Pumpkin Spice Scones with Maple Glaze

I only had one craving I couldn’t ignore while I was pregnant with Bella, Starbucks pumpkin scones. I had (and I mean had) to start each day with one for my entire third trimester. If my home store was out, I would actually drive around until I found one. Sad? Absolutely, but who’s gonna trash talk a pregnant lady? I loved them so much my favorite barista sent over a box the week Bella was born as a baby gift.

Fast forward 2 years and it turns out some of those crazy diet things you do when your pregnant stick. Pumpkin scones are also the go-to pastry for my little girl. For a while, we were able to enjoy them together but since dairy is no longer a part of my life, I’ve had to abstain. The whopping 480 calories makes it a little easier to bear, but not much.  They are unbelievably glorious.

After watching her happily devour a scone during one of our standard Saturday morning coffee outings, I decided I’d give recreating these scones a go. I was mostly successful. I’m positive no one can recreate the magic of the Starbucks kitchen for any of their baked goods, but these are close enough to satisfy our scone habit. My version is significantly less sweet and has a more subtle pumpkin flavour than their Seattle-based counterparts but they’re also a lot more moist and half the calories if you use soy milk. All in all a good balance.

Now please excuse me while I join my daughter, she’s started without me.

Pumpkin Spice Scones with Maple Glaze

Would Rather Gather original, yields 10-12 scones and halves well if you only need 6

Active time: 15 minutes / Baking Time: 10-11 minutes

For the Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2.5 tbsp icing sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (if using pumpkin pie mix, omit spices below)
1 tsp ground cinnamon plus 2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup soy milk (low fat version) or cashew cream (much fattier but much better) + 2 tbsp of milk or cream
3 tbsp frozen, grated Earth Balance Buttery Stick
2 tbsp, raw granulated sugar

For the Glaze:
1 tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Stick, melted
1 tbsp soy milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup icing sugar

Method Scones:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425℉ and line a baking sheet with a slipat or parchment paper. In a small bowl combine 2 tsps of cinnamon and 2 tbsp of raw granulated sugar. Mix well and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine, flour, powered sugar, baking powder, sea salt and whisk well to combine.

3. In a large bowl combine pumpkin puree, soy milk or cashew cream and whisk well to combine. Add cinnamon, cloves giner and nutmeg to taste.

NOTE: I prefer a spicy pumpkin scone and my measurements reflect that. You may want to start with a 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of the others and work your way up from there.

3. Once pumpkin mixture has been well-seasoned, grate the frozen Earth Balance into the bowl, add a third of the dry ingredients and lightly combine with a fork. Repeat in thirds until dry mixture has been incorporated or until the combined mixture is beginning to form a ball but is still a little sticky.

Fun Fact: Freezing the Earth Balance keeps the “butter” cold and allows it to melt into the mixture while baking, this creates a much lighter and fluffier texture for the scones. This is a little trick I picked up watching Michael Smith make scones on the Food Network one sleepy Sunday afternoon and have never looked back.

4. Flour your work service,  (if no flour remains at the bottom of your bowl) dump out the entire contents of the bowl onto the counter. Using no more than 6 kneads,  form the dough and flatten out into a round shape. Using a very sharp knife cut the scones into 10-12 sections, as close to the same size as possible.

5. Place scones on lined baking sheet  and brush the tops with milk or cream. Dust tops of  scones liberally with cinnamon sugar mixture and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until tops and sides are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on racks for 10- 15 minutes.

6. While scones are cooking, in a small bowl whisk together the melted Earth Balance, Maple Syrup and vanilla until smooth. Add icing sugar to butter syrup mixture and whisk until well-combined and shiny. Cover bowl and set-aside until scones have cooled.

7. Once scones have cooled, brush the tops of the scones with the maple glaze and try not to eat them all in one sitting.

I have no idea if these keep because they normally don’t last until nightfall but storing them in an airtight container would seem to be a good place to start.