One of my top ten favorite baked goods is these delicious pumpkin scones. I love them with my morning Americano; the two make for a perfect breakfast for me. Pumpkin scones don't have to be a fall treat, you can make them all year round with canned pumpkin puree. As a matter of fact, I actually prefer the texture of canned pumpkin.
My 10-year-old daughter, Emily, is the family expert on pumpkin scones and makes them entirely by herself. Those scones are divine, did I mention that already? Pumpkin scones are not the only thing she bakes though, so there will be many more of her favorite creations posted on this blog, and I look forward to her contributions here.
The key to making perfect scones, just like pie crust, is to handle the dough very carefully, without overmixing it. Too much handling will make it tough. It will also warm up the butter, making the scones dense.
If you don't have a food processor, we have a very simple solution for you - shred pre-frozen butter as you would cheese. Seriously, try this method, it's so simple yet so effective. We use it to make biscuits and other baked goods.
Ingredients
Scone
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter partially frozen
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree canned; chilled
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp honey or corn syrup
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
Pumpkin Icing
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and brown sugar. Shred the butter on a coarse cheese grater and mix in.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, buttermilk, egg, vanilla extract and honey. Add to the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate. You may have to gently knead the dough to make it come together.
- Turn the dough over on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out into an 8-inch disk and cut into 8 equal wedges.
- Transfer the wedges onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with one tablespoon of heavy cream, then bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and chill for 10 minutes before glazing.
- In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and heavy cream, then use the mixture to glaze the scones. Let the glaze set.
- In the same bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and the heavy cream. Drizzle the mixture over the scones. Let set at room temperature then serve.
Patricia says
Hello Victor, can some (25%-50%) of the AP flour be substituted with white-whole-wheat or Einkorn wheat flour?......or will wheat flour mess up the flakiness texture?
I'm so excited to try this recipe:) Thank You! ~ Patricia
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Patricia,
If you stay closer to 25% it won't make a noticeable difference to the texture but going closer to 50% or higher, you will. I haven't experimented with adding WW flour to scones but I do with bread all the time.
Patricia says
Thank You, Victor!....I'll try 25% white whole wheat flour.
Antonia Benko says
I tried several pumpkin scone recipes and this one definitely is my favourite. Will be trying you banana bread soon, it looks delicious.