These Pumpkin Scones are so much better than the Starbucks version. They’re moist, perfectly spiced and (bonus) they make your house smell DELICIOUS while they bake!
Pumpkin is incredible. Seriously. Not only is it a nutrition powerhouse (full of fibre and beta carotene), it is ridiculously versatile. Is there anything this vegetable can’t do? Soups, donuts, pie, risotto, muffins, waffles, ice cream… and now scones.
I always feel excitement when I crack open that first can of pumpkin puree come fall! If you’re a pumpkin lover, don’t go another minute without making these Pumpkin Scones topped with a Vanilla Glaze. Perfect with a hot coffee or tea on a crisp fall morning. Bake extras to share with friends and neighbours for an instant uptick in your popularity. You’re welcome.
What Types of Pumpkins Can You Eat?
Not all pumpkins are meant to be cooked. The standard Halloween decorating pumpkins are in this category – they are tasteless when cooked, so don’t use the carving pumpkins for eating! If you are wanting to purchase pumpkins for cooking and baking, look specifically for a sugar pumpkin or a pumpkin that indicates it is for baking and cooking at the grocery store. When purchasing pumpkin puree make sure that you aren’t buying pumpkin pie filling!
Easy Pumpkin Recipes
I mean, is it even fall if you aren’t stocking up on pumpkin puree?! From Pumpkin Pie to Pumpkin Muffins and even Coconut Pumpkin Soup, there are so many ways, both sweet and savoury, to use pumpkin! Most recipes that call for butternut squash can use pumpkin. But note that not all raw pumpkins are created equal when it comes to baking.
Tips for a Perfect Pumpkin Scone
- Use cold butter.
- Don’t over-mix the dough! When you add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix gently until combined.
- Sprinkle with sugar or a drizzle of glaze once cooled for added sweetness, only if desired.
Reduced Sugar Scones
Some mistakes were meant to be. I’m sure there is a wise quote about this, but I’m at a loss for what that would be. In any case, I made a batch of these the other day and completely forgot to add the sugar… and they were still awesome! While they taste best as-written, you can feel free to omit or reduce the sugar in the scones or use a sugar substitute designed for baking.
Scone Recipes
I am no stranger to scones! Another great fall recipe are these Apple Cinnamon Scones or these always delicious Raspberry Lemon Scones. If you’re looking for a plain biscuit to dunk into a bowl of soup, try this classic biscuit recipe or go next level with my Cheddar Garlic Chive Biscuits.
Pumpkin Scones
Pumpkin Scones
Pumpkin is incredible. Seriously. Not only is it a nutrition powerhouse (full of fibre and beta carotene), it is ridiculously versatile. Is there anything this vegetable can't do? Soups, donuts, pie, risotto, muffins, ice cream…and scones of course!
Ingredients
For the Scones
- 1 egg
- ¼- 1/3 cup milk
- ¾ cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter cubed
For the Vanilla Glaze
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 2-4 teaspoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the Scones
-
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
-
Crack the egg into a 1 cup glass measure, mix well with a fork. Add the milk to the ½ cup mark and mix well again. Transfer to a medium bowl and whisk in the pumpkin puree and the vanilla and set aside.
-
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, blend in the cold butter until it is the size of peas. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and mix together with a fork until just combined. Avoid over-mixing it as they will get tough!
-
On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough together in a circle (approximately 10-12" diameter). Transfer the disc of dough to a sheet of parchment paper and using a sharp knife, gently cut the scones into 8 wedges, keeping the shape of the circle intact.
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Transfer the parchment paper and scones to a baking sheet and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until they are lightly browned. Transfer to a baking rack to cool. Once completely cooled, drizzle with Vanilla Glaze if you wish.
For the Vanilla Glaze
-
Whisk together glaze ingredients, starting with 2 teaspoons of milk and adding just enough more to reach a thick glaze, and drizzle over cooled scones.
Will make these for your Dad at the cabin – it’ll be a great treat for these cold frosty mornings! Thanks Tori
These are delicious! Thanks for another amazing recipe!! ❤️
Thanks Lori! So happy you liked them!
I’ve never been interested in cooking since I’ve always been nervous to screw up a recipe and waist the food. I’m making my 3rd recipe in a week from your blog! I love it. It’s easy to follow and I feel like I’m making healthy cooking 🙂
Thanks a ton for sharing these,
Merry Christmas to your family!
Another fabulous recipe and easy to make! Instead of the glaze I added a sugar on top. So yum! Thank you!
Can’t wait to try these!!
Enjoy!
Any chance an egg replacer would work in this recipe? Little one w an egg allergy over here. Thanks so much in advance!
Hi Laura, yes someone tried that and it worked! Enjoy! Tori
DELICIOUS WITH GLUTEN FREE FLOUR AS WELL!
I absolutely loved these pumpkin scones! I made them with Pamelas GF cup for cup flour and egg replacer and they turned out great! I will definitely make again.
That’s so good to know thank you Debbie!!! So happy you loved them!!! Tori
Can you share the details with me? I need a gluten free and egg free version!
I made these over the weekend with my daughter and they were so delicious. We will be adding these to our regular rotation of baking! Thanks for another wonderful recipe
Just checking… in the ingredient listing for the glaze, milk is listed as tsp but tbsp is listed in the instructions.
Looking for clarification.
Recipe is delicious!
Hi Tori! What’s your favorite flour brand to use? I just had almond flour on hand and it didn’t work out. I’ll have to try again with regular flour.
Hi Claire! I love the One Organic Farm one it is lovely, but I also do love the Roger’s unbleached flour that is milled right here in the Okanagan! Yes, Almond flour would be too dense unfortunately.
Delicious! A perfect treat for a cozy fall day! Thank you 🙂
These look amazing but I’m a newly diagnosed Diabetic. Do you happen to know the nutritional information, specifically the carbs, for these? Or have any sugar alternate / diabetic friendly suggestions to alter thr recipe? Thanks!
Good morning Carmen! I actually accidentally didn’t put sugar in them and they were still great! You could alternately use a sugar substitute – sorry I didn’t do the nutrition calculation on these yet! Tori
Hi Tori!
Wondering if I could swap out regular milk for almond and flax for the egg. I’m vegan and want to try these this weekend!
Thanks 🙂
Hey Katherine! Sorry for the delay here. I think it would work! I didn’t try it in this recipe, but I have done these swaps in the past. Let me know how it goes!
Wondering if using oat milk and vegan butter for these would work? Little one with Dairy allergy.
Looks like others in the comments have tried and enjoyed it!!
I made these for Thanksgiving dinner and they were a hit! I had 4 different family members ask for the recipe! I happily sent them the link to your blog.
Thank you Tori, every recipe I make of yours is always perfection.
The neighbourhood loved these!
I made them vegan!
Will definitely be keeping this recipe!
Thanks os much Pauline! Also great to hear it works vegan. xx Tori
I made these with 4 year-old. We both think they are delicious and they were not overly sweet which is great. My husband found them to be quite delicious too. I always love a good scone.
Made these for my family and everyone LOVED them!
I made these today and found the dough very wet. I double checked my ingredients as it seemed like it needed a lot more
Flour. The dough stuck to the floured counter so I transferred the dough to parchment and added more flour so I could pat it into a disc.
Has anyone else had this issue? Also my glaze is dark from the vanilla. Assume others used a light vanilla? They taste good but feel they needed abit more salt. Sorry, not my favourite recipe based off this first attempt.
I Laura,
Sorry for the delay in responding! My dough was wet/soft too but dusting with flour was all it needed to prevent it from sticking. I used regular vanilla for the glaze in the photos but perhaps your vanilla is just darker than mine? Thanks for your feedback! Tori
I found mine quite wet as well. But I used my own pumpkin puree that isn’t as thick as store bought. I added an extra 1/3c flour and just shaped it on the parchment. And my glaze was quite dark as well but delicious none the less!
Glad they turned out! Yes, using homemade puree would make them more moist but should still work!
I made these 2 nights in a row because the first batch was quickly gobbled up and the kids were begging for more! Such an easy and delicious recipe. I added a few tbsp of softened cream cheese to the glaze to cut the sweetness and it was amazing!
Amazing to hear! Thanks Naomi! That glaze sounds wonderful. xx Tori
Hi, Tori
These are tasty and quite easy but I found they tasted a little like baking powder when eating them. I added a tablespoon but is it supposed to be 1 tsp?
Hi Charlotte thanks for the note! The recipe is correct, I’m sorry to hear that yours weren’t as you hoped. I wish I could help explain it – you used baking powder not soda yes? That’s the only thing I could think of but you could try reducing it next time I just haven’t tested it that way!
My daughter and I made these on Sunday and she’s already asking to make them again. The whole family loves them!
Can these be frozen?or… for how many days in the fridge?
Hi Carol for sure. You can keep them up to a week in the fridge.
Made these today and they are SUPERB! I added the full amount of sugar as I always follow a recipe to the T the first time around. I agree these COULD be delish with less, but they’re pretty spectacular as is! House smells divine, too!!! Will make these again!
Hey Heather! I am thrilled you enjoyed these scones!
Thank you so much for taking the time to review the recipe. xo Tori
I love baking but for whatever reason, have always shied away from making scones. This recipe turned out amazingly!! Absolutely delicious and I agree, they are way better than Starbucks! Thank you!
We made these two weekends in a row because they were sooo good! The kiddos inhaled them. The perfect texture and spice to sweet ratio, another great recipe Tori, thank you!
Thanks so much Preeti! That makes me so happy!
I really appreciate you taking the time to review the recipe, it means so much to me. I’m thrilled it was a hit with the kiddos!
xo Tori
These are fabulous! I made them with gluten free flour and they turned out amazing.
Definitely making them again!
Thanks so much Betty! I am so happy they turned out amazing! xx Tori
I’ve made these twice now and both times they were super wet. I couldn’t lift them once I turned out the dough. I double checked my ingredients and made again and still so wet. Anyone else? I used homemade pumpkin but I ensured I drained the water.