a time, until you have a cohesive ball of dough. The dough should look like this, it’s sticky, but still holds together:Dough for cranberry orange scones, mixed together in a bowl.
  • Chill dough for about 15 minutes.
  • Flour a work surface and your hands and form the dough into a disk that you can handle without leaving residue on your fingers. Cranberry orange scones dough on a ball on a wooden pastry board.
  • Using a sharp knife, cut the dough in half.Cranberry orange scones dough, formed into a disk and cut in half.
  • Form each half into a round disk. You want them to be the same size and thickness so that all of your scones bake evenly. It’s ok to eyeball this and not weigh them out. Cranberry orange scones dough split in half and formed into two equal disks.
  • Cut each disk into 8 equal wedges using a sharp knife. Two disks of cranberry orange scones dough cut into eight equal wedges.
  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the scones evenly into 4 rows of 4. They will spread a bit while baking, so be sure to space them out. Sixteen scones arranged on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Brush the scones with buttermilk. Buttermilk creates a matte finish when baked and doesn’t get as brown as butter or egg wash, which will both add a sheen to the baked recipe.Sixteen scones arranged on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brushed with buttermilk.
  • Lightly sprinkle the scones with sugar and chill them once more for 15 minutes. I place my baking sheet right into the freezer. This last freeze will help them hold their shape and not spread while baking. Sixteen scones arranged on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brushed with buttermilk and sprinkled with sugar.
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place your rack on the top 1/3 of the oven.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes until you can see the edges getting slightly golden. I turned my baking sheet at 15 minutes. I find that turning the baking sheet helps to get an even bake in my oven.Sixteen cranberry orange scones, freshly baked, on a rimmed baking sheet.
  • While the scones are baking, make the glaze. In a small mixing bowl, add powdered sugar, orange juice and melted ghee. Stir well until smooth and combined. Your glaze should look like this:Orange glaze for cranberry orange scones.
  • Once the scones are done, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5-10 minutes and then drizzle the glaze on using a whisk. Sixteen cranberry orange scones with an orange glaze, freshly baked, on a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Arrange the scones on a tray and serve. Leftovers can be wrapped and left on the counter for 3-4 days.
    • Cranberry orange scones made with ghee.
    • Cranberry orange scones made with ghee.

Equipment

Recipe Video

Notes

  • I like to use pink Himalayan sea salt for baking and I keep in on hand, but regular iodized salt works for this too. You don’t need to buy special salt.
  • If your powdered sugar isn’t fresh, you may find that it is a bit lumpy. If your powdered sugar is looking lumpy, put it through a sifter before making the glaze.
  • I typically keep my leftover scones wrapped up in the kitchen counter. If the house is warm or humid, you may want to store them in the fridge instead.
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