These pumpkin scones are light, flaky, crumbly, and loaded with pumpkin spice flavor! The maple glaze is the perfect icing for a taste of fall! Quick and easy, no need to chill the dough!
This easy pumpkin scones recipe makes light, crumbly scones that rise high every time. They are not too sweet and have the perfect texture.
What's the secret? Believe it or not, we won't use any heavy cream or buttermilk. This way the scones stay flaky, and don't get cakey.
The pumpkin puree provides most of the moisture we need for the scones, so there's no need for extra ingredients. This gives us maximum pumpkin flavor with nothing to water it down.
Want to keep the that delicious pumpkin spice vibe going all season? Try my pumpkin cookies, these chocolaty pumpkin brownies, or my fluffy pumpkin mousse!
Pumpkin scones ingredients
I love to bake scones because you can make most recipes with pantry staples that you probably already have on hand! When spring rolls around you can't go wrong with my strawberry scones and my lemon blueberry scones taste great any time of year.
For the pumpkin scones:
- All purpose flour: Plain old AP flour works just fine.
- Pumpkin pie spice: For ease of use, we'll use pumpkin pie spice to flavor the scones, but if you prefer to create your own blend from spices you have on hand, that is fine, too.
- Dark or light brown sugar: I always prefer dark brown sugar for the intense caramelized flavor it lends to baked goods, but you can absolutely use light brown sugar.
- Baking powder and baking soda: We need both to make these pumpkin scones light and fluffy!
- Unsalted butter: Cold from the freezer!
- Kosher salt: I love a good balance of salty and sweet. It's crucial here.
- Canned pumpkin puree: Make sure you are getting canned pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- Eggs: For this particular scone recipe, we are not using heavy cream, so we need an extra egg for moisture and to hold everything together
- Vanilla: To meld all those fall flavors together!
For the maple glaze:
- Powdered sugar
- Melted unsalted butter
- Pure maple syrup: Make sure you are using pure maple syrup, not the kind with other sugars added.
- Kosher salt
TIP To make your own pumpkin spice blend, combine ยฝ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ยผ teaspoon ground ginger, ยผ teaspoon ground cloves, and ยผ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
How to make pumpkin scones
Step 1: Freeze the butter and mix the dry ingredients
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut your butter into small cubes and place in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes while you gather the other ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
Step 2: Work the butter into the scone dough
Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients and toss to coat.
Then use a pastry blender or your fingers to work the butter into the dough until it is the size of small peas.
Step 3: Add the pumpkin puree and eggs
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin purée together until completely smooth.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the pumpkin mixture into it.
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Step 4: Bring the dough together
Working from the outside edge of the bowl, use a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula to move the flour toward the center and gently mix in the liquid.
A shaggy dough will form. Don't over-mix it or try to get all of the flour coated with wet ingredients yet.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and bring it together with your hands.
Use a bench scraper to turn the dough onto itself a few times until it mostly holds together. This is called laminating the dough. See tips below.
Step 5: Shape the pumpkin scones and bake!
Gently press the scone dough into a ยพ-inch thick circle or square (or square-ish circle) and use the bench scraper or a knife to cut into 8 triangular shaped pieces. Some dry flour may still be visible and that is okay.
Place the scones about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until they are just barely turning golden brown.
Step 6: Make the maple glaze
While the pumpkin scones are baking, add the maple syrup, melted butter, powdered sugar and salt to a small bowl and whisk until all the sugar is incorporated. Set aside.
Step 7: Glaze the scones and serve!
Slide the the parchment paper with the scones still on it onto a rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Drizzle the glaze over the top while they are still warm and serve.
TIP You should have enough glaze to ice the scones completely or just drizzle them, whichever you prefer. Or do half of them iced and half of them drizzled! If the glaze starts to thicken up too much, just pop it into the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it loosens up again.
Expert tips and tricks
- What's the secret to the lightest, fluffiest pumpkin scones? Laminate the dough! You might only think of laminating dough when you make something like puff pastry, but a very simplified version of this technique will also give a lift to your scones! The cold butter gets in between the layers of dough to puff them up! Just gently turn the dough over onto itself a few times with a bench scraper. It's as simple as that! If you don't have one, you could use your hands or a large spatula to do it.
- Don't over-mix the dough. To keep scones tender, handle the dough as little as possible. Just bring it together gently with a wooden spoon and then your hands. Once you bring it into a circle or square, don't worry about making the surface smooth. Those lines and crags will turn into great texture on top!
- Use cold butter and cold eggs! We want those two ingredients to create steam once they hit the hot oven so our pumpkin scones rise as high as possible.
- Is your kitchen hot? There are a few things you can do to keep the scone dough cold. Chill the bowl you're using to mix the dough, chill all the ingredients including the flour, or pop the shaped scones into the freezer for 10 minutes or so before baking. (This last option could lengthen the baking time.)
Variations
There are so many possibilities for variations on this pumpkin scones theme! Try these ideas for add-ins and toppings.
- Add chocolate chips.
- Stir in some dried cranberries.
- Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of the maple glaze for a salty-sweet combo.
- Chop up some candied ginger to add to the dough.
- Instead of the maple glaze, brush the pumpkin scones with milk or cream and top with turbinado sugar before baking them for a crispy, crunchy top.
FAQ
There could be a few reasons. First, make sure your baking soda and baking powder have not expired, these rising agents need to be fresh for tall, flaky pumpkin scones. Second, make sure you are using very cold butter. If the butter is too warm, it will not create the steam needed for the scones to rise once it hits the oven. Finally, did you take a long time to shape and cut the dough in a warm kitchen? Warm scone dough will spread instead of rising.
These pumpkin scones can go straight into the oven, no need to rest the dough. The only reason you might want to chill them before baking is if you feel like the ingredients got too warm when you were mixing and shaping the dough.
More fall baking recipes
- Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake has a beautiful spiral apple design on top and it's about the simplest cake batter you'll ever make.
- Pecan Bars are the perfect blend of salty and sweet and they're highly portable.
- Pecan Cream Cheese Pie is a family favorite for Thanksgiving.
Pumpkin scones are quick, easy, and the perfect treat to celebrate fall!
- They go from mixing bowl, to oven, to eating in about 40 minutes!
- Pumpkin scones are easy to make in one bowl!
- The maple glaze amps up those fall flavors.
- Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack!
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Recipe
Pumpkin Scones Recipe
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Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or make your own blend, see note
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Maple Glaze
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Pumpkin Scones
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients and toss to coat.
- Then use a pastry blender or your fingers to work the butter into the dough until it is the size of small peas.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree together until completely smooth. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the pumpkin mixture into it.
- Working from the outside edge of the bowl, use a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula to move the flour toward the center and gently mix in the liquid. A shaggy dough will form. Don't over-mix it or try to get all of the flour coated with wet ingredients yet.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands. Use a bench scraper to turn the dough onto itself a few times until it mostly holds together. This is called laminating the dough. See tips below.
- Place the scones about 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until they are just barely turning golden brown.
- Slide the the parchment paper with the scones still on it onto a rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Drizzle the glaze over the top while they are still warm and serve.
Maple Glaze
- While the pumpkin scones are baking, add the maple syrup, melted butter, powdered sugar and salt to a small bowl and whisk until all the sugar is incorporated. Set aside until scones have finished baking.
- You should have enough glaze to ice the scones completely or just drizzle them, whichever you prefer. Or do half of them iced and half of them drizzled! If the glaze starts to thicken up too much, just pop it into the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it loosens up again.
Notes
- To make your own pumpkin spice blend, combine ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
- What's the secret to the lightest, fluffiest pumpkin scones? Laminate the dough! You might only think of laminating dough when you make something like puff pastry, but a very simplified version of this technique will also give a lift to your scones! The cold butter gets in between the layers of dough to puff them up! Just gently turn the dough over onto itself a few times with a bench scraper. It's as simple as that! If you don't have one, you could use your hands or a large spatula to do it.
- Don't overwork the dough. To keep scones tender, handle the dough as little as possible. Just bring it together gently with a wooden spoon and then your hands. Once you bring it into a circle or square, don't worry about making the surface smooth. Those lines and crags will turn into great texture on top!
- Use cold butter and cold eggs! We want those two ingredients to create steam once they hit the hot oven so our pumpkin scones rise as high as possible.
- Is your kitchen hot? There are a few things you can do to keep the scone dough cold. Chill the bowl you're using to mix the dough, chill all the ingredients including the flour, or pop the shaped scones into the freezer for 10 minutes or so before baking. (This last option could lengthen the baking time.)
- Scones are best the day they are made, but these will store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
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