It feels completely trivial and wrong to post a recipe for scones after what happened last night.
I’m still trying to understand what country I live in. It feels like my world is completely different than 50% of America, and that genuinely shocks me. I have not yet recovered, and I don’t think I have anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation. I’m trying to listen to the other side and see what they have to say. That’s the only way forward from this. But this blog has never been a place for politics, and we all need something delicious and a healthy dose of comic relief. I wrote this post before the election results came in, and I’ll leave the rest as is.
I’m not one to let a good pumpkin go to waste.
I’ve told you guys a million times that I have an irrational hatred of Halloween, but of course the one redeeming thing about Halloween is that you end up with pumpkins. A couple weeks back, Jason’s parents took Theo to a pumpkin patch and let him pick one out. Because he is my son he chose a sugar pumpkin which means it can be eaten and not one of those terrible giant messes that ends up rotting on your front porch.
Nope. That’s not for us. Honestly I think he chose it because it was his size and he could carry it, but I’m going to pretend that he was sending me a secret message to make scones. Or pie. Or bread. I hear you, Theo. I got this.
I let Theo keep his pumpkin for about two weeks until I noticed it was starting to get a soft spot at which point I told him that his friend was going into the oven and would emerge a delicious, delicious scone. He was unfazed.
And that’s how we end up here, with mouthfuls of scones and crumbs on our faces. Baby approved (not a fluke—fed this to two babies, both opened their mouths and leaned in from a foot away—Sarah of Wisconsin From Scratch can confirm), but also very much a win for those of us who want to eat this with espresso.
- ½ cup pure pumpkin puree (if starting from real pumpkin, see instructions, otherwise canned is fine)
- ¼ cup brown sugar, + 2 tablespoons for topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup buttermilk, plus more for brushing
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Place pumpkin, cut sides down, on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 45-60 minutes until tender.
- Let cool slightly, then scrape out flesh. Puree in a food processor until smooth, adding a splash of water if needed.
- Measure out ½ cup, reserve the rest for another use.
- In a large bowl, whisk together ¼ cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, cloves, baking soda, and flour. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until it forms small pea-sized lumps.
- In a medium bowl, mix together egg, pumpkin, and buttermilk. Pour into bowl with flour and stir until dough starts to form. Add a bit more flour if dough is too wet.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a 1½ inch thick disk. Cut into 8 wedges or shape into 8 circles. Transfer scones to a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 25-30 minutes, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400. Brush scones with additional buttermilk and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. If scones were in the freezer for 30 minutes, bake for 25-30 minutes until golden grown. If frozen overnight, bake for 30-35 minutes.
Recipe adapted from November 2014 issue of Bon Appetit.
I am going to try your scone recipe.. But I love your dishes. I also have the Dessert Rose pattern. They are still my favorites.
writes Shayla GallingerThank you Shayla! I only have this one plate that I picked up from an antique shop – would be great to have a whole set!
writes Vicky