September 18, 2013

Pumpkin scones just like Starbucks makes. Without the dairy.

So, true to my word, I made pumpkin scones this weekend. They tasted pretty much exactly like the Starbucks ones, minus the dairy. Mine were also minus the intense layer of icing on top, but let's not fault them for that. Their icing was both delicious and tasteful.

I didn't take any pictures, but with one or two exceptions my scones looked more like chicken strips than pumpkin scones. They were so good, though, that I don't think anyone minded. It's just that... they were so much stickier than cookies (as anticipated) and scone shapes are so much more demanding than cookies.

I have a pretty long history of making delicious treats that look like crap. It's what's on the inside of your tummy that really counts, not what you saw before hand.

These scones were so good that (no surprise) they were gone in 48 hours. I wish I'd saved some, though, and stuck them in the freezer. I think I'll make them again and do just that because dang, I love pumpkin scones and I need to eat them everyday. Just kidding. Saturday afternoon I actually had to unbutton my shorts after having one. I may have overindulged a little. Those things are heavy.

Anyway, here's my version of the recipe. I found it here although the exact same recipe is on at least two other pages that I looked at. I straight up copied and pasted it from that page, with a few additional comments and my dairy-free substitutions.

SCONES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pure (unsweetened) pumpkin
3 tablespoons canned coconut milk
1 large egg
6 tablespoons Earth Balance, cut into cubes (I guess... I just tossed mine whole into the mix and used the pastry cutter)
PLAIN GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (Sifted. I didn't, but probably should have.)
1 tablespoon almond milk
SPICED ICING:
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 to 2 tablespoons almond milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Give it a light dusting of flour on top of that.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half and egg.
4. Use a pastry cutter or two knives (I used a pastry cutter because I'm not a ninja) to cut butter into the dry ingredients. Continue cutting until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (You may also use a food processor for this step. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs... Mine never did, but just blended more than anything. That might have had to do with the Earth Balance).
5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. The dough will be wet, but if it seems super sticky just go ahead and sprinkle a little more flour into the dough until it's easier to handle. Remember, you want it to be somewhat sticky, and that's okay- but you also don't want it to stick to the baking sheet. Pat out dough onto the lightly floured baking sheet and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle that is about 9-inches long and 3-inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal squares. Cut through the three squares diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Gently pull the triangles apart, leaving about 1/2-inch space between each one. (This was where I struggled the most.)
6. Bake 14 to 16 minutes on prepared baking sheet. Scones should begin to turn light brown.
7. While scones are cooling, prepare plain glaze by whisking ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth.
8. When scones are cool, use a knife to cut them apart and then pull them apart so that they are ready for glazing. Use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.
9. As the white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by whisking the ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone (or brush it on) and allow the icing to dry before serving.

Happy sconing!

3 comments:

  1. These look delicious. I will be making these SOON. Minus the egg. ;)

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  2. You know what? I think I will make these today. I just told James I wanted to bake something pumpkiny to celebrate the first day of fall, AND I'm trying to avoid dairy like the plague, so voila! I am positive mine will look like chicken strips too. I am challenged when it comes to making decent looking food.

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