With the snow falling fast and hard, and after many minutes of deliberation as to whether to leave the house or not, I decided to just hunker in for the night and make scones instead.
These cheerful pumpkin scones warmed up the house with scents of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar as they baked up in the oven. The sugar glaze on top is spiced, too, for double the flavor.
Sprinkled with some chopped pecans over the glaze, these scones look and taste good enough to be cafe-worthy. Take that, Starbucks!
Pumpkin Scones
Yield: 12 scones
Ingredients for scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
5 Tablespoons cold butter
½ cup canned pumpkin
3 Tablespoons half-and-half or milk
1 large egg
Ingredients for glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 – 3 Tablespoons milk
dash of cinnamon
dash of pumpkin spice
dash of ginger
handful of pecans, chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger in a large bowl. Use a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious; set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut each of the portions in an X pattern (four pieces) so you end up with 12 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
4. To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix the powdered sugar, spices and milk together until smooth. Add enough milk until you achieve desired consistency. While scones are still warm, use a brush to spread plain glaze over the top of each scone. Sprinkle on chopped pecans before the glaze sets.
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Happy National Pancake Day!