If you love to bake with pumpkin, then don’t go another minute without these flaky pumpkin scones topped with a decadent maple glaze. Perfect with a hot cup of coffee on a crisp fall morning.
Pumpkin: it’s not just for pumpkin pie anymore!
I’ve already made pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin frappuccinos….even pumpkin coffee creamer. To be honest though, I was a little nervous to develop a recipe for classic pumpkin scones because the ones at the bakery are just so delicious. After a few tries, though, I created a buttery scone recipe that is perfectly spiced without being overly sweet. And did I mention maple icing?
Tell me About These Pumpkin Scones
- Texture: heavy cream helps produce a freshly-baked scone that is both soft and flaky in the center, crisp on top, and crumbly at the corners.
- Flavor: these buttery scones are the perfect blend of sweet and spice for the pumpkin obsessed. With every bite, you’ll get a delicious shot of pumpkin spice cut with sweet maple frosting. You can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here!
- Ease: if you follow the recipe closely, including my success tips below, this pumpkin recipe is quick and easy to make for breakfast, brunch, or anytime.
- Time: the scone dough comes together quickly in about 20 minutes and then just 25 minutes more in the oven to pumpkin perfection. Serve these scones warm right away for the best taste.
These classic pumpkin scones are inspired by my perfect, no-fail master recipe for scones. Use it to build a scone with your own favorite add-ins like lemon blueberry scones, ham & cheese scones, banana scones, and more! Here are all of my scone recipes.
Recipe Testing Pumpkin Scones: What Works & What Doesn’t
- Frozen butter = success. As your scone bakes, frozen butter will melt and release steam, creating tender flaky pockets in the middle with crisp and crumbly edges. Butter that hasn’t been frozen could melt before it makes it to the oven, and you’ll lose all that tender, flaky goodness.
- Grate the butter. Weird, right? Fine shreds of cold butter make for an even mix into the dry ingredients. If you don’t own a grater, you can also use a sharp knife to cut the butter into small chunks, but I prefer the teeny shreds.
- Blot the pumpkin. Trust me on this. Pumpkin puree is extremely wet and can cause spreading in your mixture. Blot the pumpkin for 15 seconds with a paper towel before you use it. For more details on blotting pumpkin, see my pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or pumpkin snickerdoodles.
- Don’t over-mix the dough. After you add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix with ease until combined. Just like pie crust, over-mixing the scone dough will result in a tough texture.
Heavy Cream for the Win
There are some recipes where substituting similar ingredients is okay, but this isn’t one of them. Rich heavy cream or buttermilk is the secret to these delicious scones.
- Heavy cream or buttermilk is a must. Texture is crucial for the perfect scone, so don’t substitute milk or nondairy milk in this recipe. You’ll lose both the texture and flavor that make these scones irresistible.
- I swear by this trick. Brush the scones with the remaining heavy cream or buttermilk right before baking and sprinkle with a little coarse sugar if you have any. It will help ensure that sweet, crisp exterior.
Overview: How to Make Classic Pumpkin Scones
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it quickly so you understand each step before you get started.
- Whisk dry ingredients together.
- Add frozen butter to the flour mixture. Grate your butter and add to the flour mixture using a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Remember, you don’t want the butter to melt before you bake.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together. After they are combined, drizzle the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix until moistened throughout.
- Flour up. Coat your hands in flour and work the mixture into a ball of dough. The dough should be thoroughly combined, but don’t overwork it which could result in a tough texture.
- Flatten dough ball into an 8-inch disc. Use a sharp knife to cut the disc into 8 equal wedges.
- Don’t forget the heavy cream wash. Brush the remaining heavy cream (or buttermilk) onto your scones using a pastry brush right before baking. Sprinkle with coarse sugar for a sweet textured crunch.
- Make the glaze. While the scones are baking, make the maple glaze over low heat by combining the butter and maple syrup until the mixture is completely melted. Remove from the heat and add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and a dash of salt to achieve the perfect glaze consistency.
- Drizzle over the scones. Add the maple icing while the scones are still warm so it melts into every flake, crack, and crevice. You’ll taste melty maple goodness with every bite.
More Fall Recipes
- Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
- Apple Cider Donuts & Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Bars
- Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Maple Pecan Sticky Buns
- Pumpkin Spice Waffles or Pumpkin Pancakes
Classic Pumpkin Scones
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Deliciously spiced classic pumpkin scones are flaky and soft with perfectly crumbly edges. Top with coarse sugar for extra crunch and maple icing for extra decadence!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons (105ml) heavy cream, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (115g) canned pumpkin puree, blotted*
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: coarse sugar for sprinkling on top before baking
Maple Glaze
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- pinch salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Adjust baking rack to the middle-low position. Line 1 or 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini scones, I use 2 baking sheets. Set aside.
- Make the scones: Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter (I use a box grater). Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and combine it with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers until the mixture comes together in pea-sized crumbs. Set aside.
- Whisk 1/3 cup (75ml) heavy cream, the egg, blotted pumpkin (see note), brown sugar, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Drizzle it over the flour mixture and then mix it all together until everything appears moistened.
- With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can and transfer onto a floured work surface. Press into a neat 8-inch disc and, with a very sharp knife, cut into 8 equal wedges. To make smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 equal wedges. (Larger scones are pictured in this blog post.)
- Place scones at least 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s). Using a pastry brush, brush scones with remaining heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. (Gives a nice crunch!)
- Bake the larger scones for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. If you made 16 smaller scones, bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes as you prepare the icing.
- Make the glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and maple syrup together, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners’ sugar. Taste and add a pinch of salt if desired. Drizzle over warm scones.
- Scones are best enjoyed right away, though leftover scones keep well at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 2 extra days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Plain baked scones freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then heat up to your liking before icing and enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Box Grater | Pastry Cutter | Pastry Brush | Saucepan
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice here. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/2 teaspoon each: ground allspice and ground ginger AND 1/4 teaspoon each: ground nutmeg and ground cloves. This is in addition to the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in the recipe—you will still add that.
- Blotting Pumpkin: Using a paper towel or clean kitchen towel, lightly blot the pumpkin puree to remove some of the moisture before using in the recipe. The more moisture removed, the less moist and muffin-like the scones will taste. We want the scones to be flaky and crumbly, not super moist or muffin-like. I prefer to squeeze lots of moisture out so the scones taste textured and delicious. Do what you prefer!
Just not my favorite! Tasted less like pumpkin and more like cinnamon and spices. Love the other scone recipes are I’ve tried though!
These were so good! My first attempt at scones and they were easy and delicious. They are a subtle pumpkin and spice flavour, just really nice. I added a small amount of white choc chips and I think it was a nice addition.
Also the maple glaze was very tasty too!
I literally just made these and they are delicious. The only variation I made was that I doubled the recipe and put the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking. They were perfect!
I wanted to make scones for my elderly mom who loves pumpkin anything and who also has been trying to perfect her own scone recipe. My Nana used to make raisin scones when I was a kid and my mom has tried and tried to get the recipe like my Nanas. I was having my mom over for tea and made these pumpkin ones for us. We absolutely LOVED them and she said they reminded her of the flaky, buttery ones my Nana made!! SUCCESS! I sent her home with a few to share with her friends. Thank you for such a delicious recipe and helping me share a little nostalgia with my mom.
Can I ask if single cream is ok to use- single cream is about 18% fat or am I better making some butter milk?
Hi Paulina, Heavy cream contains about 36% fat, so in this case you would be better off with buttermilk. Enjoy!
These really are the best scones you will ever make. The basic scone recipe is perfect and all variations work absolutely delectably! I have tried a lot of recipes before and I’ll never try another after this. I’ve been making them for a while now and have finally taken the time to review.
Turned out great! I cut the recipe in half to make mini scones (baked at 390F for 16 minutes on bottom rack) and they turned out perfectly. I think I’m going to add mini chocolate chips next time too.
I’m a senior in college at a school in a major city, so we have very little kitchen space, but this recipe was perfect for bringing a taste of fall and home-baked goods into the dorm! I also found the dough to be very wet, so I added a lot more flour than it mentioned to. I also put them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to make sure they didn’t spread too much. They came out amazingly! I didn’t make the glaze because I didn’t have the ingredients, but the scones are perfect on their own or with some butter or apple butter. They’re not overly sweet or cakey, just nice and flaky.
Wow! I followed the recipe exactly, including blotting the pumpkin and grating the frozen pumpkin. I live in New England, so we always have maple syrup in the refrigerator. Cooked for 18 minutes. If a 73 year old man can do a good job making these, anybody can. These are really delicious.
Hi ! Can you freeze them on day two if they are already iced ?
Hi Angela! It’s best to freeze the scones without icing as it may seep into the scones when thawing. But let us know if you give it a try!
These are delicious! Perfectly moist while also distinctly a scone, which is a fine line to walk. I made some extra variants with pecan and white chocolate that were great
Side note: Sally’s site is my go-to and I have literally never made something that wasn’t delicious that I found here. Good work!
Thank you for making a true scone with pumpkin. I’ve been searching for one forever and about quit to play around with it myself. Most recipes are just cake that’s cut into a pumpkin shape with extra flour added. THis is a real flaky scone and not overly sweet. I’ve seen recipes with just pumpkin spice and thought I might have to settle for that. I love a nice crumbly proper scone. THis is perfect.
In the end these were delicious! Somehow the dough was way to wet to form into anything but blobs. I scraped it all back together and added more flour so I could cut them into 8 wedges. Baked up beautifully crisp yet tender! I browned the butter for the glaze – super tasty.
There seems to be a lot of different results in the comments which is interesting! I made my first batch incorrectly and forgot to add in the butter, tried again and did everything as the recipe said. The dough I thought was quite sticky but I gave it a generous coating of flour on both sides, folded once or twice then formed it into a circle, cut it quickly and threw it in the oven.
I did not blot my pumpkin (homemade pumpkin puree) as much as I should have so the scones were on the cakey-er side but I didn’t mind. I wonder if you couldn’t just omit the egg and leave the pumpkin wet without blotting?
The scones held shape very nicely in the oven and baked well, mine were in for closer to 25-30 minutes, lost count at the end. I read comments that their scones cooked super quickly and that definitely wasn’t the case with mine.
I added extra cinnamon, fresh ground nutmeg, cloves, and the called for amount of pumpkin pie spice and the scones still didn’t have a big spice flavor to them. I think I would increase the spice level next time, which is probably just personal preference. All in all a good recipe, and turned out well for my first time making scones!
Can i use 2% milk instead of cream?
Hi Juju, You can use 2% milk, but the thinner the liquid, the more likely the scones will over-spread. Grab some heavy cream if you can!
I absolutely love your scone recipes and can’t wait to make this one! I’m going to try to make them as pumpkin “gingerbread “ adding ginger spice and candied ginger. Any thoughts on other ingredients to add?
I’ve used your basic scone recipe to make strawberry rhubarb scones…so yummy!!
Hi Deborah, We’ve never tried to make gingerbread scones before! The quintessential gingerbread flavor comes from using the spices cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, along with using molasses (unsulphered is the best choice). We’d love to know if you give anything a try!
So I used your pumpkin scone recipe and added cloves, nutmeg, molasses and candied ginger. I dropped the dough onto the baking sheet rather than then the wedges; they were still brushed with the heavy cream and Turbinado Cane Sugar. After baking, I then topped them with a vanilla/cinnamon glaze. I think they came out pretty good.
The time on the smaller scones is too long. It just barely burnt my scones doing 18 minutes.
But the taste of them is great! Will definitely try again.
Hi Sally! I’m a huge fan of your master scones recipe and I can’t wait to try these as we near closer and closer to fall! Quick question – I’m thinking of adding a bit of ginger to these to give it a nice added spice… 1) do you think this could work? 2) would you recommend using fresh or ground here? Thanks a bunch!!! 🙂
Hi Abbey, ginger sounds like a delicious addition to these pumpkin scones! You could try adding some chopped candied ginger and some powdered ginger to the dry ingredients. The amount really depends on how potent you’d like them — we’d start with about 1/2 teaspoon of dried ginger and some finely minced candied ginger. Let us know what you try!
Really excited to try this! Do you have any tips for getting the glaze to have that light crunch that professional glazes do? I’ve tried in the past and the glaze ends up seeping into the scone instead of sitting nicely on top and hardening a little
Hi Amy, you could try adding a little bit of corn syrup to the icing, like we use in this easy glaze icing recipe for cookie decorating. Let us know how it turns out!
Sally—-is there any way I can get the nutritional info on these? I’m on a restricted sodium diet so I would love to find out the sodium content. thank you!
Hi Laurel! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Absolute winner! I chose to use a food processor, after adding frozen shredded butter, i gave it a few pulses. Added the wet ingredients then turned on just few seconds until dough came together. Spilled it out on counter and formed disc. I did blot the living daylights out of the canned pumpkin, and removed quite a bit of moisture. I have a manual convection oven so I baked at 375 for 18 minutes and they were perfection. I omitted glaze and just brushed with heavy cream and sprinkled sugar. AMAZING!!!!
Thank you for this comment! I was just wondering about making them in the food processor.
I put all my dry ingredients for scones into my food processor and then cut my butter into small cubes and pulse in my processor until incorporated. I can’t tell a difference and simplifies the process!
Dough was a bit dry and hard to mix but scones turned out fairly well; just didn’t rise as much as would like. From Australia and used microwaved Kent Pumpkin that had left in fridge overnight – think this was a bit dryer than canned stuff. Next time will add bit more moisture just to help mix and stop me overworking dough. Scone taste was great not too sweet and like sugr crunch on top. Nice and crumbly/crunchy on the outside.
The dough was far too sticky to work with. The temperature and cooking time recommendation was too high and too long- almost turned into rocks. Would recommend 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Nicely spiced recipe though.
Hello, I don’t think tinned pumpkin is a thing here is Australia. Can I use real pumpkin, cooked and pureed?
Hi Susann, you can use homemade pumpkin puree here as well. Hope you enjoy the scones!
This will be my only scone recipe it’s excellent. I used Libby pumpkin that I drained via a sieve and let. It drain for several hours. I blotted it the next day after taking it from frig and there was still moisture in it. Only change I made was to add 1/2 cup currents that I plumped in warm water dried and tossed with the flour mixture. The scones were wonderful I topped with sugar and sliced almonds we loved them. Light tasty sweet enough but not too sweet (skipped the drizzle). The blueberry scones were delicious too easy.
I’m currently making my second round of blueberry scones and my first of the pumpkin. So far they are delicious and my family loves them!
My only issue is that when I mix the blueberries in (I use fresh ones) they tend to break apart no matter how gently I try to mix the dough. This results in an exceedingly wet and sticky dough. I’ve tried adding more flour but the extra mixing in turn squashed the berries more. ♀️ Lol.
Any suggestions? They still baked up delicious so it’s not really the biggest problem but I’d love to be able to make it less sticky.
Hi Liz! The best solution we’ve found is keeping the scone dough PLAIN, then once you’ve shaped it into a round, press the blueberries into the dough all over the top, sides, and bottom. That way they aren’t really being mixed. Instead, you’re just applying/sticking them into the dough. Does that make sense?
I use frozen blueberries in my scones. Works better than fresh. I buy fresh and just store them in the freezer.
Fresh blueberries need to be tossed in flour or baking powder to hold but try using dried wild blueberries they won’t stick or break apart and soften nicely when baked
I made the classic pumpkin but added mini chocolate chips also, and of course drizzled with the maple glaze. So delicious.
I also made a GF version. For baking I cut parchment into circles and scooped them flattened into a muffin top pan. My 18 year old son was very appreciative. While I did not try a taste, heaven forbid I take a bite away from him, I did break one in half with my hands and it was the same feel and texture that the regular one was.
Because I was doing two batches I did each step for both at the same time, putting each portion into the fridge/freezer as thought best.
I did whisk the brown sugar straight into the flour before adding the butter and that worked fine. In addition, I had a lot of extra half and half in my house so I used that but added 3 TBSP of powdered buttermilk to it then also mixed in the pumpkin and egg and keep it in the fridge til ready to use.
I did complete the mixing of the GF ones first then used a large cookie scoop and then flattened each round. I did put it in the freezer to set up just a little bit while mixing and baking the non-GF batch.
For blotting the pumpkin, I used paper towels and changed out the paper towels three times.
Also, one more side note, the frozen butter was time consuming to grate. So for the second batch, I used my course zyliss grayer on just cold butter, then spread it on a plate and put it in the freezer for a few minutes while assembly of all the other parts.
Hopefully these note will be a help to others…
Thank you! I was thinking the same thought about grating frozen butter (grating a nub of ginger is tedious enough haha) but I didn’t want to ruin the recipe before I started. And I’m glad somebody has used single cream (half half) – I’m used to real scones (I’m British) where milk of any fat content is perfectly acceptable so I was surprised it’s not advised here.
My family and friends love all the scones and I frequently get requests. I used your basic recipe but put 1/4c brown sugar and 1/4 c regular sugar. Put 1/2 tsp maple flavoring and 1tsp vanilla. 3/4 cup of chopped pecans and 3/4 cups real bacon bits and used your maple glaze from your donut recipe. It is a new favorite especially with the men of the family. I love all the recipes I’ve tried and the explanations, videos and instructions make them fool proof.
Great recipe! We make multiple batches often and freeze them unbaked. Then we bake them from frozen, adding about 2 minutes to the bake time. So yummy. Because we are freezing them I don’t worry about using frozen butter or putting back in fridge before baking. Delicious.
Thanks for the recipe. I can’t use butter so I use olive oil and add 3/4 cup to a double batch. Works great. The dough is very wet so I use oatflour cut with gluten free baking flour put in fridge overnight and it’s quite manageable after thr oats soak up the moisture. Thank you.