I made a lot of pumpkin scones last fall, because I had a lot of pumpkin to work with. Yay! And now it’s (almost) fall again, with pumpkins and other tasty fall and winter squashes coming in to markets.
This means that I tweaked and (hopefully on your end) improved my previous Pumpkin Scones recipe for the home kitchen. Mainly, I use a drier sweetener (my sweetener of choice this time is an organic cane sugar) and use a muffin scoop to drop scones onto a pan. This way, we’re not overworking the dough by trying to knead gloop into not-gloop.
A few key points:
- If you’re using homemade pumpkin puree (and you should – it’s easy and tastier than most canned varieties), be sure to strain out extra liquid. You can do this by putting your puree into a fine mesh sieve over a bowl or the sink and allowing it to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Keep your cold ingredients cold, especially your butter. This will ensure flaky scones. If you tend to store your butter in the fridge door, put butter for scones in the back of your fridge (the door tends to be warmer, since you open it. Duh, I know, but it does make a difference.) I like to let my dough rest in the fridge while I prepare baking sheets, etc., and even put my baking sheet with unbaked scones in the fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes before baking.
- Don’t overwork the dough. Thankfully, in this recipe, there is no kneading or shaping required. Just mix, scoop, and bake.
Let’s make scones!
Pumpkin Scones II
Lightly-sweet with lots of pumpkin flavor! See end of recipe for add-ins and variations. If using homemade puree, be sure to strain out the extra liquid before mixing into the dough.
you will need:
- 2 c all-purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg
- 5 tbsp cold salted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 c pumpkin or winter squash puree, preferably homemade (strain any extra liquid)
- ¼ c granulated sugar (I like raw cane sugar here, but white works fine)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4-1/3 c buttermilk, milk, sour milk, or plant milk (you’ll likely need less of other milks besides buttermilk)
- optional toppings: roasted pepitas, toasted walnuts, molasses drizzle
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper, or lightly grease it.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and baking powder. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or two forks until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can also do this step in the food processor, with 3-4 pulses.
- Whisk the egg, pumpkin puree, and molasses with 1/4 c of the buttermilk, then fold the wet mixture into the flour mixture. You should get a fairly wet dough, but one that can still hold its shape once scooped onto a pan. If there are very dry spots, you can add more buttermilk, but don’t make the mixture soupy. You can also let the dough rest for 10 minutes in the fridge to allow the mixture to get evenly moistened.
- Using a large muffin scoop or two spoons, scoop out even scones (about ¼ c each for smaller scones, ⅓ c for medium, and ½ c for extra-large scones) onto prepared baking sheet, spacing each about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with pepitas, walnuts, or whatever you’re topping, if desired.
- Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until the scones are golden brown. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack, allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the scones to a cooling rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
variations
- Pumpkin Ginger Scones: Increase ginger to 1 tsp, and add ¼ c finely diced candied ginger to the dough in Step 3.
- Maple Pumpkin Scones: Use 2-3 tablespoons of maple sugar in place of the sugar. Or, if you have maple syrup, use 2-3 tablespoons of syrup, and reduce the buttermilk by 2-3 tablespoons. Use only pure maple syrup or maple sugar – do not use syrup substitutes. Top with a sprinkling of maple sugar, if desired.
- Cranberry Pumpkin Scones: You can use fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries for little pops of tangy goodness! Add in up to ⅓ c fresh cranberries, or ¼ c dried cranberries, to dough in Step 3. Proceed with recipe.
The Crunchy Baker 