Pumpkin scones make a special weekend treat for a family breakfast or brunch. You don’t have to worry about waking up too early to get these on the breakfast table, and you could even start them the night before for a rare chance to sleep in. My favorite part is saving a leftover scone for a quiet coffee break in the afternoon.
Tips for Perfectly Tender Scones
Similar to biscuits, tender scones require cold ingredients and a gentle hand. If you have time, dice the butter ahead of time and freeze it for at least 30 minutes before mixing the dough. Don’t worry about getting your eggs to room temperature for this recipe. This is a time when it’s actually best to use them straight from the fridge. When stirring the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, avoid overmixing. It’s okay if there are still some dry bits of flour. When the dough is overmixed, the gluten overdevelops, making scones tough and chewy instead of tender and flaky. After shaping the scones, chill them in the freezer while preheating the oven. They’ll hold their shape better, and the butter will melt at the optimal time for flakiness.
Choosing Canned Pumpkin Purée
For baking, I almost always use canned pumpkin purée. It saves so much time compared to making homemade pumpkin purée, and I usually get a better result. When buying canned pumpkin, make sure it’s 100% pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. I always reach for Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin. It’s noticeably thicker and more flavorful than other brands I’ve tried.
Pump Up the Flavor with Add-Ins
So many fall flavors combine flawlessly with pumpkin. Think of these scones as a base recipe that is excellent on its own, but can also be used to create cozy combinations by adding:
Nuts or seeds: My favorites are toasted chopped pecans or pumpkin seeds. Mix them directly in the dough, or sprinkle them on the maple glaze before it sets.Chocolate chips: Chocolate and pumpkin pair surprisingly well together. Try milk or dark, or my personal favorite, sweet and creamy white chocolate.Dried cranberries: They’re sweet, tangy, and chewy.Diced crystallized ginger: Add even more sweet bites of spice.
Add any mix-ins after method step 3, after cutting in the butter, but before mixing in the wet ingredients.
Make Ahead Strategies
These pumpkin scones can be mixed the night before and baked in the morning for an easy breakfast treat. Mix the dough the day before and after shaping the dough into a disk, wrap it and chill in the fridge overnight. The next morning, continue where you left off: divide the dough into wedges and bake, skipping the freezing step since the dough is already cold.
Make All of These Scones!
American Scones English Scones Lemon Scones Cranberry Orange Scones Lemon Blueberry Scones
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, cold 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour 1/2 cup (107g) dark brown sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 cup (170g) canned pumpkin purée 2 large eggs, cold 2 tablespoons whole milk, for brushing 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
For the maple glaze
1 cup (113g) powdered sugar 1/4 cup (60ml) maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
If you don’t have a pastry blender, use the tips of your fingers to work the butter into the flour, pressing and flaking the butter into pea-sized pieces throughout the flour. Use a kitchen knife or a bench scraper to cut the disk into 8 equal-sized triangles. Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them at least 1-inch apart. Did you love the recipe? Leave us stars below!
