Scones are easy to make and they’re so, so tasty. This blueberry scone recipe is a favorite around here; my daughter loves those so much, in fact, that she was pretty skeptical when I recently made this orange date oatmeal version instead. She didn’t even want to try them at first, but she came around eventually. She still prefers the blueberry ones, but admitted these are delicious, too :)
These orange date oatmeal scones are not too sweet and they have some “heft” due to the oats. They are adapted from a recipe in the lovely book Irish Pantry: Traditional Breads, Preserves, and Goodies to Feed the Ones You Love
(I was sent a review copy). I made a few changes to the recipe in the book, one of which was to halve the amount of butter. I have absolutely nothing against butter (I love it, in fact!) but two sticks seemed like a lot to me.
You can use a food processor to make these if you want to speed things up (and a food processor does make incorporating the butter into the dough a snap), but I made the recipe by hand and it worked out fine. I imagine you can substitute another type of dried fruit for the dates: the recipe in Irish Pantry features currants, but raisins or dried berries would work, too…you take your pick. Lemon zest and juice can certainly be used instead of the orange zest and juice, if you like, but I do like the orange date combo, I must say.
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More of my scone recipes:
Pumpkin Scones
Peanut Butter and Jam Scones
Coconut Raisin Scones
Oatmeal Scones with Dried Cherries and Dark Chocolate
Yummy-looking scones from other bloggers:
Low-carb, Gluten-free Bacon, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Cheddar Scones from All Day I Dream About Food
Pear Chocolate Scones from Pastry Affair
Raspberry Cream Scones with Rosewater Glaze from Baking A Moment
Orange Date Oatmeal Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 oz unsalted butter 1 stick cold and cut into small pieces
- 1 tbsp orange juice freshly squeezed
- 1 cup rolled oats
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2/3 cup dates chopped (or another dried fruit, such as cranberries)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl (or the bowl of a food processor). Add the butter and orange juice and, if working by hand, cut the butter into the flour mixture using 2 knives or a pastry cutter (if using a food processor, pulse 15-20 times or until it forms a rough crumb).
- Transfer the dough to a larger bowl and stir in the oats and zest. Then stir in the buttermilk and dates until just moistened; form the dough into a ball. If the dough is too crumbly to stick together, stir in more buttermilk one teaspoon at a time...be careful not to overwork the dough, though.
- After bringing the dough together, gently pat it into an 8-inch round. Cut into 8 wedges and transfer to the prepared baking sheet with some room between each one. Sprinkle the tops with the additional sugar.
- Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms are golden. Serve warm.
