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Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

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To me, pumpkins are the epitome of autumn.

Growing up in a Chinese-Canadian home, my mom was (and still is) an excellent cook but doesn’t make desserts/baked goods very well. I remember fondly, Jello, Sara Lee pound cakes, McCain Deep’n Delicious, chocolate cream pies, banana cream pies and for Thanksgiving, the store bought pumpkin pie. The pumpkin pie would usually be cold and overly sweet but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the wonderful pumpkin treat. None of these desserts scream home-baked goodness but still, these are what I think of when I think of my childhood desserts.

Nowadays, I still love all things pumpkin and have expanded my palate beyond the pumpkin pie. When September hits, I do look forward to Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL to the die-hards) as it is one of my favourite drinks at Starbucks. What is my ultimate pumpkin love is the Starbucks Pumpkin Scone. When they first came out years ago, I would eat them almost daily as I knew their season was short (I know, I have a problem) and when I found out there was a copycat recipe, I knew I had to try it.

While I have a passion for eating and cooking, baking was never my strong point. As I tend to NOT follow cooking recipes (I like to add my own spin), I used to do the same with baking recipes. Not surprisingly, my baking failed most of the time. Over the years, I became more disciplined, and my baking improved dramatically. This pumpkin scone recipe, originally posted by The Accidental Cook back in 2011. There is also one posted by Chungah of Damn Delicious that is a little different but worth trying as well. For a beginner or novice baker, the primary challenge is making sure your butter is cold enough (I like to pop my cut butter for about 15 minutes in the freezer or use frozen butter). Also for the glazes, make sure you add enough icing (or powdered) sugar or add less milk. It should be a thick consistency. My spice glaze was a little thin thus less opaque than the sugar glaze. I was finishing these off before dinner so was a bit rushed. The end result was a nice, moist scone with the perfect amount of spice.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Pumpkin Scones
Adapted from: The Accidental Cook

Ingredients
Scones:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1-inch squares
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 3 tablespoons half-and-half
  • 1 large egg

Icing Sugar Glaze:

  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Spiced Glaze:

  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 pinch ground ginger

1 pinch ground cloves

Directions:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Mix using paddle attachment.

Add butter and toss with a spatula to ensure that butter is coated with flour mixture. Mix for about 2 minutes or until mixture looks like cornmeal with butter pieces being no bigger than a pea.

In a separate bowl, whisk pumpkin, half-and-half and egg until blended.

Fold pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until dough can be formed into a ball.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a long rectangle pressing the dough with your hands. The dough should be between ¾ and 1 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into smaller rectangular sections and then cut those sections into triangles.

Place triangle dough onto parchment lined baking sheet(s) and bake for 15 minutes or until scones begin to brown around the edges and on top.

Remove scones from baking sheet and place on wire rack to cool. Allow scones to cool completely.

In small bowl, mix icing sugar with milk. Add more sugar or milk to reach the desired consistency. Use a brush to spread on completely cooled scones. I glazed them twice.

Prepare spiced glaze while first glaze is hardening. In small bowl, mix icing sugar, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Drizzle over the top of the first glaze.

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