Pumpkin Scones

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Pumpkin Scones are buttery, flaky, moist, and fragrant with all my favorite fall spices. No need to a trip to the coffee shop, these are even better! I used my food processor to throw this dough together in record time, and since you use cold butter straight from the fridge, you can make these whenever the mood strikes.  Scones are a nice change from muffins, pancakes, toast, or whatever else you usually have in the morning.  Their unique texture comes from the cold butter that is finely dispersed into the flour…when it bakes it becomes wonderfully light and flaky.  In this case the pumpkin makes them extra moist. The dough is characteristically wet, rough and craggy — don’t over-work it or try to get it perfectly smooth.  That ugly dough will bake up into a glorious scone.  Just pat it out into a disk shape, and cut it into triangles.   They bake up quickly, in about 15-18 minutes.  I could still hear them sizzling when I took mine out since the pumpkin makes a wetish dough.  It’s a mortal sin to overcook scones, so err on the side of caution. I like a thick vanilla glaze on these scones, garnished …

Ingredients

• dry ingredients
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1¼ unbleached pastry flour
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar (packed)
• ¾ t. baking powder
• ¼ t. baking soda
• ¼ t. salt
• ¼ t. cinnamon (heaping)
• ¼ t. ground ginger (heaping)
• ¼ t. nutmeg (heaping)
• ¼ t. ground clove (heaping)
• butter
• 1 stick chilled butter (diced)
• wet ingredients
• 1 eggs (beaten)
• ½ cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
• ⅓ cup heavy cream or buttermilk
• glaze
• 1⅓ cup powdered sugar
• milk, cream or water to thin
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• chopped pecans for garnish

Method

1. set oven to 400F
2. Put all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse several times to combine.
3. Add the chilled butter and pulse until the mixture becomes coarsely crumbled and the butter is well distributed.
4. Whisk together the wet ingredients. While pulsing the machine, pour in the liquid and process just until combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and bring it together into a 6 inch disk with floured hands. Cut the disk into 6 triangles, and place the scones on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
5. Bake 15-18 minutes, until scones are risen and just turning golden, don't over-bake.
6. Let cool on a rack before glazing.
7. Whisk together the glaze ingredients and adjust the consistency if you need to by adding more milk or more sugar. Spread it over the cooled scones and top with toasted pecans.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island