Pumpkin Spice Scones with Pumpkin Glaze

We love baking scones on weekend mornings; they are an easy pastry that offers endless variation, they have less sugar than other options, and frankly we hate digging muffins out of muffin tins (and cleaning them). Our go-to recipe is from Cook's Illustrated The Best Recipe. We typically make either blueberry or chocolate-raspberry variations, but when fall comes around I love to experiment with pumpkin.

This recipe for pumpkin spice scones has a subtle flavor that won't overpower you but will meet your craving for those yummy fall spices. Other recipes I consulted had lots of brown sugar or molasses, and much more butter. I chose to stick with the key components of the healthier version we usually use, adding spices and pumpkin, and they still tasted great; I also added the glaze on top, so you really don't need more sugar in the scone. I used white whole wheat flour, which I use for most of my baking but can taste dry to some. You could use all purpose flour instead, or go half and half.

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Scones with Pumpkin Glaze

Pumpkin Spice Scones

2 cups all purpose OR white whole wheat flour (or 1 cup each)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is yummy!)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3-4 tablespoons cream or milk

Pumpkin Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin puree

1 -2 tablespoons cream or milk

dash of: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice

To make scones:

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, and spices in a food processor. Blend with 4 or 5 one-second pulses. Drop butter pieces on top of dry mix, spreading out across the top. Blend with 10-12 one second pulses (the mixture should look like wet sand). Pour into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add pumpkin puree and cream or milk (start with 3 tablespoons and adding one more if needed). Stir until just blended and all of the dry ingredients are damp (don't over-stir or be tempted to add more wet ingredients). Turn the dough out onto a floured cutting board and mold into a circular shape, pressing down lightly to create a firm disk. Cut into wedges. Place scones onto baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden on top.

To make glaze:

Blend all ingredients, starting with one tablespoon of cream or milk and adding more only if needed. After scones have come out of the oven, cool for about 5 minutes then drizzle the glaze over the top.

Enjoy!