Pumpkin Scones

With Halloween around the corner, it's time to start enjoying everything pumpkin!

Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!  I always get excited this time of year because there are endless things to bake.  To kick off my pumpkin craving, I decided to make scones.  Scones are very easy to make and good for anytime during the day. The beauty of pumpkin is a wet ingredient and gives it's moistness quality, which is perfect for scones.  Scones can be very dry and tough.  The key is to not overmix your dough.  Over-mixing causes more gluten strands to form and you want the least amount because this will give you like a flakey texture.  Biscuits follow the same guidelines.

I searched though several recipes and this one looked very delicious.  Also, when looking for a recipe in general, utilize the items you already have or alter it to fit your needs.  For example, if it calls for 2 tablespoons of half and half, milk is just as good.  I choose this one mainly because I had heavy cream in my refrigerator and it was simple.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon orange/lemon zest (optional)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cold (4 oz or 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

1.  Sift the flour, salt and spices into a large bowl.  Mix in the brown sugar.

2.  In separate bowl, mix the pumpkin puree and the heavy cream together.

3.  Cut the cold butter into pieces.  Add the butter to the sugar/flour mixture.  Use your hands or pastry blender until you get coarse crumbs and the mixture starts to come together.

4.  Pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture.  Mix with a spatula, wooden spoon, or with your hands (use flour on your hands, this will allow you get the dough off).  Mix until it almost comes together and put it onto a floured surface.  Only knead the dough a couple times and shape into a circle or desired shape and size for cutting.  Place onto a sheet pan with parchment paper.  

5.  Bake at 375 degrees or 350 degrees in a convection oven.  Bake until firm and golden around the edges.  Allow them come to room temperature and ice you want.

Things to take in consideration:

• Cutting -  When shaping and cutting scones, there are two basic shapes you can use: rectangles or circles.  Form the desired shape and flatten to about a 3/4 inch thickness.  Use a knife to cut them into triangles.  If the dough is too sticky to cut, put the dough into the freezer for a few minutes.
• Icing -  When the scones are cooled, it's now time to ice them.  I like to keep my icing simple with powered sugar and water.  Sift the powdered sugar and add a little bit of water at a time to get the right consistency.  If you don't have pastry bags, you can use a plastic ziplock bag and cut one of the ends off.  

Enjoy!