Pumpkin Scones

pumpkin scones

I’ve been thinking a lot about my Grandmother Hornsby lately. She passed away in the spring this year, not unexpectedly, but still sadly. She was a bonafied “anglo-phile” if I ever knew one. She loved the ceremony of tea time and adored crumpets, marmalade, Earl Grey, and of course, scones. She also loved reading trashy romance novels, having lots of animals, singing, and Christmas. This pumpkin scones recipe is dedicated to her. I love you, Grandma.

Scones are very similar to biscuits, with the addition of egg usually (though I have seen scone recipes with no egg and I’m not sure why those aren’t then called biscuits, but I am not in charge of naming things). The basic process is the same as biscuits though: cut in fat, add in liquid, don’t overmix, bake at high temperature. Scones can be savory (like these sun-dried tomato and cheddar scones) or sweet like these pumpkin ones. The sugar glaze on top is a very American thing to do, I believe. The scones my grandmother was most fond of just had a bit of sweetness from currants or candied ginger or dried cranberries, never any glaze.

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Pumpkin Scone Recipe – Printable

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Pumpkin Scones

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4.5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons cold butter
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup half-and-half or milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Glaze:
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 12 teaspoons half-and-half or milk

Instructions

  1. Set oven to 425º
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and cut in the butter.
  3. Combine wet ingredients including pumpkin and mix together well.
  4. Make a well in the center and add wet ingredients. Mix quickly with a large spoon to make a soft dough.
  5. Sprinkle additional flour on your board or counter and dump dough out. Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick and cut into squares, triangles or cut with biscuit cutter
  6. Bake 15 minutes.
  7. combine glaze ingredients until you have a thick, smooth, pourable glaze. Drizzle over cooled scones.

Notes

If you use a homemade pumpkin puree, you will likely need to increase the amount of flour to make a workable dough. Add flour by the tablespoon until dough comes together into a ball.

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pumpkin scone recipe

7 Comments

  1. David Rout on November 7, 2013 at 2:31 am

    Hi Hilah, Love your recipes especially the YouTube channel. In Australia we use the term biscuits and cookies as being the same thing, and a scone is only ever called a scone. Our English friends may be similar. So we may speak the same language but we aren’t talking about the same thing especially when it comes to food.
    Cheers Dave.






    • Hilah on November 7, 2013 at 11:03 am

      Biscuits are so confusing, Dave! 😉

  2. Great Stone Face on November 7, 2013 at 3:21 pm

    I enjoy what we American call scones. Pumpkin ones are especially tasty, with tea or coffee. Thanks for this recipe!

    <> I do find that American scones tend to be heavier than the round biscuit-type ones I’ve had in England. Those were cream scones with clotted cream and good strawberry jam or orange marmalade. How’d your grandma make them? She must’ve liked Capt. Picard (“Tea! Earl Grey! Hot!”). I have a great memory of our Sons #2 and #3 and me having them for tea at a cafe next to Blenheim Palace. Time to tune to “Downton Abbey” on PBS and brew some tea.






    • Hilah on November 10, 2013 at 3:27 pm

      My grandma never actually made scones that I recall. She bought them and enjoyed them, but really wasn’t much of a baker except for her gingerbread muffins.
      But you’re correct that she loved Picard and even more so, Sean Connery. When I was a kid I used to imagine that one day I’d run into Sean Connery out and about somewhere, introduce him to my grandma, and they would live happily ever after. 🙂

  3. Claudia on November 7, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    I just finished the scones! I looove scones and this is a fun, not too sweet breakfast/desert option!
    I loved the glaze, this was my first time making it. I’ve been trying my hand at baking and so far I find pie crust to be a mystery, but these worked out great. I had a small pumpkin that had been sitting in my kitchen as October decor, it was time to put it to good use!
    Only issue for my part: the final mixture was too sticky and soft, I had some difficulty shaping it. I added some more flour and it helped a lot! I wonder if I need to use a different kind of flour (I did partially replace some of the white flour by whole weat) or if my pumpkin was just too moist?
    anyhoo, out of the oven they are a little difformed but still they did not have any problem rising. Thanks Hilah!






    • Hilah on November 10, 2013 at 3:20 pm

      Hi Claudia!
      So glad you liked them. 🙂
      I think the problem was probably just the pumpkin. When you make your own puree, it’s hard to get it as dry as a canned puree. I’ll make a note of that in the recipe. Thanks for writing! Happy you got it worked out.

  4. Arthur in the Garden! on November 19, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    Wonderful!






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