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Pumpkin Scones, with chocolate cream cheese frosting will become one of your fall favorites this year! Sweet and spicy pumpkin scones pair perfectly with sweet icing. Delicious!
Featured with this recipe
Pumpkin Scones are our family’s new favorite fall treat! We serve them at breakfast, for an after school snack, for dessert, just about anytime a sweet tooth strikes. The light and fluffy scones are super simple to whip up, and they bake beautifully.
We love to add chocolate chips right in the batter for extra sweetness. Then top them with a chocolate buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, or even just a dusting of powdered sugar. These taste even better than Starbucks’ pumpkin scones!
There’s something so comforting about a warm, pumpkin spice scone paired with a cup of cocoa or your favorite tea in the morning. Bake a batch for your family this fall!
Ingredients for Easy Pumpkin Scones
Don’t get overwhelmed with all the ingredients listed below. These are all pantry staple ingredients that help create the most delicious scones filled with pumpkin flavor!
- Flour – All purpose flour works best and you don’t have to have it self-rise.
- Brown sugar – Adding in a hint of sweetness!
- Baking powder, baking soda, salt – These are your dry ingredients that need to be sifted or whisked together before adding to the flour mixture. This will help raise and create the soft and fluffy triangle wedge.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger – Combine these together for a sweet, savory, and fall flavor seasoning.
- Butter – I used unsalted butter that was cold. You can either freeze the butter or have it come straight from the refrigerator.
- Pure pumpkin – There are two different pumpkin types. You will want to make sure you get the pure pumpkin or pumpkin puree and not the pumpkin filling.
- Milk – 1% low fat milk works best!
- Egg – I used large eggs for this scone recipe.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – This is an addition if you would like to add in chocolate to your homemade scones.
Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting
Packed with all the flavor, this pumpkin scone recipe is the perfect breakfast, snack, or dessert this fall. This cream cheese frosting is a delicious topping to these scone wedges.
- Cream cheese – You will want to soften your cream cheese before creaming it in a large mixing bowl.
- Powdered sugar – This has a smooth and creamy texture in your frosting.
- Vanilla extract – Add a hint of vanilla flavor to the sweetness!
- Milk – Creamy and thick consistency is best when you stir it together.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – Change the frosting to chocolate for another sweet taste!
“These are absolutely fantastic! Love them!”
-Nellie Tracy
Frequently Asked Questions
The dough from the scones should be wet and have a sticky texture to it. This helps create that light and fluffy texture when they are baked on a prepared baking sheet. The drier your scone dough is, the more dense your scones will be.
We suggest using a Tablespoon at a time of milk until it the scone dough is wet and moist. You can continue to add more liquid as needed. This will help the dough stick together. If it is crumbly from the butter mixture then keep adding more milk to the dough.
When kneading the dough, you will want to make sure that you are not overworking it. This will lead to the pumpkin scones being tough and chewy. The dough will have a few lumps and bumps in it but once baked it will be light and fluffy!
Make sure that the dry ingredients have not expired. These ingredients help create that rise and puffed up scone when baked. If that is not the case, then make sure that you have not added too much liquid to the scone dough.
Substitutions for Classic Pumpkin Scones
- Instead of combining all the fall seasonings from a few seasoning mixes, you can simply use pumpkin pie spice in replace of all of them.
- For the frosting, you can use heavy cream instead of milk for a more thicker and creamier frosting.
- Instead of the classic cream cheese frosting, try a white glaze, spiced glaze, or brushing on a frosting that you love!
Tips for Light and Fluffy Scones
Scones are really easy to make, and by following a few simple tips, you’ll get light as air scones every time!
- Don’t soften your butter before mixing. The colder the butter, the better!
- Cut your butter with a sharp knife into cubes or sticks for easier mixing. Make sure they’re cold! If your kitchen is hot, toss the butter into the freezer for a few minutes until you need it.
- Make sure to measure your flour with a sifter or spoon it into your measuring cup. Scooping the flour directly into the measuring cup can make it too dense, and give your scones a heavier texture.
- Using canned pumpkin in this recipe adds plenty of moisture, so you may not need all the milk the recipe calls for. Try a tablespoon at a time until the dough forms a soft ball.
- Avoid using a mixer for this recipe. You can use a pastry cutter to cut in your butter, which gives it a pea sized texture.
- Don’t over mix! Mixing the dough too much will result in tough scones. Gently shape and pat the homemade scones into a circle before cutting into triangles.
Storing Pumpkin Scones with Frosting
Once the scones are cooling on a cooling rack, it is best to store these Starbucks copycat scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. These will be ready to eat at any time!
I recommend storing them without the frosting and storing the frosting separately in the refrigerator. If storing the scones with frosting in the refrigerator, let them rest on the counter until they are at room temperature to enjoy!
READ NEXT: 33+ Super Easy Breakfast Ideas
More of our Favorite Fall Pumpkin Recipes
Fall means all the pumpkin recipes! Clear a large work surface in your kitchen and get started on all these pumpkin recipes that you will love. Here are some of our very favorites to enjoy this season!
Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 cup cold butter cut
- 1 cup pure pumpkin
- 4 Tablespoon milk slowly adding one tablespoon at a time.
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1/4 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until butter is mixed in (no larger than pea sized).
- In separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk and egg.
- Slowly fold pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients. If using chocolate chips, fold them in now as well.
- Should start to form into a soft ball. (If needed add more flour until you can form that soft dough ball.)
- Put dough ball out onto floured surface. Knead 5 or 6 times until smooth. Flatten into round circle about ½ inch thick.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut circle into 8 triangle shaped scones.
- Place scones on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Frosting
- Combine all frosting ingredients. Beat together with mixer until smooth. Drizzle over the top of cooled scones.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- The colder the butter, the better!
- Cut your butter into cubes or sticks for easier mixing.
- Make sure to measure your flour with a sifter or spoon it into your measuring cup.
- Using canned pumpkin in this recipe adds plenty of moisture, so you may not need all the milk the recipe calls for.
- Avoid using a mixer for this recipe. You can use a pastry cutter to cut in your butter.
- Don’t over mix!
How to Store Pumpkin Scones
- It is best to store pumpkin scones in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.
- If storing the scones with frosting in the refrigerator, let them rest on the counter until they are at room temperature to enjoy.
Nutrition Information
These are absolutely fantastic! Love them!
I jist love pumpkin season and these just shout fall
Whole cloves or ground cloves?
ground cloves