Pumpkin Scones

 

Scones are one of those breakfast or afternoon tea specialty treats. Especially this time of year and especially scones with a fall feel. October 1st is a great day to post a quick recipe blog for pumpkin scones. I've made hundreds of scones, maybe even hundreds of batches, but never pumpkin until this year. After reading several recipes, it was decided to create my own offering. I just needed to adjust the liquid ingredients of an original basic scone to fit puree pumpkin and add the correct amount of spices. All there was in the house was pumpkin pie filling so we went with that. I just reduced the amount of spices by about 1/4 tsp total. 

For the first test batch  no pumpkin seeds were added into the dough but placed 3 on top after the brushing the dairy on before going in the oven. By the way, since I usually just hold back about a tablespoon of liquid to brush on the tops of the scones before baking, I just did much the same, reserved just about a tablespoon and added a little of the coffee cream to that for brushing on top. The second batch had 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds added to the dry ingredients before rubbing in the butter. Both batches were beyond delicious but prefer the scones with seeds. After tasting the seeds on top of the scone without seeds in the scone, the crunch seemed crucial and who knew how nutritionally rich pumpkin and seeds are. I would also love add either toasted walnuts or pecans another time. Tim Horton pumpkin muffins have walnuts in the dough and a cream cheese frosting filling injected into the muffin. They are quite tasty. One important thing is to mix your spices together first in a separate bowl if you only have pumpkin pie fill instead of plain pumpkin puree. Then you can reduce your spice a little if you wish. Honestly I did not reduce very much and was happy with the outcome. You can double or triple your pumpkin spice mix and have some for another time. 

Anyway enough blabbing. No need to do that. Here is the recipe. I would love to hear comments if anyone tries them. Included is the maple glaze for a topping.

Pumpkin Scones                  yield 8-9                 bake 425F for 14 mins 

All-purpose Flour                350 g plus some for dusting         2 3/4 cups

Brown sugar                           45 g                                                1/4 cup

Salt                                             5 g                                                1 tsp

Baking powder                       13 g                                                just under 2 tsp

Baking soda                               1g                                                1/4 tsp

Cinnamon                                  4 g                                              1 1/2 tsp                                                 

Ginger                                     2-3 g                                                1 tsp

Nutmeg                                   0.5 g                                               1/4 tsp

Cloves or allspice                  0.5 g                                               1/4 tsp

Pinch of black or white pepper if desired

Pumpkin seeds                        50-60 g                                      1/4 cup

Unsalted butter   (cold)                85 g                                       1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp

Pumpkin puree                           125 g                                       1/2 cup

35% Whipping cream                   65 g                                       1/4 cup

10% Coffee Cream                        65 g                                      1/4 cup

Egg lg                                                1                                               1

Fresh lemon juice                           6 g                                            1 tsp

Vanilla                                              6 g                                             1 tsp            

Instructions      preheat to 425 F

1. Mix the pumpkin puree both creams, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla all together in a bowl. Place in the fridge while mixing the dry ingredients. (If you use pie filling from a can just reduce the total spices about 1/4 tsp when measuring your spices).

2. Mix the spices all together in a small bowl, if you use pumpkin pie mix, now you can hold back about 1/4 tsp because the pie puree already has some flavouring added. Otherwise you can add the spices directly to the other dry ingredients. If you want to have extra pumpkin spices for another time, double, triple or quadruple your spices and use 2 full teaspoons of your mixed spice for your scones. 

3. Whisk together all the dry ingredients including the spices, then add in the pumpkin seeds.

4. Cube the butter and rub in to small bits about pea size or grate in frozen butter. Ensure even distribution. If your butter feels too warm, just pop the mix in the fridge for a few minutes. 

5. Make a well with your dry mixture and add all but about a tablespoon of wet into the well. Mix until the dough comes together then put it onto a floured countertop. Gently knead the dough about 5-7 times and shape into a disc. 

6. Cut the disc into 8 or 9 wedges. For 8 wedges first cut the disc into quarters then cut the quarters in half. This gives you 8 wedges. If you go for 9 scones just first cut your disc evenly into 3rds and cut each of those into 3 pieces. You will create 9 almost even wedges.

7. Place into a 425 F preheated oven and bake a total of 14 minutes rotating the pan for even baking at the 7 minute mark.

8. Allow to cool about 5 minutes before adding the glaze.

For the Maple Glaze topping

Icing sugar            100g                 1/2 cup

Maple syrup            75g                 1/4 cup

Vanilla                     1/4 tsp

Salt                           pinch

Mix together for a consistency that is slightly runny but thick enough to stay on top of the scone.   Adding just a few drops of warm water to the drizzle will help achieve the consistency you are looking for. You may drizzle or spread with a spoon to get the whole top. Add a few pumpkin seeds before the glaze dries for a nice bakery look. Only allow the scones to cool for about 5 minutes because you want the warmth of the scone to help spread the glaze. Some people may want to dip the top of the scone into their glaze. 

If you want to learn more about pumpkin and it's nutritional and therapeutic properties here is a great article https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9182978/#sec4-plants-11-01394

Dog wisdom from Theo: Pumpkin is a super food for dogs too. Just don't use canned pumpkin pie filling. All those spices don't really agree with us. Just plain please.