Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Glazed

One thing that I am not too terribly proud to admit is the fact that I do routinely listen to Delilah.  Hear me out.  I like the music more often than not and I do sometimes like laughing at some of Momma Bear Delilah's advice.  It's my night time, doing dishes, sprucing up my living room, reading cookbooks music.  But then something tragic happened yesterday evening.  I turned on my radio and do you know the first song I heard?  Sleigh Ride.  Sleigh Ride, people.  It's November 10th.  Peeps, it is 45 days till Christmas.

Can I just tell you how wrong it is that 7 weeks before Christmas, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is coming across the radio waves?  It hasn't even snowed yet in Indiana (thank God), even thinking "Let It Snow" should be a crime punishable by the force feeding of mass amounts of turkey, mash potatoes and gravy.

All I am saying here is that Christmas music is really only enjoyable for so long and it's early November.  And every year, it seems as if the magic date when some people think Christmas music is acceptable creeps earlier and earlier.  If we continue at this rate, you will be burned out on Santa Baby before Thanksgiving even hits.  Is that what you want, Delilah?  There is no reason to rush towards the end of December when November is such a good month.  It has Thanksgiving, a grand holiday that does not deserve to be upstaged by Christmas.  It has chilly days when you just need a scarf and warm jacket and snow, thank God, is still a week or two off.  It has lazy Saturday mornings filled with the scent of pumpkin scones baking in your kitchen.  And, of course, it is my birthday month, which is just the spiced glaze on the pumpkin scone.  So, Delilah, I just want to let you know that November, in all of it's beautiful fall glory, does not need a soundtrack of Jingle Bell Rock.

So,  celebrate the great month of November and make these yummy pumpkin scones with spiced glazed and meanwhile I am going to rethink my Delilah allegiance.

Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Glaze
Inspired by Bourbonnatrix Bakes


Note:  These flash freeze beautifully.  I made a batch of 12 for Ben and myself last weekend and flash froze them Friday night.  I pulled out 4 Saturday morning and baked them fresh.  And just knowing that I have 8 left in the freezer, ready to bake up all lovely and delicious makes me very happy.  Also, I think the amount of flour is off.  To make the dough even manageable I had to add several hand-fulls of flour.  I adjusted the recipe somewhat, but because I wasn't measuring, I went on the conservative side.  If you find yourself adding lots more flour, don't stress it, because I was in the same boat.  And you'll end up with beautiful pumpkin scones, so it's a good boat to be in!

Scones:

2 1/2- 3 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. + 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 c. pumpkin puree

3 Tbsp. half-and-half

1 large egg

Plain Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. milk

Spiced Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Add butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Fit mixer with paddle attachment and mix on low speed until butter pieces are about the size of small peas and mixture is course like cornmeal. 

In medium bowl, combine remaining scone ingredients.  Whisk wet ingredients till smooth.  Mix wet and dry ingredients together, gradually adding more flour until dough forms a ball and is only slightly sticky to the touch.  Turn out onto very well floured surface.  Use lots of flour to prevent dough from sticking to everything, and form a 1-inch thick rectangle (~4 inches by 12 inches)   Slice dough into 3 equal segments, then cut each segment into 4 in an X pattern, to make 12 triangular scones.  (see picture above!)   Place on prepared baking sheet.  

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

To make glazes:  whisk together powdered sugar, milk and spices (for spiced glaze).  Depending on your consistency, add more powder sugar or milk as necessary.  Be careful adding milk!  You need lots of powdered sugar for every small dash of milk.  For the spiced glaze, I honestly didn't really measure, since I only baked up 4 scones.  Just taste frequently and you should be good!

Drizzle cooled scones with plain glaze, followed by spiced glaze.  Let dry for 10-15 minutes before eating.  Enjoy!!

To flash freeze: freeze scones flat on baking sheet for several hours.  Afterwards, move to a Ziploc baggie and keep in freezer until ready to use.  Scones can go right from the freezer to the oven, just add a few minutes to the baking time!