Like most of the blogging world, I’m on a major pumpkin kick. Fresh fall days are here, along with changing leaves and crisper temperatures.
Combine that with the fact that I finally kind of know where I put things in my kitchen in the mad frenzy of unpacking, and I am back in the kitchen in full force, armed with the knowledge that I can put together delicious baking in 10 minutes or less without wandering around looking for….something. Who remembers what? Back to the ….wait, where is the recipe? For that matter, where the hamskamble are my mixing bowls? The measuring cups? Flour? The KitchenAid mixer? Oh wait, still don’t have one of those, that’s right.
Clearly, this all made for a long and frustrating process. Some days I look at my sweet children and blame them a little – I miss my brain.
But YES, I am back to pretty-much-daily baking and the rabid consumption of baked goods that always results. Carl was mentioning a noticeable drop on the scales and I was happy to have an excuse to ice my scones and dredge my muffins in cinnamon sugar and butter. I know I am getting my domestic on when I not only bake every day, but also make my own play dough and hamburger buns in the same day.
You may have guessed by now that there is something in my life worth procrastinating for.
You know me too well.
I do in fact have a Psychology exam and an English essay looming due on the very same day, 4 days from now. That gives me a solid 3.5 days to procrastinate and I plan to use it wisely. You would think being in only two courses would protect me from such same-day pile-ups, but you’d be wrong. I tried to explain the concept to the kidlets but they looked baffled. And hungry.
Alas.
Pumpkin makes all things better, though.
If you tried Pumpkin Gingersnaps (and I really hope you did), you might find yourself with some leftover pumpkin! Make another batch of the cookies…that’s what I did.
Behold, still more pumpkin! Please proceed to make these scones, my mom’s delicious recipe which I shall shamelessly share, and stay tuned for some delicious butter-and-sugar dunked mini-muffins (donuts?) later this week for the neverending pumpkin in that deceptively average looking can.
After seeing oodles of pumpkin and chocolate creations going around the blogging world I was very tempted to throw a handful of chocolate chips into these, but I’m glad I held off. These are a perfect, light sweetness that can be enjoyed as a snack but also makes a healthy and delicious breakfast. Although, I’m still curious to do a comparison and my pumpkin does seem to be the can that never runs dry…
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- pinch of ground cloves (optional in my books)
- ½ cup cold butter or margarine, cubed
- ¾ cup buttermilk, or soured milk
- ½ cup canned pure pumpkin purée
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- CINNAMON ICING:
- 1 cup icing sugar (powdered/confectioner's sugar)
- 2 tbsp milk
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt and cloves. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly.
- In separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Pour over flour mixture. Stir with fork to make a soft, ragged dough. With floured hands, press dough into a ball. On floured surface, knead gently 10 times or until smooth (dough will be quite sticky). Roll dough out to about ¾” thickness and cut with 2½ ”-3” biscuit cutter, rerolling dough as necessary. Place circles on parchment-lined baking sheets about 1” apart. (You can also roll or pat dough into 10”x7” rectangle; trim edges to straighten. Cut rectangle into 6 squares, then cut each square diagonally in half for 12 scones.) Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to rack to cool.
- CINNAMON ICING: In small bowl, stir together icing sugar, milk and cinnamon, adding more milk if necessary to make icing a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over scones. Let stand until set, or eat immediately and get sticky fingers. Totally worth it.
And a “blooper” picture…you wouldn’t believe how many food photos I have with that cute, pudgy little finger encroaching! In this one you can even tell this isn’t the first touch, it looks like it’s had a good lick or two already :)
Anna these look delicious!! I’ve never made a scone before, I’m thinking this would be a great place to start! Thanks for sharing!
What lovely scones! I’m seeing so many pumpkin recipes that I hardly know what to make next! These will definitely make the short-list.
Beautiful scones! I love the little hand in that last picture. The glaze sounds like an awesome addition too!
Thanks for planting a craving in the pregnant lady’s mind :P There’s a chance I made these for breakfast, and then proceeded to eat 4 (or 5) of them…. Yumm! Aaron loved them as well! Also, my parents happened to stop by JUST as the scones were coming out of the oven, so I shared, and they got multiple thumbs up.
PS You do a great job on the pictures…chubby finger and all :)
I don’t think I would ever be tempted to add chocolate chips to these but I have added raisins and they are very good. Dried cranberries would also be a tasty addition. :)