Pumpkin Spice Scones

by Laura
Last night, I was in a baking mood (not that surprising for me on a Sunday night) and I wanted to try a recipe I'd never made before.  I love making seasonal items and I'd recently received a request from a colleague at work to make scones, so when I found this recipe on recipegirl.com I knew I'd found the perfect treat.

I followed the recipe closely, but I did add a few notes and suggestions. These are compared by recipegirl.com to Starbucks pumpkin scones and I loooove Starbucks, but the perfect texture and authentic spice flavor of these scones are so much tastier than what you get in their bake case.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Yield: 6 scones (Laura's note: I cut my scones into smaller ones after they cooled and got about 20 petite irregular shaped scones) 

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

SCONES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white 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
1/2 cup canned pure (unsweetened) pumpkin
3 tablespoons half and half cream
1 large egg
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

PLAIN GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tablespoon milk (any kind; Laura's note: I used half and half)

SPICED ICING:
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 to 2 tablespoons milk (any kind; Laura's note: I used half and half)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (Laura's note: I shaved fresh nutmeg!)

pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. (Laura's note: I love using parchment so when given the option, I do!) Give it a light dusting of flour on top of that.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (through ginger).

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half and egg.

4. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter into the dry ingredients. Continue cutting until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (You may also use a food processor for this step. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs).

5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients (Laura's note: this will take a bit, but make sure you do it until it's completely combined!), then form the dough into a ball. The dough will be wet, but if it seems super sticky... just go ahead and sprinkle a little more flour into the dough until it's easier to handle. Remember, you want it to be somewhat sticky, and that's okay- but you also don't want it to stick to the baking sheet. 

6.Pat out dough onto the lightly floured baking sheet and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle that is about 9-inches long and 3-inches wide. 

7.Use a large knife or a pizza cutter (Laura's note: flour your pizza cutter!) to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal squares. Cut through the three squares diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Gently pull the triangles apart, leaving about 1/2-inch space between each one.

8. Bake 14 to 16 minutes on prepared baking sheet. Scones should begin to turn light brown. (Laura's note: I turned mine in the oven half way through.) 

9. While scones are cooling, prepare plain glaze by whisking ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth.

10. When scones are cool, use a knife to cut them apart and then pull them apart so that they are ready for glazing. Use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone. (Laura's note: a spoon will work too) 

11. As the white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by whisking the ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone (or brush it on) and allow the icing to dry before serving.

Source: RecipeGirl.com (Adapted from Top Secret Recipes)

This spicy treat will sure to be a fall time favorite; I know I'm definitely going to be baking this recipe a few times this season and many more to come!