Pumpkin Cream Scones

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Pumpkin Cream Scones are soft, tender pastries that are so much better than the ones you get at your favorite coffee store! I hear from people all the time who tell me they don’t like scones.  I think it’s because they’ve never had a good one.  And the big chain coffee stores aren’t doing their reputation any favors either.  Mass produced scones can be dry as cardboard, whereas a great scone will be tender and flaky….not quite a cake, not like a cookie or a muffin, more like a biscuit than anything else….but a really really great biscuit.   These Pumpkin Cream Scones are crumbly and moist at the same time, and full of perfectly spiced pumpkin flavor.  There is no more elegant or delicious breakfast or coffee break out there. Making scone dough is a satisfying, tactile experience, even when you use a food processor for the first part, like I do.   You’ll hand form the rustic lump of dough into a rough disk and then cleave it into six hefty triangles.  I chill the dough for an hour or two before slicing and baking, which encourages them to bake up nice and pleasantly plump instead of spreading out. The glaze …

Ingredients

• dry ingredients
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour (fluff the flour before scooping and leveling)
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ½ cup sugar
• ¾ tbsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp cloves
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• butter
• ½ cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick) cut in pieces
• wet ingredients
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• approximately 1/3 cup heavy cream
• glaze
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar,
• 1 tsp vanilla
• cream for thinning

Method

1. Set the oven to 400F
2. I use a food processor to make scones, but you can also do it by hand. Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl of the processor and pulse to combine.
3. Drop in the pieces of butter and pulse about 20 times, to incorporate the butter. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
4. In a one cup glass measuring cup with a pouring spout, beat the egg well. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Then add enough cream to measure about 3/4 cup. Mix well.
5. Pour the liquid into the processor while pulsing. Stop when you have finished pouring and the dough is just combined.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and bring together with your hands. Form into a plump 7-8 inch disk. Carefully cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
7. Slice the chilled dough into 6 scones, and place on a lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between scones. Bake for about 15 minutes until the scones are firm and baked through. Look closely at the cracks in the top of the scone, if they look wet inside, bake a little longer. Don't over bake.
8. Cool the scones on a rack and then glaze.
9. To make the glaze, mix the confectioner's sugar with the vanilla with enough cream to create a thick glaze. Drizzle in the cream slowly while you whisk or stir. Add more sugar if it gets too thin, and more cream if it seems too thick. You can spoon the glaze over the cooled scones, or dunk them in head first, which is what I do. Be sure to get a nice thick coating on each one.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island