Pumpkin Scones with Cinnamon Butter

My goal is to eat as many pumpkin flavored things as possible before the season is over. Luckily, it's easily achieveable, especially when I have a plate a pumpkin scones waiting for me in the kitchen. They're soft and moist with a crispy crust and when you slather them with spicy brown sugar cinnamon butter they make you forget that there's been an ice fog hanging around outside for three days straight.

Just a week or two ago it was the most beautiful autumn outside and warm enough to walk around and enjoy it. Then BAM, a big wind blew the leaves off the trees, the sky dumped down a foot of snow, and now it's suddenly winter. 

It's still autumn in my kitchen though. I'm hanging on for at least a little bit longer...

..and nothing says autumn like pumpkin and spices baked into scones.

I like my scones to be moist but still light and flaky instead of dense. It took a few versions and a number of adjustments before I was happy with the texture and flavor.

The recipe is really straight forward: Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and then cut in the butter or work it in with your fingers until the mixture looks crumbly. The pumpkin, cream, and vanilla are stirred together in another bowl and then everything is combined to make a dough.

 The dough is first formed into a circle, then folded in half and patted into a circle again. This is repeated and then the circle is cut into 8 equal pieces.

The folding step only takes a minute and it really helps bring the dough together and ensures that you get a good rise with some layers.

After a quick trip to the oven the scones are all beautifully puffed up and ready to be enjoyed with a cup of afternoon coffee or for a leisurely breakfast. Or, if you are like me, eaten in vast quantities until you worry that you are about to become scone shaped yourself. (Forget pear-shaped.. try buying clothes that fit nicely once you're scone-shaped).


The cinnamon butter is a homage to the cinnamon toast that my parents would make for me when I was little. Heavy on the cinnamon with a bit of brown sugar and nutmeg, thickly spread over warm toast (or scones, or muffins...) it's sweet, spicy, and nostalgic. 

If you make the scones don't skip out on the cinnamon butter! You'll miss an opportunity to make cinnamon flavored memories and it also helps distract from any icy roads or flurries of snow falling early and unwelcome outside.

 

You can find my recipe for the scones and cinnamon butter on the Globe and Mail's website here:

Pumpkin Scones with Cinnamon Butter

 

 

 

Comments

[Melissa@EyesBigger]

please come over for tea and bring these. thank you in advance.

[Mary at n00bcakes]

Oh, these look lovely!! This might be the first true stab at scones I make; they really do look moist and flaky instead of dry and crumbly. Plus yes - it's pumpkin time!

[Jo]

I don't have 1/2 and 1/2 in the fridge but I do have buttermilk. Do you think buttermilk pumpkin scones would be tasty, or gross? I used it to make lemon ginger scones last weekend and they came out good, but they're such a lighter flavor...

[Eileen]

Those scones look so good! I love the idea of cinnamon butter. NOw all I need is one of these and a pot of coffee. :)

[Allison Day]

I can totally relate to your goal of eating as many pumpkin-flavored things as possible right now... I can't get enough! (Though I'm sure by the end of the season I'll be totally sick of pumpkin.) These sound crazy good though, especially that cinnamon butter (my parents made cinnamon toast when I was little too... so good!)

[Lori]

These are delicious! I saw your recipe in the Globe and Mail last month and cut it out to try. I finally got around to roasting pumpkin yesterday and making these scones today. I just had to say thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I was truly shocked at how quick and easy they were to make and was happy that they tasted as delicious as I'd hoped!
Enjoy the last bits of fall!
ps: pumpkin chocolate chip muffins were also in the oven this morning if you're looking for more pumpkin things to make, the combo was pretty good :)

[Lisa@sixtyone45]

These look absolutley fantastic and cinnamon butter is simply brilliant! Can't wait to try! Thank you!

[Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe]

Yay for pumpkin! I too am trying to maximize my pumpkin usage. I haven't tried scones yet though...thanks for the new idea! And that cinnamon butter? Total staple in my childhood breakfasts.

[tigerfish]

Oh yeah, everything is so autumn-ish about this - the scones and the butter! too good!

[Jessica @ bake me away!]

These are lovely, especially with the cinnamon butter! I think I want to OD on pumpkin, so I should probably make these.

[Wayne]

They look splendid. And your Feta adventure was also a great read.

[Julie Bulie]

These are divine! I love the way that the folding of the dough makes it so flaky and delicious. Why didn't I know that already??