Pumpkin Scones Recipe
Pumpkin Scones: super flaky and perfectly spiced; these scones are your new favorite fall treat in under 30 minutes. The cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger spice the dough and the drizzled icing on top take their flavor over the top. Autumn is in the air!!
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I love a fresh warm scone early in the morning with my cup of coffee. It completes my breakfast and brunch.
I have couple signature recipes for scones. I posted one of them few weeks ago, called Cranberry Scones. The difference between two is the dairy: sour cream or heavy cream. I change up the add-ins and flavors to create different variations.
Scones are all about irresistibly crumbly edges and moistness of the dough on the inside. They must be crumbly! In order to get them crumbly, you must NOT overwork the dough and use all the liquid ingredients cold, from the refrigerator.
The dough of this recipe is not very sweet, but with the icing on the top, the combination is just the perfect amount of sweetness.
As soon as month of September kicks in, that’s the beginning of autumn for me. The leaves are turning, the crisp, fresh air as soon as you step outside. You just want to inhale it all. That feeling…it’s even hard to describe.
What are Scones?
Scones are British baked goods, usually made with oatmeal, wheat or baking powder as a leavening agent. They are very similar to biscuits, except are sweeter, heavier and loaded with butter in them. They can be sweet or savory, perfect with cup of coffee or tea or wherever coffee and pastries are appropriate.
The Best Pumpkin Scones Recipe:
- super quick and so simple
- not overly sweet
- moist and flaky on the inside, crispy on the outside
- pumpkin-spiced
- buttery
- topped with simple 2-ingredient icing
Pumpkin Scones Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Baking powder
- Fine salt
- Baking soda
- Fall spices: ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger
- Unsalted butter
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Heavy cream
- Large egg
- Vanilla extract
Icing Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar – sifted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk (2% or whole)
Cold Ingredients are a Must for Scones:
Keeping scone dough as cold as possible is a must for scone success. To avoid over-spreading of scones in the oven, it’s important to use cold ingredients like butter, heavy cream, pumpkin puree and egg. Your scones will turn out flaky, moist with a crumbly texture.
Refrigerated butter is the real key. I have tried using frozen butter, but I would choose refrigerated any day over frozen. makes life easier!
The butter needs to be worked into the dry ingredients to create crumbs. Then the crumbs melt as scones bake, releasing steam and creating air pockets. And that’s how the flaky center is created while keeping the edges crisp and crumbly.
Success Tips for Pumpkin Scones:
- Sift flour. Sifted flour will ensure fluffy texture of scones and will mix better with other dry ingredients.
- Use refrigerated butter. Mixing cold butter with dry ingredients will create crumbs. Baked scones will turn out flaky, keeping crumbly and crispy edges.
- Grate the butter. I find it best to grate butter, creating hundreds little pieces that are evenly mixed into dry ingredients.
- Use cold heavy cream. Avoid substituting for milk. You can substitute for sour cream. See my Cranberry Scones recipe.
- Do not over mix the pumpkin scone dough. With each step, mix just until combined. Scone dough is not bread dough. It should fall apart, making scones crumbly.
How to Make Pumpkin Scones:
Preheat the oven to a 400°F. Line a parchment paper with a baking sheet.
1. Mix the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, whisk with a fork to combine dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp table salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp ginger.
2. Grate in refrigerated butter. Into the bowl with flour mixture, grate 1 stick unsalted butter on the large holes of the grater. Work in the butter with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate small mixing bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine and whisk 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until the dough starts to come together.
5. Form dough into a disc and cut into wedges. Using your hand, continue pressing the dough against the bowl into a ball. It would seem as there’s not enough liquid in the dough and you’ll see lose flour, but as you press, the dough will come together. (Do not overwork the dough!)
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-8” circle about 3/4″ thick. Using a pastry cutter, cut dough into 8 triangles.
6. Transfer onto baking sheet. With help of a pastry scraper, carefully transfer scones onto a prepared baking sheet, 1-2” apart.
7. Bake until golden brown. Bake for 15-18 mins until golden (I did 15). Transfer onto a cooling rack to slightly cool while you make the icing.
Add Icing to Pumpkin Scones!
A generous drizzle of glaze adds a satisfying finale to these pumpkin scones. All you need is powdered sugar and milk.
It’s best to pour the glaze over pumpkin scones while they are barely warm so that the icing doesn’t melt and slide off the scones completely.
With each bite you will get a crumbly edge, a flaky-moist-pumpkin center and a sweet icing to satisfy your tooth.
*NOTE: PUMPKIN PIE SPICE: You can substitute 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp ginger for 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
Serve warm and fresh with a cup of coffee and tea. Store them at room temperature covered with plastic food wrap. Reheat the next morning in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to enjoy them like-fresh again!
Love Pumpkin Recipes? Explore More:
- Pumpkin Knots – slightly sweet and fluffy breakfast or brunch treat
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds – super easy; all you need is pumpkin, no spices
- Pumpkin Sheet Cake – with a delicious cream cheese frosting
- Iced Pumpkin Cookies – light and fluffy
Pumpkin Scones Recipe
Ingredients
Scones Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 8 tablespoons (or 1 stick) unsalted butter – refrigerated
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree – refrigerated
- 1/4 cup heavy cream – refrigerated
- 1 large egg – refrigerated
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar – sifted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons 2% or whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to a 400°F. Line a parchment paper with a baking sheet.
- In a medium bowl, whisk with a fork to combine dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp fine salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp ginger.
- Grate 1 stick unsalted cold butter into the dry ingredients on the large holes of the grater. Work in the butter with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- In a separate small mixing bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine and whisk 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until the dough starts to come together.
- Using your hand, continue pressing the dough against the bowl into a ball. It would seem as there’s not enough liquid in the dough and you’ll see lose flour, but as you press, the dough will come together. (Do not overwork the dough!) Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-8” circle about 3/4″ thick. Using a pastry cutter, cut dough into 8 triangles.
- With help of a pastry scraper, carefully transfer scones onto a prepared baking sheet, 1-2” apart.
- Bake for 15-18 mins until golden (I did 15). Transfer onto a cooling rack to slightly cool while you make the icing.
- TO MAKE THE ICING: In a small bowl, combine and whisk 1 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tbsps milk. Mix until it becomes smooth. Transfer to a ziploc bag, cut off the tip of the bag 1-2 mm.
- Drizzle icing over the warm (not hot) scones. Serve warm and fresh with a cup of coffee and tea. Store them at room temperature covered with plastic food wrap. Reheat the next morning in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to enjoy them like-fresh again!
Notes
- PUMPKIN PIE SPICE: You can substitute 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp ginger for 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
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Susan Donohue says:
You refer us to your cranberry scone recipe if we use sour cream in place of heavy cream. Do we replace 1/4 c sour cream for the half cup heavy cream or use 1/2 c sour cream? Thanks so much!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Susan! The cranberry scone recipe is a different recipe. We just mention it, in case you’re looking for more scone recipes. Each recipe has its own dry and wet ingredients amounts. You would have to experiment to see if you can mix both or sub completely. Keep in mind that sour cream is thicker than heavy cream, so the pumpkin scones might turn out slightly tough than original recipe. Hope this helps!