I absolutely love autumn baking! As soon as September comes I just want to put pumpkin and cinnamon in everything I bake! I make pumpkin pie every year and when I first started this tradition you couldn't buy tinned pumpkin puree in the UK. Now it's readily available I'm making lots of other pumpkin recipes too, like these yummy Pumpkin Scones. They are a 'copycat' recipe of a popular Starbucks scone that is served in America, if you are from there or have visited in Autumn you will no doubt recognise them!
They are fluffy and light, filled with Autumn spices and drizzled with two sweet glazes - one is vanilla and the other spiced. You can use one of them instead of both if you prefer, but together they make the scones look so pretty! The glaze and drizzle are so scrumptious and make the Pumpkin Scones into a lovely sweet treat perfect with a hot drink.
How to make Pumpkin Scones
First put the self raising flour, caster sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in a bowl and mix together. Then add the butter and rub together with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and pumpkin puree.
Combine the pumpkin mixture with the flour and mix until a dough forms. Place it onto a floured service and roughly shaped it into a circle. Then use a knife to cut it into triangles.
Place the shaped dough onto a lined baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes until beautifully golden brown.
Put the Pumpkin Scones on a cooling rack and make the two glazes. For the base glaze, mix the icing sugar with the milk and vanilla, then spread it over each scone. For the spiced glaze, mix the icing sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and milk together. Put the spiced glaze in a piping bag a make a zig zag pattern over each scone.
Do you have to cut the scones into triangles?
This recipe makes six good sized triangular scones, which is an American style shape of scone. You can cut smaller triangles to get more scones, or cut English style circle shaped scones with a round cutter.
Where can you buy pumpkin puree in the UK?
I've found tins of pumpkin puree in the American food section of large supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsburys. I have also heard that Waitrose stock it. It's sometimes available all year round, or sometimes only from September until December. It really does depend on the supermarket with this. Keep asking your local store, you may just bug them enough to get them to stock it! You can also buy it online, I have purchased it from Amazon before, and Sous Chef also sell it. It will be a little bit more pricey, but I've found good deals by buying several cans at once (it lasts over a year usually).
Can you make pumpkin puree from scratch?
Yes! If you can’t get hold of the canned version (the two brands I known of are Libbys and Baking Buddy) then you can make pumpkin puree from scratch. A 2kg pumpkin will give you roughly 675g pumpkin puree. The good news is, if you have too much you can freeze pumpkin puree. What you need to do is slice up the pumpkin, deseed it and scoop out the flesh. You can either roast or steam the pieces until soft – use a knife to check tenderness. Allow the pumpkin to cool. Remove the flesh from the skin and then use a blender to puree the flesh. You now have pumpkin puree! It’s also great stirred into risottos or curries if you have leftovers.
How long do the scones last for and can they be frozen?
The scones are best fresh but they will last for 2-3 days in an airtight container in a cool place. You can freeze the undecorated scones either wrapped well in cling film or in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Can you make the scones with plain/all purpose flour?
Self raising flour, which is very commonly used in the UK where I am based, already contains a raising agent and a little salt too. Therefore if you want to swap it for plain or all purpose flour, you will need to add some additional baking powder. The general advice is to add 2 teaspoons baking powder (a measuring teaspoon, not the kind you stir your coffee with) per every 200g plain or all purpose flour. So for this recipe you'd need to add 2 + ½ teaspoons baking powder. Please note, I have not tested this recipe using plain or all purpose flour.
Can the cupcakes be made gluten or dairy free?
Yes! For gluten free you can replace the self raising flour with a gluten free self raising flour blend. If you only have a gluten free plain flour blend, you will need to add baking powder. The general advice is to add 2 tsp baking powder per 200g flour, so for this recipe you'd need to add 2 + ½ teaspoons baking powder. You may also like to add ½ tsp Xantham Gum for better texture. For a dairy free version, use a dairy free baking spread and dairy free milk.
More tips for making the Pumpkin Scones:
- You don't have to add the glaze, you could cut the Pumpkin Scones in half and spread with butter instead, but the glaze does make the scones look very pretty in my opinion.
- You could also try adding dried fruit to the dough. I think cranberries or sultanas would go well.
- When you cut the scones, make sure to push down and pull up, don't drag the knife. This will help the scones rise better.
- If you don't want to buy all the individual spices, you can use 2 tsp mixed spice instead of the ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
- Baking trays
- Mixing bowls
- Kitchen scales
- Cooling rack
- Pumpkin puree
- Piping bags
- Measuring spoons
- Silicone Brush
*I earn a small amount of money if you buy the products after clicking on the links. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Thank you for supporting The Baking Explorer!
More Scones recipes...
More pumpkin recipes...
Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
For the scones
- 320 g Self raising flour
- 90 g Caster sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- ½ tsp Ground ginger
- ½ tsp Ground cloves
- 85 g Butter or baking spread
- 1 Egg large
- 3 tbsp Milk (45ml)
- 125 g Pumpkin puree
For the plain glaze
- 90 g Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Milk
For the spiced glaze
- 80 g Icing sugar
- 1 tbsp Milk
- ¼ tsp Ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- A pinch of Ground ginger
- A pinch of Ground cloves
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 200C Fan/220C/425F/Gas mark 7, and line a baking tray with non stick baking paper
- Put the self raising flour, caster sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves into a large bowl and mix together
- Add the butter and rub together with your hands until it resembles breadcrumbs
- In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, milk, and pumpkin puree
- Combine the pumpkin mixture with the flour until a dough forms, try to not to over mix it, once it's come together that's good enough
- Pat the dough out into a circle shape about 1cm thick on a floured surface
- Cut the circle into 6 triangles - or use a round cutter if you prefer and re-roll until all of the dough is used
- Put the scones on the lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes
- Cool the scones fully on a cooling rack
- Make the base glaze by mixing the ingredients together until smooth with no lumps, use a spoon to gently spread it over the top of each scone
- Make the spiced glaze by mixing the ingredients together until smooth with no lumps, put it a piping bag and drizzle it over each scone. If you don't want to use a piping bag you can drizzle it over with a spoon
- Make yourself a tea or coffee and enjoy a delicious scone! They will keep for 2 days in an airtight container in a cool place. They can be frozen without the glazes for up to 3 months
Nutrition
If you like this, check out more of my Scone recipes!
Recipe adapted from Iowa Girl Eats.
Ashley
Yum! x
Sarah Barnes
Man alive Kat, they look good. So good, I can almost smell them!
Stephanie Cracknell
Looks lovely, I love scones and pumpkin so these are sure to be a winner. Thanks for sharing! I am stopping by from Tasty tuesdays
Julia
So happy to find this recipe after another autumn feeling sad that Starbucks in the UK don’t do the pumpkin scones like we’ve had on holiday in America and Canada. Now I can make my own. Baked some today and they are delicious. Lovely and spicy with a really nice texture. Can’t wait to bake more. Thanks Kat xx