Pumpkin Maple Scones
I was recently looking through our archives for pumpkin recipes (yes, I check our own site for inspiration). I couldn’t believe it when I realized we didn’t have a scone, especially after my summer of scone baking madness. I must have made scones every few days for a month. The combination of their ease and the abundance of local fruit had me in the kitchen madly mixing dough. If you follow us on Instagram you probably saw my parade of scone posts. (The white chocolate and raspberry version were my favourite!) But once we got back to the Fall grind, I started onto other baking projects for school lunches and snacks. Not that a scone isn’t a great snack but there’s no way the buttery triangle could stand up to the wilds of Scarlett’s backpack. I’ve seen far sturdier food fold under the abuse of that godforsaken sack. Ever seen what happens to a clementine when it tangles with a pencil case that has cracked open? It’s not pretty.
I think I set out looking for a pumpkin scone on our site for myself. If you’ve been a longtime reader of this blog then you know that I have this thing with the pumpkin scone from Starbucks. Every fall, I can’t wait to get myself the season treat and this year was no different. However, you can imagine when I walked into to my local shop, and there it was but it didn’t look like itself. Instead of a chancy triangle with was a square. Now, I know you’re thinking “What’s the bid deal but this square was smaller than the triangle?” Why change the size, Starbucks? The triangle was the perfect amount of crumbly goodness for my medium size latte. The new version replaced the simple glaze with a thick, sugary frosting. Now, obviously, I realize I’m complaining about a scone here but this first world problem drove me straight into the kitchen. If my old favourite was taken over by a new overly sweet frosting then I was going to make my own.
I lightly sweetened my version with maple syrup and, clearly, made it triangle. It’s not as dense as my old pal at Starbucks but I like its lighter quality. And, while it hasn’t changed the world, it is making my hectic days a bit brighter, one morning at a time.
Photo by Maya Visnyei
Ingredients
- 2 cups spelt flour
- 1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of cloves
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup of buttermilk, plus extra for brushing
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Method
Preheat oven to 400 and place rack in the centre. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper that is lightly dusted with flour.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder,cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Cut the butter into pieces and blend into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives. You can also do this step in a food processor. You want the mixture to look like coarse crumbs.
In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, buttermilk and maple syrup. Add to the flour mixture and blend until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.
Turn the dough out onto the floured baking sheet and gently knead dough five times and then pat dough into a circle that is about 7" wide and 1 to 11/2 inches thick. Cut the dough down the centre from top to bottom, then cut the dough at the centre lengthwise. Cut each quarter in half giving a little space between slices. Brush dough with buttermilk.
Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until scones are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the scones from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Slice along the incisions you made in the dough making sure scones are separated and move each scone to a wire rack to continue to cool.
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We're Ceri and Laura, a couple of magazine-editors-turned-food-bloggers. Also, we're mothers obsessed with delicious, healthy, family food. We're constantly thinking of ways to make your time (and our own!) in the kitchen easier and more productive, but still nostalgic for the days when dinner was cereal eaten over the kitchen sink.
2 Comments
DaddyCooks
October 23, 09:46My 6 year old daughter helped me with this recipe this morning. It was an instant hit! We don’t have spelt flour, but used half whole wheat and half reg. Used some coarse sugar on top too. Will definitely make again!
Laura
October 28, 11:02Hi,
I love that your daughter helped. I hope she helped gobble them up too. I tend to use spelt flour more in my household but for sure ap, whole wheat or a combination work great. Thanks so much for your note.