Pumpkin Scones

Last year, I had been asked about Pumpkin Scones, so I put together a recipe for the annual “Holiday Breakfast” class. (For a “classic” cream scone recipe, check this post.) This past Friday night at the Sparkman High School football game, I finally had to put on a jacket. So, the fall season is in full swing and with October starting this week, I thought this would be a great recipe to share with you.

When I was working the recipe, the dough was way too wet and sticky. I was reading an article about Pumpkin Bread in Cook’s Illustrated. The problem they were solving was the raw taste of the canned pumpkin. By cooking to pumpkin puree, it caramelized some of the sugars and enhanced the pumpkin flavor. Then there was a note that it also drove off some of the liquid – bingo. Solve two problems at once.

So, I made another batch, cooked the pumpkin, adjusted a couple of other ingredients and I had a dough that would work. It was still a bit wet and sticky, but it was to a point that was manageable. A little extra flour on the pan and a firm up in the refrigerator or freezer before baking help solve the problem.

Pumpkin Scones
Makes: 12 scones

3 cups all-purpose flour (12 3/4 ounces)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup butter, cold, cut into “chunks”
1 can pumpkin
2 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Put pumpkin into a small sauce pan and cook over medium low heat to reduce the pumpkin, about 8-10 minutes. Should reduce to about 1 cup. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves and pulse to combine.

Add butter to the dry mixture and pulse until butter is the size of small peas.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin and cream until smooth.

Add pumpkin mixture to food processor. Pulse until it holds together in a dough. It will be a very “wet” dough (Confession here – when I was making the scones to take pictures for the post, I forgot to add the cinnamon mixture and noticed when I had the dough completed. I had a decision, bake them as they were or add the spices and mix it into the dough. I decided to mix in the spices and when I finally had them mixed in, the dough was over processed and very sticky.)

Put a sheet a parchment paper on a baking sheet and add a small amount of flour on the parchment paper. Place dough onto parchment paper and form into one or two disks depending on the size of scones desired.

If making ahead and baking the next day, place the baking sheet with the scones in the refrigerator overnight. If making immediately, place the baking sheet with the scones in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Using a bench scraper, cut disks into scones and separate. Bake for 17-20 minutes until just browning. Remove pan from oven and put on a cooling rack.