Pumpkin Scones

Ahhhh . . . a relaxing Sunday morning breakfast. Coffee, juice, toast, Greek yoghurt with pomegranate seeds, honey, and granola, pumpkin scones, and the NEW features from the New York Times in our Sunday Star. Food for the stomach and the mind.

Fall contines to linger here, holding off the inevitable arrival of snow and ice for awhile longer. For my sake let's hope that fall lingers for a LONG while.

Does any food scream 'FALL' more than a delicious pumpkin baked good? The combination of the orange pumpkin with warm, aromatic spices, is enough to put me over the edge. It doesn't matter if it is a pumpkin muffin, loaf, cookie, pie, or the scones that I whipped up this morning - this is comfort.

These scones are supposed to be similar to the recipe used by Starbucks for their pumpkin scones. I'm not able to compare because I haven't tried the big chain version but I can attest to the fact that the ones whipped up in the decidedly non-big chain kitchen of yours truly were freaking amazing.

These scones are light and fluffy, unlike many scones. Without the glaze they are not sweet at all. With the glaze they are perfect. I decided to gild the lily even further by adding some bits of candied ginger sprinkled on top of the spice glaze.

Pumpkin Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg

Powdered Sugar Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze 
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

1 piece of candied ginger cut into small bits

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.

Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 14-16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

Make powdered sugar glaze... Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.

When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.

Make spiced glaze.... Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

Sprinkle candied ginger over the spice glaze.

Comments

[Kayte]

What a fun breakfast, with the nice placemats in theme, etc. Okay, I am not the biggest pumpkin fan in this world, but those look tasty and that drizzle on the top makes it look tempting indeed. My oh my, tho, did I love that veal recipe you posted on the Hazan blog along site...that looked so fabulous!

[JDeQ]

They are supposed to be like the Starbucks ones but I hereby declare them to be BETTER than the Starbucks ones!