Pumpkin Scones (Starbucks Copycat!)
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Who doesn’t love a homemade Pumpkin Scone Recipe!? Perfect for a Fall morning with a big cup of coffee.
You’ll love that they’re made with not one but two types of glaze: a classic white glaze and a decadent pumpkin spiced icing. Grab a pumpkin spice latte and you’ll be set!
These pumpkin scones are incredibly easy to make, are soft, fluffy and completely drool worthy.
They are are a million times better than store-bought baked goods, and you’re going to want to cozy up with them this Fall.
Most scone recipes are made with just one glaze or icing on top, but these are made with two! A classic white glaze and a perfectly spiced pumpkin glaze made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. It’s SO GOOD.
If you enjoy these Pumpkin Scones make sure to check out my Chocolate Chip Scones and Maple Scones too! Or if it’s more pumpkin flavors you’re craving, check out my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats!
These Pumpkin Scones are:
- Full of warm pumpkin spice flavors
- Taste like they are fresh from a bakery!
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, a snack, dessert…err, whenever you want!
- Delicately crumbly (but never dry)
- Made with the best glaze (2 glazes to be exact!)
- The ultimate Fall treat
Ingredient Notes
(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)
- Pumpkin: be sure to use 100% pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix which contains additional sugar and additional spices. 100% pumpkin allows you to control the flavors of your cookie.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds moisture to the scones without making it too wet, which helps to create a tender and flaky texture. The acidity in sour cream also helps to break down gluten in the flour, preventing the scones from becoming tough and ensuring they stay soft and crumbly.
- Buttermilk: buttermilk is a great tenderizer for scones and adds to the yummy flavor.
- Heavy cream: you’ll need heavy cream to make the glaze.
- All purpose flour: Ensure accurate measurement by spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it off. Too much flour can make the scones dry and dense. You can also make these scones using a combination of all purpose flour and cake flour for an ultra tender scone.
- Baking powder: make sure your baking powder is fresh so your scones get a beautiful rise.
- Cold butter: Cut into cubes. Cubing the cold butter makes it easier to cut into the flour mixture. The cold butter helps with the rise of the scones, along with being responsible for the crisp edges, golden brown top, and wonderful buttery flakiness.
How to make this Pumpkin Scone Recipe
(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)
Mix & Cut in Butter
Mix together the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter using a pastry blender.
Add wet into dry
Mix together just until a shaggy dough forms.
Bring it all together
Working on a lightly floured surface, bring the dough together, being careful not to overwork the dough. Flatten into an 8-inch circle.
Cut into wedges
Cut into 8 wedges, transfer to a baking sheet and chill for 15-30 minutes. Cold is KEY when making scones.
Bake
Bake the scones, and allow to cool.
Glaze and enjoy
Add the white glaze and allow to set, then add the pumpkin glaze on top. YUM!
Scone Baking Tips
- Cold ingredients are a must with scones. (The dry ingredients can be at room temperature). Using cold ingredients prevents the butter from melting before the scones are baked. That way, when the scones do get baked the butter melts in the oven and creates a ultra-flaky, tender, soft pumpkin scones. (Dry scones WHO?!)
- Chill the scones before baking: This helps to ensure the dough stays cold so the butter doesn’t melt before you bake the scones. All they need is ~15-20 minutes in the freezer! Trust me, the extra step is worth it! Be sure to clear some space before you carry the baking sheet to the freezer.
- Work fairly quickly with the dough so the cold ingredients stay cold.
- Mix until combined; do not over-mix. Overworking it will results in tough, flat scones and we want big and soft!
- The dough may be a little sticky and that’s OK. Be sure to work on a lightly floured surface and you can add a little bit of flour to help form into a ball, but do not add too much.
- Cut the butter into the scones using a pastry blender.
- Cut the scones into traingles using a bench scraper for clean cuts.
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Pumpkin Scones (Starbucks Copycat!)
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, sifted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp. kosher salt or 1/2 tsp. table salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter, unsalted, diced into pieces
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream, cold
- 1/2 cup 100% Pumpkin Puree, chilled and blotted* (don't chill the pumpkin in the can, remove it from the can before placing in the fridge)
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2-4 Tbsp. buttermilk or heavy cream, cold
- 1 egg, optional*
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp. heavy cream, cold (to brush on the tops)
White Glaze
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3-4 Tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pumpkin Glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp. 100% pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1-2 Tbsp. heavy cream
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, sifted, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, 2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp. kosher salt or 1/2 tsp. table salt, 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Cut the butter pieces into the flour using a pastry blender until pea-sized coarse crumbs form.1/2 cup cold butter, unsalted, diced into pieces
- Blot the pumpkin: Blot out some of the excess moisture in the pumpkin using paper towels. You don't have to get all of the moisture since we still want the pumpkin flavor in the scones, but some of it needs to be removed so the scones are not overly "wet." Measure out 1/2 cup pumpkin AFTER moisture is removed.
- Whisk together the sour cream, blotted pumpkin puree, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.1/2 cup full-fat sour cream, cold, 1/2 cup 100% Pumpkin Puree, chilled and blotted*, 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed, 2-4 Tbsp. buttermilk or heavy cream, cold, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 egg, optional*
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Combine using a rubber spatula until slightly incorporated, it will look like a shaggy dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold/gently knead until you can form a ball, being careful not to overwork the dough. Flatten it out into an 8-inch circle. Dough may be sticky, use a little flour as needed.
- Shape the scones by cutting them into 8 triangles using a bench scraper or knife. If it's sticky, lightly flour the bench scraper/knife.
- Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet and chill in the freezer for 15-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. When ready to bake, brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream.
- Bake for ~14-16 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Allow the scones to cool completely.1 Tbsp. heavy cream, cold (to brush on the tops)
- For the white glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla in a bowl. You’re looking for a thicker glaze, not runny. Spread on top of the scones, and then allow this glaze to set completely.1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 3-4 Tbsp. heavy cream, 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Once set, make the pumpkin glaze. Whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Transfer to a ziplock baggie, and cut a small part of the corner off. Drizzle over the scones. Allow to set, then enjoy! I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar sugar on top for a finishing look.3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. 100% pumpkin puree, 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1-2 Tbsp. heavy cream
- Scones are best the day of, or store in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Video
Notes
- Freeze cooled scones without frosting in a plastic baggie for up to 3 months.
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice mix, make a homemade pumpkin pie spice! Combine 4 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. ground cloves and ½ tsp. ground nutmeg. Use 2 ½ tsp. for the scones.
- *Egg: I have made this recipe with and without an egg. The recipe doesn’t need it. In fact, traditional recipes usually don’t require eggs. But if you want to add it in, that’s totally fine! It adds a richness to the scones that’s really good.
- To make mini scones, divide the dough in half and make 2 circles. Cut each circle into 8 triangles so now you have 16 mini scones. Bake at 400°F for ~10-12 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
These scones turned out great. Instead of pumpkin, I used puréed butternut squash.(just another kind of squash and it worked well) Didn’t have buttermilk so used 18%cream instead. I cut the circle into 12 wedges instead of 8 which made a nice size, not too big. Will definitely make again.
so glad they turned out well with your modifications 🙂 thank you so much!
These are SO delicious. I used Bob’s Redmill 1:1 gluten free flour for these and turned out perfect!
so glad the gf worked well 🙂 they look great! thank you for making!
It says 8 large scones…could those be cut to make 16? Smaller ones?
Yes I’ve done that before and works well!
Delicious and super easy to make!!
They look great! Thank you so much:)
These were super easy to make and they were very tasty. Family approved ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
gorgeous! thank you!
I always thought scones were hard and dry but not these!!! Another stellar recipe by Tawnie. I brought these to our Sunday small group and they were gobbled up! I only got one bite! Will definitely be making again this pumpkin season.
Omg these are simply amazing. Light and fluffy with tons of pumpkin pie spice . Will be making again for sure
I love pumpkin spice season!
These scones are amazing and delicious!
Hi! I would LOVE to make this for the family but I cannot digest heavy cream 🙁 what would you suggest I substitute for the heavy cream? I did google it, and saw they recommended 2% milk & butter but I thought I would ask the quite talented author of this recipe…… btw, tried the snickerdoodle recipe~ impressed the entire family 🙂 looking forward to trying more of your treasures!
Hi Pam! Thank you so much for your comment. You can brush the scones with melted butter instead of heavy and cream use milk in the glaze! I hope you love them! And I am so glad you enjoyed the snickerdoodles!! Happy Baking. xo, Tawnie
I adore pumpkin at this time of year and these scones sound like the epitome of Fall! Absolutely delicious.