Pumpkin Scones

Last pumpkin recipe for a while, I promise.

I went off looking for a pumpkin scone recipe and found this Starbucks Copycat recipe.  Since I like their pumpkin scones, I decided to go for it.  The main change I made was to up the baking powder a little, as I find their scones a bit dense.  I prefer my scones fluffy.  The photo in the post looked flat, too, which could have been from taking time to do the photos prior to baking, thereby using up the baking soda's usefulness.  I often forget to do photos of my cooking process because I'm too busy figuring out the most efficient way to make everything come together at the same time so I can pass along the method.  I  couldn't find anything wrong with the recipe as written, and feel free to go back to the mere 1 tsp if you don't like fluffy scones.

I did come up just a wee bit short on the pumpkin.  The rest of the jar of apple butter came to the rescue.  Apples and pumpkin benefit from the same spices, and the consistency was the same.  I seriously doubt it made any difference in the final product.

These were soft and cakey.  If you like your scones a bit dry for dunking, bake two more minutes.  And you have to be patient with the icing.  Cool the scones completely before the first layer, and wait 30 minutes for that to set before doing the drizzle.  Speeding up the process will just make a mess.

Scones
2 C flour
1/3 C packed brown sugar
*1 tsp cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp cloves
*1/2 tsp ginger
*1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
*1/2 C pumpkin purée
3 Tb milk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

Glaze
2 C powdered sugar, sifted
milk as needed (about 3 Tb)
1/8 tsp each cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg

1.  Preheat oven to 400º.  Line a baking sheet with silpat or parchment.

2.  Sift together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Add chunks of cold butter and work into flour with fingers or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3.  Separately, whisk together pumpkin, milk, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Make a well in the flour and pour liquid ingredients.  Stir together into a soft and rather sticky dough.

4.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several strokes until uniform.  Roll out into a 10" by 7" rectangle.  I happen to have a cutting board with grooves at 11" by 7", so I used that.  Cut rectangle in quarters, then each smaller rectangle in half on a diagonal.  (If you want smaller scones, roll out 15" x 4" and cut into 3 squares of 4 triangles each.  Making 8, they were kind of big.)  Place all triangles onto baking sheet at least 1/2" apart and bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges.  Allow to cool on pan for several minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely.  Place baking sheet under rack, because you're going to glaze them and don't want the sugar all over your counter.

5.  To make glaze, add milk to sifted powdered sugar.  Add two tablespoons at first, and let sit for several minutes to hydrate completely before deciding if you need more.  Add 1 tsp at a time after that until desired consistency is reached.  Spread a thin layer over the cooled scones, using a little more than half of the mix.

6.  As the first layer is drying, add spices to the remaining glaze.  Wait 30 minutes for the first layer to set, then drizzle this decorative layer over the scones.  Allow to sit about half an hour more for the glaze to set fully before serving.

Makes 8 Starbucks-sized scones, or 12 smaller ones

Difficulty rating  :)