Pumpkin Spiced Scones with Maple Spiced Glaze

I realize I am a little early on this one, but how can you not love pumpkin spiced everything!? By the time summer comes to an end, I am ready to pull out all of my fall decorations and eat anything with pumpkin pie spice in it. If you haven’t made homemade pumpkin pie spice, I HIGHLY recommend it. You can use it in a number of things, including your coffee in the morning. It adds so much richness and warmth to a recipe.

Scones are one of my favorite things to make, and eat. They top the list of my “freezer favorites” because they are a straight freezer to oven breakfast. They are a great make-ahead item. The key to making a good scone is having the ingredients, especially the butter, very cold. I love using a food processor for this, because it’s fast, and it breaks up the oats. This can be made with old fashioned oats or quick-cooking oats. If you are not using a food processor to make these, then I recommend chopping up the oats into finer pieces, especially the old fashioned. This creates a much nicer scone, because the whole oats can make the scones flat, and when you chop them up it helps the scones maintain their shape. This actually makes for a much more tender scone as well.

To make the pumpkin spiced scones even better, and more fall inspired, I drizzle them with a maple spiced glaze. This is not necessary, but definitely worth it! The taste of maple and pumpkin together, along with the spice mixture, is perfection.

Pumpkin Spice Scones with Maple Spiced Glaze

Author:

Maria Provenzano

Homemade pumpkin pie spice recipe can be found on www.FromScratchWithMaria.com, search “pumpkin pie spice”

Ingredients

• Scones

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I like using half whole wheat and half all-purpose as well)

• 1 cup uncooked oatmeal; old fashioned or quick-cooking, see note below***

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

• 1/2 cup COLD unsalted butter; cut into cubes

• 1/4 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree (not canned pumpkin pie)

• 1/4 cup cold half and half (or whole milk works too)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Icing:

• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon real maple syrup

• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

• 1-2 tablespoons half and half or milk

• **NOTE** This recipe can be made with a pastry cutter, or a stand mixer instead of a food processor, if done this way, make sure to either process up the old fashioned oats or use a knife to chop them into smaller pieces. It makes for a better (less flat) scone instead of keeping them large. If using “quick-cooking” they can still be chopped up, but they shouldn’t need as much chopping.

Instructions

1. *Place the flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in bowl of a food processor; this can also be done with a pastry cutter or stand mixer (see note in “ingredients”)

2. *Pulse to combine

3. *Place the butter in the mixer

4. *Pulse to combine; mixture will like a bit like sand, don’t over-mix, it’s good to have the butter in about pea-sized pieces

5. *In a separate bowl (I like using a measuring cup for wet ingredients) combine the half and half, vanilla, and pumpkin puree

6. *With the processor running, pour in the wet ingredients

7. *Combine until JUST mixed in

8. *Remove the dough from the processor and place on a lightly floured surface

9. *Use your hands to form a large flat disk with the dough about a half inch to an inch thick

10. *Use a knife to cut the dough in half one way and the opposite way, this will make four large pieces

11. *THEN cut each of the pieces in half… this will look like a pizza!

12. *Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

13. *Place the baking sheet in the fridge for about 15 minutes

14. *If you plan in freezing these place them in the freezer for a half hour then remove and place in a freezer friendly bag, label, and place back in the freezer

15. *Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

16. *Place the scones on a room temperature baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes

17. *If they are coming straight out of the freezer it may take about 5-7 minutes longer

18. *Allow to cool on a cooling rack

19. *Meanwhile make the icing

20. *Measure the powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice into a bowl

21. *Pour in the vanilla, maple syrup and milk while whisking to combine

22. *Once thoroughly mixed, it can be drizzled over the scones; if you want more precise lines, pour the icing into the corner of a small ziplock back

23. *Cut the tip of the corner of the bag and drizzle the icing over the cooled scones

24. *You can also simply use a spoon to drizzle the icing over the scones

25. *Scones are best fresh out of the oven, but will stay good for a couple days in a sealed container