Pumpkin season may be just about over, but don’t let it end before you make a batch of these Pumpkin Scones With Maple Glaze! They’re soft, perfectly spiced with your favorite fall spices, and drizzled with a simple maple powdered sugar glaze. YUM.
Your New Brunch Favorite
Whether you need a new recipe for a holiday brunch or a morning treat to sustain you through all the end of the year festivities, these scones are just the ticket.
One of my favorite things about these scones is that they’re not insanely sweet. I mean, there’s sugar in them for sure, plus some molasses and that maple glaze, so they have a definite sweetness to them. But they’re not tooth-achingly sweet like the ones at a certain big coffee chain. (No shade if you love them, they’re just not my style…though I wouldn’t turn down a pumpkin spice latte😉.)
Another thing I love about these scones is that they’re a perfect cross between American-style and British-style scones.
Generally speaking, British scones are much less sweet than American ones (big surprise there—we love our sweets in the U.S.!). They tend to be more like what we’d think of as a biscuit—relatively light and flakey. American scones, on the other hand, are denser, sweeter, and much more buttery.
Making Your Best Pumpkin Scones
Whichever type of scone you prefer, I think we can all agree that scones should have a good amount of flakiness to them. And the way you get that flaky texture is the same way you get it in pie crust: by working cold butter into a flour mixture. For these scones (and, as far as I’m aware, most scone recipes), you first combine the dry ingredients—flour, leavener, and salt, and spices—then use your hands or a pastry blender to work the cold butter into the flour mixture. Just as in pie crust, you don’t want to work the butter for too long or you won’t get the flakiness you want.
Then, you add your liquid ingredients—in this case, pumpkin, molasses, and milk (any kind of milk will do here). Mix gently, using a wooden spoon or your hands. The mixture will feel dry, but don’t be tempted to add more liquid—you’ll end up with a sticky mess! Just gently knead the mixture in the bowl to get all the dry ingredients to mix in. Then, press the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disc about 3/4″ thick, and cut it into six pieces.
Now comes the next trick for flaky scones—and again, this is similar to pie crust. Refrigerate the scones for at least 10 minutes before baking (I like to pop them in the fridge while the oven preheats). This ensures the butter is nice and chilled, so as it melts during baking it leaves behind little pockets, which give you that flaky goodness you want.
And that, my friends, is all there is to making flaky, delicious scones for your holiday brunch table!
These scones in particular also have a little maple glaze on them. This is optional, but highly recommended. If you don’t have maple syrup, you could just replace it with milk and add a splash of vanilla extract. Or, skip the glaze altogether and sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on the scones before you bake. However you top them, they’ll be delicious!
Looking for More Brunchy Treats?
If you’re looking for more sweet holiday brunch goodies, you might also enjoy having these tasty treats at your table:
- Strawberry White Chocolate Scones
- Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones
- Buckwheat Rhubarb Muffins with Pecan Streusel
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Granola
- Apricot Ginger Granola
- Chocolate Lover’s Granola
Happy baking!
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Pumpkin Scones With Maple Glaze
Ingredients
Pumpkin Scones
- 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1/4 c brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- pinch ground cloves
- pinch ground cardamom, optional
- 6T COLD butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 c pumpkin puree
- 1 T molasses
- 1 T milk
Maple Glaze
- 1/4 c powdered sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/2 T butter, melted
- 1 T pure maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- splash milk, as needed
Instructions
Pumpkin Scones
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- Using your hands, rub the 6T cold butter into the flour mixture until you have pea-sized or slightly larger pieces.
- Add pumpkin, molasses, and milk, mixing gently with a wooden spoon or your hands to combine. Gently knead the mixture to incorporate all the dry ingredients. Note: if the mixture is dry at this point, don't add more liquid (trust me)! It just might take a minute to get all the dry ingredients to incorporate. You should see bits of butter throughout the dough.
- Once all is incorporated, form into a ball and then press into a 3/4" thick disk. Cut disc in half, then cut each half into thirds, making 6 triangles. Place scones onto a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, then set the sheet in the fridge to chill while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 425℉.
- Bake scones for 14-18 minutes, or until there are no wet-looking spots on top and bottoms are golden brown.
- Allow scones to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before adding the glaze.
Maple Glaze
- In a small bowl, combine all ingredients (except the splash of milk), whisking together until completely combined. It should be a drizzly, yet not-too-thin texture. If it seems too thick to drizzle, add a splash of milk.
- Immediately drizzle onto cooled scones. Let the glaze dry for about 10 minutes or so before serving.
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