If you have any leftover cooked pumpkin, you’re well on your way to a delicious plate of these traditional pumpkin scones. In fact, it only takes 35 minutes to make them. After testing in our Test Kitchen, we think these pumpkin scones are lovely on their own, served straight from the oven with a generous pat of butter. But if you want to add an icing or a glaze, that would be delicious as well.
Ingredients
Method
Preheat oven to 240°C/475°F. Lightly grease two 20cm (8-inch) round cake pans.
Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; gradually beat in egg. Transfer mixture to large bowl.
Stir in pumpkin, then dry ingredients and enough milk to make a soft sticky dough. Knead dough quickly and lightly on floured surface until smooth.
Press dough out evenly to 2cm (¾-inch) thickness. Dip 5cm(2-inch) round cutter into flour; cut as many rounds as you can from the piece of dough.
Place scones side by side, just touching, in pan. Gently knead scraps of dough together; repeat pressing and cutting out of dough. Place rounds in pan; brush tops with a little extra milk.
Bake scones about 15 minutes.
Test Kitchen tips
- You will need to cook about 250g pumpkin for this recipe.
- Gently kneading the dough for second cutting helps ensure scones don’t become tough.
- Greased baking paper goes a long way to evenly baked scone bottoms.
5 mistakes to avoid when making pumpkin scones
Scones can be a difficult bake to master – they require specific and carefully selected and treated ingredients and a light touch. So with that in mind, here are five common mistakes to avoid so your pumpkin scones turn out just right.
- Over-mixing the dry ingredients. Over-mixing will activate the starch in the flour and make your pumpkin scones tough. A gentle knead means you won’t overwork the dough, and will leave your scones with a high, even raise and a deliciously cakey texture.
- Twisting the cutter. It can seem easier to twist the cutter to get it out when you’re cutting the dough, but could mean your pumpkin scones rise unevenly. So aim to push it straight down and up, as you would with classic scones.
- Not preheating the oven. Your scones won’t cook at an even temperature if the oven is cold or only warm when you start. So, preheat it for 10 minutes, following the instructions for your oven make and model.
- Not cooking enough pumpkin. You need cooked and mashed pumpkin for these scones, which weighs less than raw pumpkin, so it’s important to factor that into your prep. If you don’t have leftover roast pumpkin, a can of pumpkin puree will do the trick.
- Using old flour. Old or stale flour won’t work as well as fresh flour, could taste different and, in a worst-case scenario, be a health risk. Always check the expiry date and if you’re in doubt, buy new flour.
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