Today I am bringing you a little taste of Australia in these pumpkin scones. They are not like the Pumpkin scones you typically find in America. These are light and fluffy, and slightly savory. They are very popular in Australia – and are made year round as pumpkins are not a seasonal food in Australia. In America, we typically only get pumpkins between October and December.
The first step in making these scones is making some mashed pumpkin. You can use a can of mashed pumpkin, such as Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin if you would like to save some time. I made mine from a Sugar Pie pumpkin. They are wonderful pumpkins for baking, so it was an easy choice for these scones. To prepare the pumpkin, I removed the skin and seeds, then chopped the pumpkin into cubes. Place the chopped pumpkin into a saucepan and cover with water, then boil for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Drain the water, then mash the pumpkin – just like you would with potatoes.
You will find the recipe for these scones down the bottom of this page – so make up the dough then roll in out into a circle about 3/4 inch thick (2cm). One note – the amount of milk you use will depend on your pumpkin. Some pumpkins have a higher water content, so you need to use some judgement when making the dough. Start out with the minimum amount of milk. If the dough is too dry, add some more, 1 tablespoon at a time. You need the dough to be soft and moist but not sticky. If it’s sticking to your hands or spoon, then you may need to add a little more flour. I had to do this with this batch – I must not have drained my pumpkin as much as usual!
In America, it’s typical to cut the dough into triangles. In Australia, we use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. Make sure you lightly flour the cutter in between each cut – otherwise it will stick to the cookie cutter. What a mess!
The scones are then placed on a greased tray, very close together.
Glaze the top of the scones with some milk and egg, so that they brown on top during cooking. Then into the oven they go!
Scones are best when they first come out of the oven. Give them a few minutes to cool down slightly, then serve them up!
They taste wonderful served with butter, although I’ve been known to eat them plain 🙂 A little bit of honey on top will sweeten these muffins, or some chopped chives mixed with the butter will bring out their savory side. The recipe is based around the recipe for Devonshire Scones, so if you love the texture of those scones and the taste of pumpkin, these scones will become your favorite recipe!
- 1 oz butter
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup mashed pumpkin
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2½ cups self rising flour
- pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ - ½ cup milk
- egg and milk remains for glaze
- Preheat oven to 420°F, and grease a small baking tray (12x8)
- Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the mashed pumpkin and mix well.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg. Add the egg to the mixture. Any leftover egg in the bowl can be kept for the glaze.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Gradually add ¼ cup milk and the flour to the pumpkin mixture. If the dough is too dry, add some more milk until the dough is soft and moist but not sticky. If your dough is sticky, add a little more flour.
- Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface. Press out the dough into a circle until it is ¾ inch thick. Using a 1 inch circular cutter, cut the dough, flouring the cutter in between each cut.
- Place the circles of dough closely together on the greased tray. Add 1-2 teaspoons of milk to the egg bowl, mix and brush the tops with the egg mixture. If you forgot to save the bowl, mix one egg with 1 tablespoon of milk.
- Bake for 12 - 15 minutes.
- The amount of milk required depends on the moisture content of the pumpkin. The dough should be soft and moist, but not sticky.
