Pumpkin Scones, Of Course!

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buttery maple glaze, pumpkin scone, pumpkin scone with buttery maple glaze, pumpkin scone with maple glaze, scone

I am always baking scones.

Actually, I’m in LOVE with scones!

I can’t get enough of them.

There are so many possibilities and they are so simple to whip up that I do it mindlessly and without a recipe. It’s kitchen therapy for sure.

So in planning all of my October pumpkin recipe madness, we wouldn’t leave out the humble scone! Here it is! I chose to put a buttery, maple glaze on it because it just sounded so perfect, and really the pumpkin taste was a bit muted so I think I would double the pumpkin puree in it and amp up the spices another half a teaspoon… but all that aside? These were pretty darn great!

Ingredients for scones:

• 2 C flour
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3/4 stick cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 C pumpkin puree
• 1/3 C + 1 TBS heavy cream
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp turbinado sugar (optional for the topping… if you aren’t using glaze)

Preheat the oven to 425F/170C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter, working it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles a coarse meal with bits no larger than peas form.

Blend the egg, pumpkin and cream in a small bowl and then add it to the dry ingredients, tossing it with forks until just combined.

Transfer the shaggy dough to a floured surface and knead a few times, then pat it into a circle and cut it into wedges. I like to use a pizza cutter.

Lightly brush the tops with a tablespoon or two of heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar, or just bake and apply the glaze after the scones have cooled. Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden then cool on a wire rack.

Ingredients for the buttery maple glaze:

• 2 TBS unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 C powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 TBS maple syrup

Mix the butter and sugar with a whisk until smooth and creamy then beat in the maple syrup until completely incorporated then drizzle onto the scones.

Strawberry Vanilla Scones

Tags

scone, strawberry scone, vanilla scone, vanilla sugar

Remember that strawberry kick I was on earlier this summer? It’s back! Mei and I found a display of a few varieties of strawberries on sale at the market and we were drawn to these beautiful, glistening gems – immediately putting two packages in my basket. Then I remembered the little canister of vanilla sugar that I bought while Mei and I were on vacation back in the States a few months ago and I knew immediately what I was going to make… scones!

I just love how the fruit looks in the scone mix...

I decided to macerate the strawberries at room temperature for a half hour with a little sprinkle of sugar so that they would be less tart and it was so hard not to just dig in and eat all the strawberries right then and there! The house was immediately filled with the scent of warm strawberry pancakes and tasted just as great when they came out of the oven!

While the scones were baking, I made up a little bit of vanilla glaze to put on top of some of them and noticed that my flour collection is growing. I used to be one of the occasional home bakers that kept only unbleached, all-purpose flour around but lately, I have a couple of bread flours, two types of cake flour, semolina flour, whole-wheat pastry flour and unbleached all-purpose flour. I am running out of containers to keep them all in, as well as pantry space  but this kitchen, while spacious is compact and lacks storage. I might be getting creative in the coming months to make a place to store all the extra stuff collecting in the kitchen. I also have a lot of toddler plates and whatnot, since Mei is starting to get into eating her own foods but I don’t have a place for any of it and any day now, she will be crawling and getting into everything, which means I have to de-clutter some parts of the house!

who knew these would smell like strawberry pancakes??

Until then, I will just keep baking, cooking and keeping our house smelling great and homey!

What kind of scones strikes your fancy?

Ingredients:

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 TBS vanilla sugar
• 1/2 C (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1-2 C fresh, sliced strawberries
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 C yogurt
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Whisk in the sugar just until combined. Knead in the butter, using your fingertips until it is well incorporated and the mixture starts to clump together to form pea-sized lumps.

Gently fold in the sliced, macerated strawberries, omitting the juices emitted by the macerating process (1/2 hour at room temperature with 1 TBS sugar).

In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt,  (2) eggs, and vanilla until combined. Then sprinkle it into the flour mixture and toss together using a fork. Turn the shaggy dough out onto a floured surface and gently pat and knead until it just comes together, handling the dough as little as possible.

Form two 6 inch rounds on dinner plates and cut into 6-8 triangles with a sharp knife or pizza cutter and place on cookie sheets. Brush the tops with the beaten eggs and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes and serve warm or enjoy later!