Pumpkin Scone Recipe

This pumpkin scone recipe is full of wonderful spices, rich in pumpkin flavor, and super easy to make. They can be mixed up in about 15 minutes! I made these with white chocolate chips, but you can really mix in whatever you want! After baking, I drizzled on a pumpkin spiced glaze for even more pumpkin flavor. Better than Starbucks pumpkin scones!

 

If you’re new around here, let me say Hi. Welcome. My name is Heather and I have a serious thing for scones. I love dreaming up all sorts of fun scone recipes – like my maple bacon scones, or lavender white chocolate scones. There are so many ways to take a simple scone recipe and make it fabulous.

And when I was thinking up what Fall scone recipe to share with you, I realized I didn’t have a pumpkin scone recipe on the blog yet! Say what?! I found this recipe on King Arthur Flour, and played around with it a bit. And then decided it would be better with white chocolate chips mixed in. A few test batches later and I think I perfected the pumpkin scone friend! And this recipe was (like all scones are!) super easy to make, and full of great flavor.

And the best part about scones (at least in my opinion- besides how great they go with a hot cup of coffee, or maybe a pumpkin spice latte!) is that they take all of about 15 minutes to mix up. Of course for perfect scones I recommend freezing for 30 minutes (or pop them in the fridge for an hour) to help firm up the butter. It really does make all the difference.

Now that’s a breakfast or brunch treat I can rally around. I started making scones back when I worked at a bakery. And I mean, I made scone after scone after scone. My friends still say how awesome my arms looked that summer! No, seriously my arms were in serious shape. And it’s all due to the lovely scone.

You make 12 bulk batches of scone dough by hand each day and don’t think you won’t get amazing arms too, you’re fooling yourself. So what’s today’s lesson? Skip the gym. Make these pumpkin scones instead 😉

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Besides how wonderfully tasty they are – here are 3 reasons why I know you will fall in love with these pumpkin scones.

• Quick To Mix Together – I said this already. But it’s worth repeating. This might be the #1 reason why I LOVE scones. They are always so quick to mix up.
• No Fancy Equipment – You don’t need a mixer or anything fancy. Just a couple mixing bowls, a spatula, and although I use a pastry blender  (or pastry cutter as it’s also called) you can cut the butter in with just your fingertips. So really as long as you got clean hands you’re good to go!
• Perfect for pumpkin season  – I used pure pumpkin puree in the dough, along with pumpkin pie spice. And then drizzled over these scones an easy glaze made with pumpkin pie spice.

Ingredients Needed

• Flour
• Brown sugar – I used light brown sugar but you could also use dark brown sugar. If you don’t have any, then check out my tutorial on how to make brown sugar.
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Butter – You want to make sure to use unsalted butter vs. salted butter in your baking. And make sure your butter is COLD. You don’t want the butter to melt and be absorbed into the flour but stay solid. This will create a tender scone with flaky layers.
• Pumpkin– Make sure to use 100% canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling or mix which has added ingredients in it.
• White chocolate chips – You really could use any chips in this scone recipe, like cinnamon chips, or dark chocolate chips would be great. Or skip the chocolate chips altogether and mix in something else like chopped pecans, or dried cranberries!
• Pumpkin Pie Spice – If you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute with the spices instead (or make your own DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice).
• Eggs – Your eggs can be cold going into the dough, which will help keep the butter firm and cold!
• Vanilla extract
• Milk (or cream) – for brushing on top but this can be skipped
• Coarse sugar- But regular sugar can also be used o sprinkle on top before baking.

How To Make This Pumpkin Scone Recipe

Making homemade pumpkin scones is a super simple recipe! Here are some step by step photos for you to master making these white chocolate chip pumpkin scones.

First start by preheating your oven to 400^oF. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

Make pumpkin scone dough – part 1

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. 
2. Using your fingertips, two knives, or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter are pea-sized.
3. Stir in the white chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. 
4. In a small bowl, stir together the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree.

1. Make a well by pushing aside the dry ingredients.
2. Pour in the wet ingredients.
3. Stir together the wet and dry mixture with a spatula.
4. Stir together to create a shaggy crumbly dough. Sometimes I find it’s necessary to bring the dough together with my hands. Clean hands are your best tools!!

HEATHER’S BAKING TIP: Add a bit of cream or milk. If your dough is not coming together and seems dry, you can add a touch of heavy cream or milk to the dough. 

Shape, cut, bake and glaze!

1. Empty the flour mixture onto a lightly floured surface.  Pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick circle.
2. Using a sharp knife cut the circle into 8 triangle wedges. Place scones onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Freeze the scones for 30 minutes (or refrigerate for 1 hour). This helps firm up the butter and creates a tender, flakier scones that doesn’t spread as much.
3. Brush the top of each scone with a little milk or heavy cream using a pastry brush and sprinkle on a little coarse sugar. (This is optional but highly recommend this!).
4. Bake the scones for 20-22 minutes in a preheated 400^oF oven golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, make the pumpkin glaze and drizzle over the scones. 

BAKING 101: Knead gently. Turn this mixture onto a floured surface and bring the dough together gently. The key here is to not overwork the dough! The less you work the dough means the less the gluten will have a chance to form (the protein in the flour that creates structure) and that means a softer scone in the end.

Recipe Tips

• Use COLD butter. You want butter that is very cold. The butter should be cold and still in solid pieces in the dough. This means that when you go to bake these the cold butter will then melt, and the water in the dough turns to steam pushing apart the layers of flour creating a tender, flaky scone.
• Brush the tops with a little milk (or cream) and sprinkle on sugar. This just helps with browning the tops, and creates a lovely crunchy top.
• Freeze the scones before baking. This helps to create a tall, flaky, tender scone. You can also refrigerate the scones for an hour if you can’t fit them in your freezer. But this step really does help with the texture of the scones and keeps the dough extremely cold before baking.

Recipe Variations

• Use chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips.
• Make a maple glaze instead of this pumpkin spiced glaze.
• Cut into mini scones and bake. Pat dough into a rectangle and cut into squares, then cut each square in half into triangles. Mini scones will bake a few minutes less (15-18 minutes)

Storage Instructions

Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Scones are best served immediately, but can be frozen for up to 1 month. You can freeze them baked or unbaked. If freezing unbaked scones, just make sure when you do bake them do NOT thaw them. Bake them frozen and just add an additional couple minutes onto the baking time.

Recipe FAQ’s

More Recipes To Try

• Cinnamon Chip Scones
• Cinnamon Apple Scones
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones
• Chocolate Chip Scones
• Maple Bacon Scones