If you love to bake with pumpkin, then don’t go another minute without these flaky pumpkin scones topped with a decadent maple glaze. Perfect with a hot cup of coffee on a crisp fall morning.
Pumpkin: it’s not just for pumpkin pie anymore!
I’ve already made pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin frappuccinos….even pumpkin coffee creamer. To be honest though, I was a little nervous to develop a recipe for classic pumpkin scones because the ones at the bakery are just so delicious. After a few tries, though, I created a buttery scone recipe that is perfectly spiced without being overly sweet. And did I mention maple icing?
Tell me About These Pumpkin Scones
- Texture: heavy cream helps produce a freshly-baked scone that is both soft and flaky in the center, crisp on top, and crumbly at the corners.
- Flavor: these buttery scones are the perfect blend of sweet and spice for the pumpkin obsessed. With every bite, you’ll get a delicious shot of pumpkin spice cut with sweet maple frosting. You can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here!
- Ease: if you follow the recipe closely, including my success tips below, this pumpkin recipe is quick and easy to make for breakfast, brunch, or anytime.
- Time: the scone dough comes together quickly in about 20 minutes and then just 25 minutes more in the oven to pumpkin perfection. Serve these scones warm right away for the best taste.
These classic pumpkin scones are inspired by my perfect, no-fail master recipe for scones. Use it to build a scone with your own favorite add-ins like lemon blueberry scones, ham & cheese scones, banana scones, apple cinnamon scones, and more! Here are all of my scone recipes.
Recipe Testing Pumpkin Scones: What Works & What Doesn’t
- Frozen butter = success. As your scone bakes, frozen butter will melt and release steam, creating tender flaky pockets in the middle with crisp and crumbly edges. Butter that hasn’t been frozen could melt before it makes it to the oven, and you’ll lose all that tender, flaky goodness.
- Grate the butter. Weird, right? Fine shreds of cold butter make for an even mix into the dry ingredients. If you don’t own a grater, you can also use a sharp knife to cut the butter into small chunks, but I prefer the teeny shreds.
- Blot the pumpkin. Trust me on this. Pumpkin puree is extremely wet and can cause spreading in your mixture. Blot the pumpkin for 15 seconds with a paper towel before you use it. For more details on blotting pumpkin, see my pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or pumpkin snickerdoodles.
- Don’t over-mix the dough. After you add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix with ease until combined. Just like pie crust, over-mixing the scone dough will result in a tough texture.
Heavy Cream for the Win
There are some recipes where substituting similar ingredients is okay, but this isn’t one of them. Rich heavy cream or buttermilk is the secret to these delicious scones.
- Heavy cream or buttermilk is a must. Texture is crucial for the perfect scone, so don’t substitute milk or nondairy milk in this recipe. You’ll lose both the texture and flavor that make these scones irresistible.
- I swear by this trick. Brush the scones with the remaining heavy cream or buttermilk right before baking and sprinkle with a little coarse sugar if you have any. It will help ensure that sweet, crisp exterior.
Overview: How to Make Classic Pumpkin Scones
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it quickly so you understand each step before you get started.
- Whisk dry ingredients together.
- Add frozen butter to the flour mixture. Grate your butter and add to the flour mixture using a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Remember, you don’t want the butter to melt before you bake.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together. After they are combined, drizzle the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix until moistened throughout.
- Flour up. Coat your hands in flour and work the mixture into a ball of dough. The dough should be thoroughly combined, but don’t overwork it which could result in a tough texture.
- Flatten dough ball into an 8-inch disc. Use a sharp knife to cut the disc into 8 equal wedges.
- Don’t forget the heavy cream wash. Brush the remaining heavy cream (or buttermilk) onto your scones using a pastry brush right before baking. Sprinkle with coarse sugar for a sweet textured crunch.
- Make the glaze. While the scones are baking, make the maple glaze over low heat by combining the butter and maple syrup until the mixture is completely melted. Remove from the heat and add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and a dash of salt to achieve the perfect glaze consistency.
- Drizzle over the scones. Add the maple icing while the scones are still warm so it melts into every flake, crack, and crevice. You’ll taste melty maple goodness with every bite.
More Fall Recipes
- Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
- Apple Cider Donuts & Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Bars
- Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Maple Pecan Sticky Buns
- Pumpkin Spice Waffles or Pumpkin Pancakes
Classic Pumpkin Scones
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Deliciously spiced classic pumpkin scones are flaky and soft with perfectly crumbly edges. Top with coarse sugar for extra crunch and maple icing for extra decadence!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons (105ml) heavy cream, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (115g) canned pumpkin puree, blotted*
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: coarse sugar for sprinkling on top before baking
Maple Glaze
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- pinch salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Adjust baking rack to the middle-low position. Line 1 or 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini scones, I use 2 baking sheets. Set aside.
- Make the scones: Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter (I use a box grater). Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and combine it with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Set aside.
- Whisk 1/3 cup (75ml) heavy cream, the egg, blotted pumpkin (see note), brown sugar, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle it over the flour mixture and then mix it all together until everything appears moistened.
- With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can and transfer onto a floured work surface. Press into a neat 8-inch disc and, with a very sharp knife, cut into 8 equal wedges. To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges. (Larger scones are pictured in this blog post.)
- Place scones at least 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s). Using a pastry brush, brush scones with remaining heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. (Gives a nice crunch!)
- Bake the larger scones for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. If you made 16 smaller scones, bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes as you prepare the icing.
- Make the glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and maple syrup together, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Taste and add a pinch of salt if desired. Drizzle over warm scones.
- Scones are best enjoyed right away, though leftover scones keep well at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 2 extra days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Plain baked scones freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then heat up to your liking before icing and enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Pastry Brush | Saucepan
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice here. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/2 teaspoon each: ground allspice and ground ginger AND 1/4 teaspoon each: ground nutmeg and ground cloves. This is in addition to the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in the recipe—you will still add that.
- Blotting Pumpkin: Using a paper towel or clean kitchen towel, lightly blot the pumpkin puree to remove some of the moisture before using in the recipe. The more moisture removed, the less moist and muffin-like the scones will taste. We want the scones to be flaky and crumbly, not super moist or muffin-like. I prefer to squeeze lots of moisture out so the scones taste textured and delicious. Do what you prefer!
Can’t wait to make these! Is the 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée measured before or after blotting?
Hi Allison, we measure and then blot out as much moisture as we can. Enjoy!
These came out perfect on my second try. If anyone else is having issues with the dough being too moist or wet, it may be because of the pumpkin puree! I made the mistake of of making sure my pumpkin weighed 115g AFTER blotting the liquid out. Instead, you should measure 115g first, then after blotting, it’s almost half its weight. These came out much more crumbly and flaky and delicious when the pumpkin puree is blotted until it’s basically a dry rollable ball. Don’t leave too much liquid in it! The spice levels in these are perfect: warm and delicious and the best for fall.
This is a great recipe!! Made the small 16 scone option. Definitely pat your pumpkin dry.
Love the maple glaze.
I loved these scones! But I followed the instructions and the bottoms got SUPER burned… any idea what I did wrong?!
Hi Sarabeth, You can try moving your baking pan/rack away from the heat source in your oven to prevent burning next time (if your heat source is on the bottom, try placing the baking pan in a higher position). Or your oven could simply run a bit hot – you could reduce the temperature by 5-10 degrees next time. We always recommend using an in-oven thermometer for the most accurate temperature reading!
The best scones! I tried to “heathy” them up a bit and used Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups of white flour and a 1/2 cup of whole wheat. I could justify having 2 in one sitting. I took your advice from the comments and squeezed the pumpkin in a cloth. I squeezed about 1 cup of pumpkin to get 1/2 for the recipe. The liquid to dry ingredients was perfect! My guests were raving. Thanks so much!
The scone texture was amazing! So good. I might add a little more sugar next time but other than that, they turned out fantastic.
Love this recipe. Almost ate all of them myself. Thank you for all of your amazing recipes.
I would like to add some oats to this recipe. Can you recommend how much oats (not quick cooking oats) and if I need to modify the recipe elsewhere (liquid?)
Hi Mia, we haven’t tried adding oats to our scone recipes before, and it would definitely take some testing to ensure the right taste and texture. If you wish to try, you may want to decrease the flour a bit and/or add a bit more liquid to help prevent dryness. Let us know if you do any experimenting!
Absolutely delicious! The perfect scone for fall time. I usually hate everything I bake, but these scones were soooo good! Added in cream cheese Hershey’s chips instead of doing the maple glaze. DELICIOUS!
Perfect pumpkin scones! These are so easy and so flavorful. I don’t understand the negative comments, maybe they didn’t follow the recipe exactly. This one will be an annual Fall bake for me.
Wah wah wah. Even blotted and extra flour it was nothing I could work with. Not a scone recipe.
Any recommendations or adjustments for high altitude! I’m in the Denver area.
Hi Michele, I wish I could help, but I have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful though: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Very disappointed in this recipe. The ‘dough’ came out like muffin batter (and I followed the instructions to the letter) and after baking they were very bland. The only thing that made these tolerable was MY frosting recipe. Very disappointed but love some of your other recipes.
Hi Gracie, so sorry you were disappointed with these. Was your butter frozen and extra cold? If it’s too warm, it will mix right into the flour and when the other wet ingredients are added, the mixture will become paste-like (and like a batter, yes). Also, did you blot the pumpkin? Ridding some excess moisture is key here, too. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback.
If I want to make the mix the day before, do you think I could cut in the butter then keep the dry mixture in the fridge?
Hi Brenda, that should work just fine, or you can mix everything together and shape the scone dough into wedges and refrigerate overnight before baking. Enjoy!