‘Tis the season for pumpkin, so bring on the pumpkin recipes! 🎃 This one is especially fun, made with pumpkin butter, which is the pumpkin version of apple butter, but has some apple juice in it too! You can either buy pumpkin butter or make your own, (recipe below) and it’s delicious in these scones, but also so tasty on toast with peanut butter for a nice simple breakfast. And, if you have extra pie dough after making your pumpkin and pecan pies for the holidays, roll out the extra and cover it with pumpkin butter, roll it up like a jelly roll, slice it and bake it for a festive seasonal snack.
The basic recipe for our scones is always the same, but we change up the flavor profiles using different nuts, spices, and dried or fresh fruit. We also love to make savory scones using Parmesan, Gruyere, or Cheddar cheeses, along with bacon, green onions or shallots and fresh herbs. This keeps us on top of our scone game, which is handy since we entertain family and friends most of the summer at our Idaho getaway. Scones are super easy to make and they store really well both in the refrigerator and in the freezer and your family and guests will feel so pampered, because scones seem so fancy! For our sweet scones, we usually like to add an icing to match the flavors and this one uses the pumpkin butter for it’s fall flavors or warm spices.
Pumpkin Butter Scones with pumpkin icing
Ingredients
Pumpkin Butter
- 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup apple juice or apple cider
Pumpkin Butter Scones
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 oz. unsalted butter (1/2 cup or 1 stick)
- 1/2 cup cream, half and half, or milk
- 1/2 cup pumpkin butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces, for garnish over icing
Pumpkin Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tbsp. pumpkin butter
- 1 tbsp. milk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Pumpkin Butter
- Stir all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
- Once the mixture reaches a boil, immediately reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened to the consistency of apple butter, or approximately 30-35 minutes. Stir occasionally during the cook down process.
- Remove from heat and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Pumpkin Butter Scones
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. With a pastry cutter or your cold fingertips, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is well blended and the butter is reduced to tine pea-sized pieces.
- In a glass measuring cup or a separate bowl, blend together cream vanilla and pumpkin butter. Stir into the flour-butter mixture. Blend well and form the dough into a big ball and move to a floured surface.
- Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the ball into a 10-inch circle, about 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Using a long knife, cut the dough into 8 even triangles and place them onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tops begin to turn golden-brown and scones feel cooked through. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Pumpkin Icing
- While the scones are baking, make the icing by mixing the powdered sugar, pumpkin butter and vanilla. Add milk as needed to arrive at a good thickness for drizzling the icing over the scones.
Icing the Scones
- When the scones have cooled to room temperature, begin to ice them by dipping a spoon into the icing and running it back and forth across the entire top of each scone. Sprinkle toasted pecans bits over the icing while it is still moist so the pecans will stick.
