Calories in a Fruit Scone

Fruit scones are buttery and moist, and they almost effortlessly fall apart in your mouth. But be careful. Many of those enormous scones at the coffee shop have more calories than you should be getting from an entire meal. You do have some lighter options if you must splurge on this breakfast pastry.

Blueberry Scone

Blueberries are full of antioxidants that are highly beneficial for your health, but when you mix them with buttermilk, sugar, eggs and flour, the high calorie content of the scone throws any potential benefits out the window. One large 3 1/2-ounce blueberry scone has around 390 calories, with some bigger ones containing as many as 470 calories -- 80 to 100 calories come from sugar. Almost 37 percent of those calories are from fat, while just 5 percent come from protein. More than 55 percent of the calories are from carbohydrates.

Cranberry Scone

Cranberries are incredibly bitter in their raw state, so when your favorite bakers whip up a batch of cranberry scones, they have to add a lot of sugar to the mix to counteract that bitter flavor. Therefore, these scones are high in calories -- 420 calories per 3 3/4-ounce scone. More than 100 calories are from sugar. While 32 percent of the calories are from fat, 6 percent are from protein and the final 62 percent are from total carbohydrates.

Orange Scone

Nibbling on a sweet orange scone is surely heavenly for your taste buds. The same is not true for your waistline, however. A larger orange scone weighs approximately 5 1/4 ounces. One of them has a whopping 540 calories, including over 150 calories from sugar. Roughly one-third of those calories are from fat and less than 7 percent are from protein. This same citrusy scone provides 60 percent calories from carbohydrates.

Mini Fruit Scones

It’s OK to splurge occasionally and treat yourself to a scone, but always opt for mini varieties if they’re available. A triple-berry mini scone is your lightest-calorie option in some cases, providing 150 overall calories, with 44 of those calories coming from sugar. Alternatively, a mini blueberry scone that weighs 1 1/4 ounces contains 160 calories, with just 32 calories from sugar. This is more than 60 percent fewer calories than the larger size. The mini orange scones aren’t nearly as devastating to your diet, either. One of them provides 180 total calories -- about 50 calories from sugar -- which is around one-third of the calories of the bigger size.

Homemade Varieties

Making a batch of fruit scones at home can help you cut back on calories and even sugar. Select raisins or dried cranberries that aren't sweetened to help cut back on calories from sugar. A 4 1/2-ounce scone contains less than 375 total calories, with fewer than 30 calories from sugar, although your specific recipe may vary. The final scone will have roughly 37 percent calories from fat, 9 percent calories from protein and 54 percent calories from carbohydrates.

Sugar Considerations

Added sugar is worrisome for your health. Too much added sugar, from baked foods like scones, drastically increases your chances of gaining weight. The American Heart Association suggests having less than 150 calories from sugar daily if you are a man. As a woman, limit yourself to 100 calories from sugar. Large processed scones have anywhere from 75 to 160 calories from sugar -- or more. This is a major reason to opt for mini fruit scones or even homemade ones. You’ll get fewer than 50 calories from added sugar.