Pumpkin Scones with Maple Icing, Pepitas and Nuts

This mini pumpkin scones recipe is perfectly spiced with warm fall spices with a crisp crust and soft biscuit. It’s dipped in a sweet maple glaze and topped with pepitas and crushed nuts.

Honestly, I have never been a big pumpkin fan, and never drooled over pumpkin spice lattes, but these scones are perfectly balanced with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

The texture of these pumpkin scones are soft and moist on the inside and has that beautiful crunch on the outside. These are by far the best pumpkin scones in my book, and they’re made without egg!

It’s funny because Josh doesn’t like scones. At all. He never eats them. Not only did he have most of these, but I also ended making the second batch I froze in the morning for breakfast. Of course, these are the mini size, so it would have been a normal batch.

Feeling inspired by Fall [Autumn] and looking for recipes to warm your household? This Pumpkin Scone recipe is absolutely a must. Sip a warm cup of coffee and nimble on these easy pumpkin pie spiced scones.

Ingredients

all-purpose flour – I always recommend not to directly scoop the flour, but rather spoon into a measuring cup and leveling out

sugar – for this recipe I used brown sugar and a few extra tablespoons of granulated sugar

spices – nothing screams Fall like these spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, and ginger. Alternatively, you could use pumpkin spice.

unsalted butter – use frozen grated butter

pumpkin puree – this has a lot of extra liquid so you will want to use a cheesecloth to squeeze some out

heavy cream – plus extra for brushing

No eggs needed

I found this sweet pumpkin scone has no need for the egg. The texture was still moist and light with great flavor.

For the maple frosting:

powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and heavy cream

Tips

Use cold ingredients

The best scones are made with the coldest ingredients. Especially the butter. I always freeze my sticks of butter and then grate it before adding to the flour.

If you’re not actively using the ingredient, place in the refrigerator until ready to use. I even place the scone dough disc in the freezer for about 15 minutes before baking. The butter and cooks slower and melts into the dough beautifully while it bakes.

Strain the pumpkin

Pumpkin, much like any squash, has an abundance of liquid. This isn’t a bad thing, just not the best for scones. To have the proper batter, you can’t really eliminate any of the liquid that goes into the recipe. Instead, strain the pumpkin.

Use a kitchen towel or cheesecloth and add 1 cup of pumpkin. Simply twist the towel and squeeze out about 1/4 cup of liquid. The yield of pumpkin should now be about 2/3 cups or so and will be dry.

Use a fork to break up the pumpkin and add the cream and vanilla. Mix well before adding to the dry ingredients.

How to make pumpkin scones

Step 1: Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, and spices. Using a pastry cutter, hand masher, or just two forks, Chop in the cold, grated butter until small, pea-sized balls form. Set aside (in the fridge).

Step 2: Strain the excess liquid from the pumpkin and combine with heavy cream and vanilla. Remove the butter-flour mix from the fridge and add to the dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula mix together until combined but do not overmix.

Step 3: Place down a piece of wax paper with a little flour, then roll out the dough from the bowl. Split into two even piles and lightly press to form equal sized discs, about 5 inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inch tall. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Want to save these pumpkin scones for later?

No problem! Just wrap the raw scone dough disc in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe bag. You can freeze these scones for up to 3-4 weeks. When you’re ready to serve, pull from the freezer while the oven is preheating to take the chill off a bit and bake according to the recipe.

Step 4: Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove scones from the oven and arrange pumpkin scones pieces on the baking sheet. Be sure to leave space between each piece. Doing so will ensure that all the sides are crispy, Though, if they’re too close together, the sides will be soft.

Brush heavy cream on top, and sides if you like.

Step 5: Bake for 15 minutes until the edges are crispy and the scones are lightly brown. Make your maple icing while the pumpkin spice scones are baking. Simply mix together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and heavy cream. Set aside until ready to use.

Remove the scones from the oven and cool about 10 minutes. Dip the scones into the icing, let set and enjoy!

If you’re like me though, you’re gonna wanna top these super easy and delicious pumpkin scones with some pepitas and crushed nuts. I used a mix of walnuts and pecans. And pepitas is such an awesome addition, or you could try some sweet toasted pumpkin seeds. Yum!

Can you make pumpkin scones ahead of time?

That’s one of my favorite things about scones. They are so easy to make ahead of time. Just wrap up the scone dough and place it in the freezer for up to 3-4 weeks. Or for baked scones, freeze up to 3 months. Though, freshly-baked is really the way to go.

For the freezer pumpkin scones just pull them out when you want. This is awesome because you can have a variety of flavors available.

Try some of these delicious scone recipes:

• Lemon Blueberry Scones
• Banana “Nanner” Nut Scones with Chocolate Chips

You can greet any morning to warm, freshly baked scones.

I hope you enjoy this Pumpkin Scones recipe! Let me know in the comments if you tried this recipe. Be sure to tag #ladleandgrain on facebook, instagram, and twitter!

Pumpkin Scones

Recipe by DiannaCourse: All RecipesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

This mini pumpkin scones recipe is perfectly spiced with warm fall spices with a crisp crust and soft biscuit. It’s dipped in a sweet maple glaze and topped with pepitas and crushed nuts.

Ingredients

• Pumpkin Scones

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp all-spice

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 tbsp salt

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), frozen and grated

• 1 cup pumpkin puree, excess liquid squeezed out

• 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp reserved for brushing

• 1 tsp vanilla

• Maple Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2-3 tbsp heavy cream

• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Directions

• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, and spices. Chop in the cold, grated butter with a pastry cutter or two forks until small, pea-sized balls form. Set aside (in the fridge).
• Strain the excess liquid from a cup of pumpkin, about 1/4 cup of liquid. In a large bowl, combine the strained pumpkin with heavy cream and vanilla.
• Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and use a wooden spoon to combine. Do not overmix.
• Lightly flour a piece of wax paper and roll out the dough form the bowl. Divide into two equal balls.
  
  Form each ball into a small disc, about 5 inches in diameter.
  Then, slice each disc into 8 equal pieces for a total of 16 small triangles. Wrap each cut disc (as a whole) and place in the freezer* for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove scones from oven and arrange pieces on the the baking sheet. Brush heavy cream on top. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes. Dunk each scone into the icing or drizzle on. Top with pepitas and chopped nuts
• Maple Icing
• In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and heavy cream.

Notes

• Keep one of the small scone dough rounds in the freezer to bake up later.