Pumpkin has to be my favorite fall flavor! I know it’s no longer fall, but I miss pumpkin, so I decided to bake with it today. I couldn’t resist making this pumpkin scone recipe after drooling over the pictures in one of my newest cookbooks. The scones were plump and dripping with gooey caramel sauce. What can I say, I’m weak. Scones + caramel= no will power.

During the months of October and November, I tend to go a bit overboard with pumpkin. I put it in everything. There’s something about the flavor of pumpkin that makes me feel warm and toasty inside- it’s probably the warm spices that are associated with pumpkin that enhance its warm qualities. I’m not even going to tell you how many pumpkin lattes I drank over the course of the fall/winter season; it’s embarrassing.

Look at that dreamy caramel dripping off the scones. Who could resist? The thought of these scones sitting in your kitchen will cause you to wake up in the middle of the night, put your robe on, then wander to the kitchen to sneak a nibble.

One of the greatest rewards of baking is the rich smell that fills your house when you have something sweet in the oven. No candle, air freshener, plugin, or potpourri can come close to the sweet, spicy aromas that will fill your house while these pumpkin scones are baking in the oven. It’s a smell that will cause you to stop what ever it is you’re doing in the house to take a big whiff of the fragrant air that surrounds you.

Buttermilk, pumpkin, butter, and cream cheese assist in making this scone moist and cakey. This scone recipe is very different from a typical buttermilk scone. It’s tender, but not flakey, like most scones. These scones take on more of a cake quality. It’s moist and slightly dense, like a cake. The outside is crunchy, while the inside is soft and chewy.

The dough for this scone recipe is on the wet side. I suggest taking an ice-cream scooper and scooping the dough right out of the bowl and onto a greased sheet pan. I did it the hard way and tried to roll out the dough and use a biscuit cutter, but the dough was much to wet for that. I ended up resorting to an ice-cream scoop. I think I actually like the scoop method better. Less of a mess to clean up in the end.

The end result is a beautiful, rich, spicy, cakey, gooey scone. Definitely rewarding. Enjoy!

Love and sweet treats,

The Messy Baker

Recipe:

adapted from Alice’s Tea Cup

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tbs ginger

1 tbs cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

4 oz. cream cheese, cold and chunked (1/2 an 80z. brick)

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, cold

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

2 tbs vanilla extract

1 cup cinnamon chips

1 recipe caramel sauce, for glazing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Prepare the caramel sauce recipe. For this recipe, you will not need to let the caramel sauce cool for the full 2-4 hours. After making the sauce, place in heat proof container to cool while you make and bake the scones.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter, or your hands, cut the butter and cream cheese into the dry mixture until it is incorporated and has the consistency of bread crumbs.

Make a well in he center of the dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla into the well. Using a rubber spatula, or your hands, combine the ingredients until the dry mixture is wet. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cinnamon chips.

Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop out the dough and place on a greased sheet pan. Bake the scones for about 20 minutes, or until lightly brown on top. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet for about 2o minutes before drizzling them with the caramel. By this time, the caramel sauce will have cooled long enough in order to glaze the scones. By the way, don’t be shy with the caramel sauce.