Pumpkin Scones
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Move over, Starbucks—these homemade pumpkin scones are everything you love about the original and more.
Inspired by Starbucks’ famous pumpkin scones (but better, if you ask me), this pumpkin scone recipe is packed with pumpkin flavor and warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. The addition of molasses and pumpkin makes them more tender than your typical cream scones—almost like pumpkin bread in scone form.
A spiced pumpkin glaze adds just the right amount of sweetness and really brings the flavor home. Don’t be put off by the long ingredient list—it’s mostly spices, and many are used in both the scones and the glaze. And if you’re a scone lover, be sure to try my 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: Provides moisture and classic pumpkin flavor. Be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling. If you’d like to make your own, King Arthur Flour has a great guide on turning a whole pumpkin into purée—it works beautifully in all my pumpkin recipes, from baked goods to pumpkin butter and pumpkin soup.
- Egg & Heavy Cream: Add richness, moisture, and tenderness, helping the scones hold together while keeping the crumb soft.
- Molasses & Vanilla Extract: Deepen the flavor and enhance the pumpkin and spices. (Avoid blackstrap molasses, which can taste bitter.)
- All-Purpose Flour: Gives the scones structure. For accuracy, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Sweetens the dough and adds moisture, thanks to its natural molasses content.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Leaven the scones, creating lift and a light texture.
- Spices: Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg add warm, cozy flavor. You can substitute pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens and thickens the glaze that ties everything together.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients. Combine the pumpkin, heavy cream, egg, molasses, and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
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: Mix in the butter. Add the small cubes of cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized chunks of butter within.
Those little chunks of butter are important and will give you light and flaky scones.
Step 4: Mix everything together. Add the pumpkin mixture to the food processor and pulse until the dough comes together. It will be sticky, and you should still be able to see some chunks of butter.
Step 5: Form the scones. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and dust the top with a little more flour. Gently knead it a few times until it comes together into a smooth ball, then divide it in half. Shape each half into a 5-inch circle, about ¾ inch thick, and cut each circle into six wedges.
Step 6: Bake. Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden and set. Let them cool for about 15 minutes on the baking sheet.
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 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 and enjoy.
More Pumpkin Recipes You May Like
Pumpkin Scones
Cozy up with these pumpkin scones—tender, perfectly spiced, and basically what autumn tastes like.
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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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.