Pumpkin Scones that practically melt in your mouth. They are light and buttery, with a crisp sugary topping. A sweet maple glaze finishes them with a touch of sweetness.
Enjoy Pumpkin Scones with some Hot Chocolate or a Pumpkin Spice Latte Steamer.
The Best Pumpkin Scones
I’ve always been obsessed with Starbucks pumpkin scones, but stopping every day for a pumpkin spice latte steamer and scones just wasn’t practical. So, I set out to recreate them at home, and let me tell you, these are even better!
The texture is perfect, and the pumpkin flavor is amazing. They’re everything you want in a fresh scone and capture all the best flavors of fall!
Ingredients In Pumpkin Scones Recipe
- Dry Ingredients: Combine flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Use fresh spices and measure the flour accurately for the best texture.
- Wet Ingredients: Mix butter, egg, heavy cream, canned pumpkin, brown sugar, and vanilla. Keep the butter cold and press out excess liquid from the pumpkin to avoid a soggy dough.
- Glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon. Sift the powdered sugar and use softened butter to ensure a smooth glaze.
How To Make Pumpkin Scones
- Dry Mix: Combine flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in a bowl.
- Wet Mix: Whisk heavy cream, egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, and vanilla in another bowl.
- Butter: Cut frozen butter into the dry mix until crumbly.
- Form Dough: Mix wet and dry ingredients. Shape into discs, cut into wedges, brush with cream, and sprinkle with sugar.
- Chill: Freeze wedges for 20 minutes.
- Bake: At 400°F (200°C) until lightly golden.
- Glaze: Blend powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle on scones.
Quick Tip
Top tip: Keep both the butter and dough as cold as possible! I refrigerate the flour, freeze the butter after cutting it, and use wet ingredients directly from the fridge. The colder your dough, the better your pumpkin scones will be; they’ll be lighter and less dense.
Storage
Scones taste best when fresh from the oven, so bake these Pumpkin Scones about an hour before serving.
To make ahead: Shape the dough, store in an airtight bag in the fridge, and bake the next day.
To freeze: Place unbaked scones on a lined sheet and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to an airtight bag for up to a month. Bake directly from the freezer, adding 1-3 minutes to the usual baking time.
Use Leftover Pumpkin In:
- Small Batch Pumpkin Cookies
- Starbucks copycat Pumpkin Spice Latte Steamer
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting
- Glazed Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with a streusel topping
Pumpkin Scones
Equipment
- Pastry cutter
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour see note 1
- 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter frozen in small cubes, see note 1
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup + 2–3 tablespoons heavy cream divided
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin with liquid pressed out with paper towels, see note 2
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Coarse sugar or sparkling sugar, for topping
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine flour (spooned and leveled), baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cream, egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
- Add frozen butter cubes to dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour mixture until butter is evenly dispersed and the size of small peas.
- Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, pour wet ingredients in, and gently stir with a wooden spoon until dough begins to form. Mix as little as possible — just until everything is moistened and mostly combined.
- Lightly dust a surface with flour and turn the mixture onto the surface. With lightly floured hands, gently work dough into a ball, handling dough as little as possible. If dough is too sticky, add a tiny bit more flour; if it is too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Press dough into a disc and cut exactly in half. Form each half gently into a smaller disc, about 5 inches wide.
- Wrap discs tightly and chill for 20 minutes in the freezer. Remove and cut (with a sharp knife) each disc into 8 equal wedges. Try to cut each wedge in one decisive cut. Place wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat, about 2 inches apart. Pour remaining 2 (3 if needed) tablespoons heavy cream into a small dish. Using a pastry brush, brush cream over scones. Sprinkle with coarse/sparkling sugar if desired.
- Place pan of scones in the freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Bake scones for 17–23 minutes or until edges are light golden brown and the top is lightly browned (over-baking scones will make them less flavorful and more dense). Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Whisk together glaze ingredients. If glaze is too thick, add more maple syrup (or heavy cream or milk) 1 teaspoon at a time. Drizzle glaze over just-barely-warm scones. Let set and enjoy!
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these this morning. They are fabulous. I make a lot of scones. This recipe was spot on. I used a tad more liquid, but just a splash. The pumpkin flavor/spices are subtle. Highly recommend. Thanks for sharing.
So happy to hear that! Thank you for the comment 🙂
These scones look amazing! I love the pumpkin 🙂
I am a scone lover, a pumpkin lover
So this recipe lands in The Perfect Scone Recipe roster.