Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Pumpkin Glaze
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Inspired by Starbucks’ famous pumpkin scones, these breakfast treats are packed with pumpkin flavor.
Inspired by Starbucks’ famous pumpkin scones (only better, imho), these bronze beauties are packed with pumpkin flavor and lavishly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. The addition of molasses and pumpkin makes them more tender than your typical scones, almost like pumpkin bread in scone form.
The spiced pumpkin glaze adds just the right amount of sweetness, as the scones themselves aren’t overly sweet, and really drives the pumpkin flavor home. Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients; it’s really just a lot of spices, and many of the ingredients are used twice — once in the scones and again in the glaze.
Table of Contents
“These are even better than Starbucks! The scones have amazing pumpkin pie flavor and are so light in texture!”
What You’ll Need To Make Pumpkin Scones
- Canned Pumpkin Purée: Provides moisture and pumpkin flavor. Make sure to purchase 100% pure pumpkin — not pumpkin pie filling.
- Egg: Adds richness and helps bind the scone ingredients together.
- Heavy Cream: Enhances moisture and the fat in heavy cream ensures a tender texture.
- Molasses: Adds depth and richness to the flavor profile. Avoid blackstrap molasses as it will add a bitter flavor to the scones.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides structure to the scones. Measure it by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off to ensure accuracy.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness and contributes to a moist texture.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Act as leavening agents for rise and fluffiness.
- Ground Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, and Nutmeg: These spices add warm, spicy flavor notes characteristic of pumpkin treats.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Provides sweetness and adds thickness to the glaze that tops the scones.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the pumpkin, heavy cream, egg, molasses, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
Whisk to combine and set aside.
Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse until evenly combined.
Add the chunks of cold butter.
Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized chunks of butter within. Those little chunks of butter are important and will render light and flaky scones.
Add the pumpkin mixture.
And pulse until the dough comes together. It will be sticky, and you should still be able to see some chunks of butter.
Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, then dust the top of the dough with flour.
Gently knead the dough into a smooth ball, then divide in half.
Form each half into 5-inch circles, about 3/4-inch thick.
Cut each circle into six wedges.
Place the scones on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden.
Let cool for about 15 minutes on the baking sheet. Meanwhile, make the glaze: combine the confectioners’ sugar, pumpkin purée, water, and spices in a medium bowl.
Whisk until the glaze is smooth. It should be thick.
Spoon the glaze over top of the scones, letting it drip a bit down the sides.
Let sit for about 30 minutes for the glaze to set, then serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure, although the mixture of spices in pumpkin pie spice is not an exact match (pumpkin pie spice sometimes includes allspice), it’s fine to replace the spices in the scones and glaze with pumpkin pie spice. Just replace the individual spices with an equal amount of pumpkin pie spice, so in this case, you’ll need 1 tablespoon for the scones and 1 teaspoon for the glaze.
Definitely! If canned pumpkin isn’t available where you live, or you’d just prefer to use fresh, that’s not a problem. For baking, the most flavorful pumpkins are smaller than those typically associated with Jack-O-Lanterns. They’re usually in the 4 to 8-pound range and are referred to as sugar, cooking, or pie pumpkins. This detailed piece from King Arthur Flour provides guidance on how to convert a whole pumpkin into purée that can be used in any of my pumpkin baked goods, pumpkin butter, or pumpkin soup.
The scones are best served fresh on the day they are made but will keep well in a covered container for two days.
Yes, the dough and the baked scones can be frozen for up to 3 months. If freezing the dough, put the dough wedges on a baking sheet, let set in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer, allowing a few extra minutes in the oven. To freeze them after baking, let the scones cool completely and store in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the scones from the container, let them come to room temperature, and glaze after defrosting. If you have the option to freeze the scones before or after baking them, you will get the best results if you freeze them before baking.
Note: This scone portion of this recipe is based on a popular copycat recipe for Starbucks’ pumpkin scones that’s all over the Internet, but I’ve changed the method and recipe a bit. The Starbucks’ version has two thin glazes: plain and pumpkin. This version has a single thick pumpkin glaze, which is easier to make and packs much more pumpkin flavor.
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Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Pumpkin Glaze
Inspired by Starbucks’ famous pumpkin scones, these breakfast treats are packed with pumpkin flavor.
Ingredients
For the Scones
- ½ cup canned pumpkin purée (I use Libby's)
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon molasses, such as Grandma's Original
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with knife, plus more for dusting
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 stick (½ cup) cold unsalted butter
For the Glaze
- 1½ cups Confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons canned pumpkin purée
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, egg, heavy cream, molasses, and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Process for about 20 seconds to combine; be sure no lumps of brown sugar remain.
- Cut the cold butter into ½-inch chunks. Add to the food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal – it should look unevenly crumbly with some pea-size chunks of butter within. Add the pumpkin mixture and pulse just until the mixture comes together. The dough will be very sticky, and you should still be able to see some pea-size clumps of butter.
- Lightly flour a countertop or work surface. Dump the sticky scone dough onto the floured surface and dust the top lightly with more flour. Using your hands, gently knead the dough until it comes together into a smooth ball. Divide the dough in half. Dust your work surface with flour again and form each half into a 5-inch circle, about ¾-inch thick. Using a sharp knife dusted with flour, slice each circle into 6 even wedges (cut each circle in half, then cut each half into thirds). If the dough starts to stick to the knife, dust the knife with more flour. Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes. To see if they are done, peek at the bottoms; they should be slightly browned. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the Confectioners' sugar, pumpkin, water, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg until smooth. The glaze should be thick.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the glaze over each scone, letting it drip a bit down the sides. Wait about 30 minutes for the glaze to set, then serve.
- Note: The scones are best served fresh on the day they are made but will keep well in a covered container for two days.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Put the dough wedges on a baking sheet, let set in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking, let the scones cool completely and store in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the scones from the container and let them come to room temperature. (For best results, glaze after defrosting.) **If you have the option to freeze the scones before or after baking them, you will get the best results if you freeze them before baking.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 scone
- Calories: 261
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 41g
- Sugar: 23g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Sodium: 193mg
- Cholesterol: 41mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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These scones were amazing! It will be an addiction this Autumn.
I have a question in regards of the copycat link you posted… is this the actual recipe from their website? Or you adapted it? Their video looks exactly like the same recipe but without using the food processor and a bit more brown sugar.
Either way, I have already made them twice!
Thank youuuu!
Sara
Glad you like them, Sara! Yes, from what I recall, the scone recipe is the same – I made some minor adjustments to the glaze.
These scones are incredible!! If I wanted to make the dough the night before, would you still suggest freezing the unbaked scones or could I put the dough in the fridge overnight?
Hi Kate, You can refrigerate overnight. So glad you like them!
These were delicious; however, they didn’t rise nor have the tenderness one usually finds in scones. Perhaps my baking powder was old? Also, I live at 7600′. That might also have been another issue. I look forward to hearing your comments. Bottom line: I put them in the freezer so that I didn’t eat them all. Addictive.
Yes, Sherri, take a peek at your baking powder to see how old it is as that can have an impact. It’s more likely, though, that the elevation was a factor. Unfortunately, I don’t have any wisdom to share regarding baking at high altitudes, but maybe these tips will help a bit.
I have made this recipe several times. It’s simple and tastes great.
Hi Jen,
Can I replace the molasses (I don’t have any) by honey?
Thanks!
Sure, Marine – that’s fine.
I replaced the molasses with real maple syrup – worked great!
Two questions about the glaze:
(1) Can I substitute the confectioners sugar with regular sugar? Feeling lazy about making a special grocery trip just for confectioners sugar.
(2) Is the glaze sticky? Id like to gift these scones but I’m worried they’ll get soggy if they’re not eaten immediately and that I won’t be able to stack the scones on top of each other in the gift bag.
Thank you!
Hi Val, I wouldn’t use regular sugar in place of the confectioners’ for the glaze. And the glaze is a bit sticky so the scones are really not stackable — sorry! If you’d like a pumpkin-flavored option that you can gift others, these muffins would be perfect!
Made this recipe several times and it is now my favorite pumpkin scone recipe. Easy to follow the recipe with excellent results.
Perfect texture. I made them exactly as instructed, and everything turned out beautiful. The glaze set nicely and complemented the scone very well. The powdered sugar on top set them off, and my dad said they looked professional, like they could have come from the bakery. Thank you!
I reviewed this recipe yesterday and gave it 4 stars. The glaze seemed very thick, spicy and sweet to my taste right after I made them. Today I have to change my review to 5 stars. As I left the house with most of the scones yesterday, my husband said, with a sad puppy look on his face, “You’re taking those away?” Then the ladies at my meeting raved and raved about them. When I got home, I tasted one again and it was perfect! I don’t know what happened but they tasted better a few hours after baking.
The scones came out great, with just the right amount of spice. The glaze seemed very sweet and spicy to me. It was also quite thick, more of a frosting than a glaze, but it looked just like the picture, so I think it did it right. For me, they would be fine with a thinner glaze or just a drizzle of the spicy one. My husband loved them without any glaze at all. I will definitely make them again.
THis is a good recipe but quite spiced up—larger amounts of spices than I put on my pumpkin pie! So the second time I baked it I cut the spices down: 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2tsp grd ginger, 1/4tsp grd cloves, 1/2tsp grd nutmeg. I also made 18 s ones as the 12 scones are very generous!!s
These are fantastic- and so easy to assemble and freeze for that day unexpected guests arrive (as they did last weekend)- I actually freeze a stick of butter and then grate it in the food processor before adding it to the dry ingredients, making it very easy to have small pieces of butter throughout. Your recipes haven’t let me down yet- delicious!
These are delish. I don’t have a food processor so hesitated, because cutting in butter with two knives is always tedious. But I improvised and used the whisk attachment from my kitchen-aid (held in my hand) to act as a pastry blender. Worked great and allowed me to make a batch of these really quickly. Even after a couple of days the last ones were still delicious.
Fantastic recipe! And so fast and easy to put together- I froze them after making so I could bake this weekend.
These are delicious. Not the typical scone texture – more cakelike (probably because of the pumpkin), but so tasty. I don’t have a food processor, so I used a pastry blender to cut in the butter, making sure I left some pea-sized pieces. I stirred in wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until it formed a dough. The only alteration I made was to omit the cloves (I don’t like cloves). Followed everything else exactly. Frosted half for kids & left half plain for adults. Love these. Will be making them again.
Made these twice now and love this recipe. Thank you for sharing. And I freeze half the dough (in a circle cut into wedges), for a later bake. Still delish. I did add a little heavy cream to the 1st batch’s glaze. For the 2nd batch glaze I added a bit of vanilla and no cream. Liked both results.
really good! moist. the glaze was actually pretty spicy. good, though. just unexpected. didn’t take too long, either.
Just made these for my friends! Outstanding recipe. I followed it to the letter and they came out perfectly. Thank you so much!
Though delicious, this was the first recipe on this site that did not work 100% perfectly for me! The glaze is really an icing and never sets, and the powdered sugar immediately melts upon contact, making them rather ugly. Next time I will either embrace the pumpkin icing and not add the sugar, or use a thinner glaze. They are seriously delicious though!
These scones are amazing. The first time I made them I left off the glaze because I thought they would be too sweet. The second time I glazed them. My advice is to use the glaze! My husband loves them!! I will never buy another Starbucks pumpkin scone. Thanks for the great recipe.
Wonderful recipe! Thanks so much for your amazing baked goodies. My friends get a chuckle that I love to bake but they stand in line to sample the yummy goodies. This pumpkin scone makes your mornings with a cup of fresh brewed coffee a little oasis.
I have my second batch in the oven right now! I don’t have a food processor, and I always have difficulty cutting the butter enough (even when I start with what I think are small chunks), so this time I put the butter in the freezer for a few minutes, then used it on the wide side of a grater. It was super easy to mix together! I needed a bit more flour than I expected when I kneaded the dough, but otherwise, they’ve come together beautifully! I can’t wait to take them to my staff in the morning!
Hi Jenn. Just to let you know, I made the scones with sweet potatoes today.
It came out very well, added chopped walnuts too. Thank you. I have baked your lemon pound cake and its fantastic, very tasty .
Keja, Thanks for reporting back– so glad they turned out well!
Thks for the review. I was just thinking of making sweet potato scones.
Jenn, can I try these scones using sweet potato. Will it turn out well?
I assume you’re saying that you’d like to replace the pumpkin with sweet potato– if that’s the case, I haven’t tried it but I think it should work. I’d love to hear how they turn out if you make them this way!
This turned out nicely! I used a mixer instead of a food processor and with no previous scone making experience I was relieved with the beautiful outcome.
Turned out wonderfully! Simply delicious. Everyone loved them.
Am I missing something? What temperature is the oven supposed to be set at to make these pumpkin scones with spiced pumpkin glaze?
The oven should be set to 400°F. (It doesn’t show up in the picture section of the recipe but down below in the actual “recipe” section.
These are delectable! I think it’s very interesting what you did adding pureed pumpkin to the glaze. I don’t know if I would have thought of that, but perhaps a maple glaze. I’ve done something similar by tweaking a copycat recipe for Starbucks’ petite vanilla scones, which I LOVE (and I totally wouldn’t mind seeing your take on those either).
In the past I’ve also modified it to make chocolate scones with dried cherries, and heart shaped pink strawberry scones. For that one, I didn’t add pureed strawberry to the glaze, but I did add some of the juice from the berries.
Delicious scones. My kids and I really like them. I just use a basic buttercream icing on top. I was sceptical of freezing the scones, but even after 2 months in the freezer they baked up beautifully. Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
FANTASTIC- just made them! I am a Starbucks pumpkin scone fanatic. I get so bummed when they take them off of the menu (off season). I will not buy their scones again after eating these. I’m so HAPPY
I loved the flavor of this recipe! I brought them to a Halloween party. Both adults and kids liked them. I could only give this 4 stars because I had a few challenges getting the dough and glaze to work. My dough was very sticky and my glaze was rock solid not nearly as thin as your pictures represent. I followed the recipes exactly. I wondered if you cut the 3 T of heavy cream out of the very sticky dough and added it to the glaze that both would work better. Has anyone else had similar experience?
Hi Jennifer,
I discovered your website while I was searching for a recipe for Pumpkin Scones. Wow! Your recipe was the bomb. I made these last Saturday, and I had to put them in the freezer(by the way, they freeze beautifully even after baking and glazing) for fear of devouring all 12. My husband loves them.
I am looking forward to making your Pumpkin Loaf next. I am currently Pumpkin Obsessed.
Wonderful website! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and recipes.
Susan
Thanks for the wonderful feedback, Susan! So happy you and your husband enjoyed the scones.
Made your pumpkin muffin (so good), and I definitely plan on baking the pumpkin scones soon, but I just made soft pumpkin cookies and wondered if you think the pumpkin glaze would work on cookies?
Hi Molly, I do think it would work.
what size can of pumpkin plz??
Hi Susan, You’ll need a 15-ounce can.
A simple recipe that was enjoyed by many!!
An easy, flavorful recipe. Having never made scones before, I was a little intimidated, but the step-by-step instructions with photos really helped clear up any questions I had along the way (and this has been true with other recipes I’ve tried from this blog). The one tiny snafu was the icing at the end. For some reason, mine turned out to be too thin and never quite hardened. Maybe more sugar? Otherwise they were fantastic and I’d definitely give them another go!
Hi Rob, Yes, more sugar would do trick 🙂
Can I use can pumpkin or pumpkin puree for this recipe? I see a picture of can pumpkin but the recipe states to use puree.
Thanks
Your website is great.
Hi Shell, Thanks for catching that – it should be pure pumpkin.
Looking at the pictures you have a can of Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin but the recipe states puree’.
Can you let me know which one to use?
Hi Shell, Use Libby’s 🙂
can I substitute sour cream or whole milk if I don’t have any heavy cream on hand?
Hi Tara, Whole milk should work, but the scones won’t be quite as tender.
I have a question. If I cut them smaller to make 8 pieces instead of 6, how would that affect the baking time? How much should I reduce it to for 8 pieces?
Hi Penny, Baking time would be slightly less; just check it a few minutes early. Enjoy 🙂
Ourfirst Fall rain…I just had to make these!
Excellent!
I. Doubled the recipe and froze half.
I made one change, I exchanged one cup of rice flour for one cup of regular flour in the doubled recipe. (This is a great tip when making shortbread as well, about 1/4exchange) My my my…extremely tender and light…great flavor, the glaze was perfect! Great recipe too. I also used my hands to blend the butter into the flour, worked great.
This is the first recipe from you that I have tried, thank you for sharing.
I made these scones and they disappeared right before my eyes! Not only did the entire house smell wonderful while they baked, the taste was outstanding. Very moist scones and the glaze put them over the top!
I made this recipe in the fall and loved them! Soft and flavorful they went fast. Now that the summer berries are ripe do you have a recipe for a raspberry or blue berry scone recipe?
Thanks!
Hi Tara, I will add blueberry scones to my list for summer. Meanwhile, you can make my Light and Tender Cream Scones and add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the batter and about 1 cup of blueberries. If you try it, please let me know how they turn out 🙂
I made the pumpkin scones along with the pumpkin pecan crunch muffins, both were so delicious! Like a previous reviewer, I loved the pumpkin scones so much I haven’t stopped thinking about them. I will definitely make them again! I didn’t use my processor and used my fingers to blend the dry ingredients and after adding butter, I again used my hands to blend and it worked perfectly. The next time I will wait longer for the glaze to set before I add the powdered sugar. The best!
These are SO good. I am so glad I tried making them. My husband and I have not stopped thinking about them since we (okay I!) finished the last one. Definitely will be coming back to this recipe. Thank you so much!
My search for the perfect pumpkin scone has ended! These are light, but moist with the perfect amount of spice. I look forward to baking my way through many more of your recipes. Happy Holidays!!
These looks delicious! I was looking for pumpkin recipe I could freeze and have it for guess over Thanksgiving. Can I freeze these scones?
Hi Sandra, Scones freeze beautifully. You want to freeze them unbaked. They can go directly from the freezer to the oven; just allow a few min. extra baking time. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn, just stumbled across you website yesterday and made these pumpkin scones. They were very easy to make and extremely delicious! I prefer the thicker frosting and the pumpkin flavor was spot on. Can’t wait to try another recipe.
absolutely the best pumpkin scone I have ever made! My family devoured them! Thanks for sharing.
Just found this site this morning , wow I’m loving what I see so far. it’s so nice to have step by step instruction, with photos, and finished product.
I do not have afood processor, can I still make these?
Hi Mary Lee, Yes, you can mix the dry ingredients with your fingers (be sure there are no lumps of brown sugar), use a pastry cutter or two butter knives to “cut in” the butter, then stir in the wet ingredients with a spoon.