Ah, the pumpkin scone. The most discussed and praised scone on the planet. In all honesty, this scone was a happy accident of sorts. For Thanksgiving 2003, our baker, Sue McClinton, had the idea of making a pumpkin scone instead of a pumpkin cheesecake, and because of its popularity, we kept it on through Christmas that year.
Once the holidays were over and the mistletoe was taken down, Sue moved on to another type of scone, and a riot almost broke out that week when patrons discovered that there were no pumpkin scones. We heard the message loud and clear and have had pumpkin scones on the menu every day since then.
In fact, pumpkin became our staple scone well before the standard and expected buttermilk scone entered our daily repertoire! Moist, slightly spicy, definitely gooey, and sweet on top (think of pumpkin pie inside a scone and you get the idea), the pumpkin scone remains a major favorite, and Haley—and now her kids—continues to have one almost each day! (In fact, Haley’s son, Maddan, constantly begs to take one to school for a snack.)
These scones are best when served warm, but if you aren’t serving them right away, we recommend that you don’t glaze them until shortly before you serve them.
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup ground ginger
¼ cup ground cinnamon
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, cut into ½ – inch pieces
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (all pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Caramel Glaze:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon freshly squeezed
Lemon juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup heavy cream
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 425°f.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.
3. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract into the well. Still using your hands, combine the ingredients until all the dry mixture is wet, but do not knead!
5. Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a disk about 1½ inches thick. Using a 3- or 3½- inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many scones as you can and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones—just don’t knead the dough too much.
6. Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the scones cool slightly on the baking sheet (about 20 minutes) before glazing them.
7. While the scones are cooling, prepare the caramel glaze: Place the butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk gently until the mixture is smooth. Just as the mixture comes to a light boil, add the heavy cream and reduce the heat to low. Whisk well for 2 minutes, or until the glaze is thickened and smooth; then remove the pan from the heat.
8. To glaze a scone, hold it by the bottom, dip the top in the warm caramel glaze, and place it back on the baking sheet.
Makes10 to 12 scones
