Pumpkin Scones
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Tender, warmly spiced, and topped with a sweet pumpkin glaze, these homemade pumpkin scones are a fall favorite.
Inspired by the pumpkin scones Starbucks used to sell, this pumpkin scone recipe is packed with pumpkin flavor and warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Pumpkin purée and a touch of molasses make the scones especially tender—almost like pumpkin bread in scone form.
The spiced pumpkin glaze adds just the right amount of sweetness and an extra boost of pumpkin flavor. And don’t be put off by the long ingredient list; it’s mostly spices, many of which are used in both the scones and the glaze.
If you’re a scone lover, be sure to try my cream scones, blueberry scones and butterscotch pecan scones for more flavors.
“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: Adds moisture and pumpkin flavor to both the scones and the glaze. Be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced. For more ways to use up the can, check out my favorite pumpkin recipes.
- Egg & Heavy Cream: Add richness and moisture and help give the scones their tender texture.
- Molasses & Vanilla Extract: Molasses adds a subtle caramel-like depth that complements the pumpkin and warm spices; vanilla rounds out the flavor. Avoid blackstrap molasses, which is too strong and bitter here.
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides the structure for the scones. For the most accurate measurement, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off rather than scooping directly from the bag.
- Unsalted Butter: Gives the scones their rich, buttery flavor and flaky texture. Keep it cold until you’re ready to use it; cold butter creates little pockets of steam as the scones bake, helping them rise and form flaky layers.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Sweetens the scones and adds moisture and a deeper caramel flavor.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Give the scones lift and help them bake up light and tender.
- Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves & Nutmeg: The warm spices that give the scones their classic pumpkin-spice flavor. They’re used in both the dough and the glaze. (You can sub an equal amount of pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.)
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Forms the base of the pumpkin glaze and gives it a smooth, pourable consistency.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Pumpkin Scones
Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients. Combine the pumpkin, heavy cream, egg, molasses, and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until evenly combined.
Step 3: Cut in the butter. AAdd the cold butter and pulse until the mixture looks crumbly, with some pea-sized pieces of butter still visible. Those little pockets of butter help the scones bake up light and flaky.
Step 4: Mix everything together. Add the pumpkin mixture and pulse just until the dough comes together. It will be quite sticky, and you should still see a few pieces of butter—don’t overmix.
Step 5: Form the scones. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and dust the top with a little flour. Gently knead it just enough to bring it together, then divide it in half. Shape each half into a 5-inch round and cut into six wedges.
Step 6: Bake. Arrange the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until set and lightly browned on the bottoms, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes.
Step 7: Make the glaze. Combine the confectioners’ sugar, pumpkin purée, water, and spices in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth—it should be thick.
Step 8: Glaze the scones. Spoon the glaze over the scones, letting some drip down the sides. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
More Pumpkin Recipes For Fall
Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
For the Scones
- ½ cup canned pumpkin purée, such as 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, plus more for dusting
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (packed) 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
- ½ cup (1 stick) 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 (205°C). 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-in (13-mm) 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-in (13-cm) circle, about ¾-in (2-cm) 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.
Notes
- The scones are best served fresh on the day they are made, but will keep well in a covered container for two days.
- Freezing 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
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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I made these for the first time and they were honestly a little dry. Since it was my first time making scones it could have been because of something I did wrong possibly with letting my butter get too soft. Letting the butter get too soft, I believe, might have been the reason my dough wasn’t thick enough and I had to first refrigerate it before baking. I didn’t use the icing from this recipe and instead used a basic vanilla icing which added a little moisture. Overall, they are good and I do believe I messed up the recipe in the aspect of it being a little dry. My only con about this recipe is for a pumpkin scone, they are not super flavorful of pumpkin. I don’t know if the other spices in the recipe simply overpower the pumpkin or there isn’t enough pumpkin purée in the recipe.
I enjoy the scone itself but the glaze not so much. I did not like the canned pumpkin in the glaze.
Great recipe and tips! I don’t have a food processor so pulsed the dough (butter and dry ingredients) with a hand mixer and then finished off with a fork to get the pea-sized consistency. Worked perfectly. Everyone who had them is raving! I used a different glaze from another recipe so can’t speak for that.
These pumpkin scones were good, although my personal preference is a little less spice, as I think too many spices hide the pumpkin flavor. I may even try honey instead of molasses next time.
My disappointment was with the glaze recipe. I like to weigh ingredients when I bake. The recipe says to use 92 grams of pumpkin purée for the glaze. I was in a hurry and it wasn’t until after I added the 92 grams of pumpkin and mixed it up that I realized how off that measurement is. There is no way that 3 tablespoons of pumpkin purée weighs 92 grams (should probably be half that, more like 45 grams of pumpkin purée). Very frustrating. I ended up having to just throw it out and start over measuring out 3 T. instead of going by weight, which was not only a waste of ingredients but also really inconvenient to have to re-make when I was already running short on time. Oh well. People seemed to like them in the end.
Hi Alex, Glad you enjoyed them overall and sorry you had a problem with the glaze — you’re right — the metric conversion for the pumpkin puree is wrong — I’m sorry! I’ve just changed it. Thanks for pointing it out; it takes a village. 🙂
Suggested substitution for the molasses? I never use that ingredient and given the amount needed, would prefer not to buy a bottle. Would honey or maple syrup work? Thank you.
Hi Melissa, either maple syrup or honey would be fine here. Hope you enjoy!
I made these scones according to the directions, except I used half-n-half instead of heavy cream. Also, my dough was very sticky and wet coming out of the food processor, so I had to add flour a little at a time to get it into a workable round ball. I cut the ball into 2 discs, flattened them, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and refrigerated overnight. Next morning, I took the discs out of the refrigerator, and 5 minutes later, I lightly sprayed PAM with flour onto my King Arthur Flour Mini-Scone pan which makes 16 scones. I molded the dough with my fingers into the scone pan- like working with clay! Easy- filled each slot about half way, and had dough left over for 2 free-form scones which I baked on another tray. Baked for 12 minutes at 400 degrees. They came out perfectly! So delicious. I glazed them about 6 hours later. I did run out of glaze, so 3 did not have glaze- still delicious. All scones so moist! I will definitely make these again! Thanks, Jenn.
Soooooo good!
Okay so these are AMAZING. I doubled the recipe and took them into work and they were a hit.
I’m big on glaze so I tripled that recipe and double dipped the scones in it after letting the first layer set in the first for an hour.
Simply divine and not dry at all like some scones can be. Next time I might add some chopped pecans too.
The best pumpkin scone recipe. Best pumpkin anything really
The first batch of dough had to be thrown away because I over processed it. After emailing Jen and realizing that’s what I did wrong, I tried again and wow, I’m so happy I did. These scones are absolutely delicious! Fun and easy to make when you don’t go crazy with your food processor.