Full of the best pumpkin flavors! Pumpkin spice scones are soft and tender and drizzled with white chocolate. Gluten-free, made with almond flour.
It has been made abundantly clear to me that all I need in life right now is a GREAT cup of coffee and a pumpkin spice scone.
Simple pleasures. This scone has all the necessary fall feels; warming spices, soft and tender, sticky white chocolate drizzle, and easy to execute.
#AKPumpkinWeek2020 bringing in day 3 with a pumpkin baked good that will make it onto your fall recipe repeat list. No doubt! Here is the pumpkin recap so far:
Day 1: Pumpkin Cookie Protein Smoothie
Day 2: Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto
And today… The BEST pumpkin spice scones!
Let's give 'em pumpkin to talk about and Let's get baking 👩🍳
PUMPKIN SCONE INGREDIENTS:
Before we dive into the recipe (included in full at the bottom of this post) here are a few brief notes on the ingredients you will need for this recipe.
- Almond Flour – My preferred brand is Bob's Red Mill super fine almond flour. I have tested this recipe with almond meal (a courser ground almond flour) and it worked fine, but the super fine almond meal was superior. I have only tested this recipe with almond flour so I cannot determine if another flour will work.
- Arrowroot Starch – Also called arrowroot powder, if you don't have this ingredient in your healthy baking pantry I highly recommend purchasing it. Arrowroot helps improve the texture of gluten-free baked goods and is the perfect thickener for sauces, soups, and gravies.
- Butter – Frozen butter to be specific
- Eggs – Size large
- Pumpkin Puree – Not pumpkin pie filling, you can make homemade using this recipe or buy canned.
- Coconut Palm Sugar – Brown sugar works as well, but I love the deep molasses flavor of coconut palm sugar, it is also lower on the glycemic index than regular table sugar
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – Or a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. These are the spices that we correlate with “pumpkin flavor” I used a generous amount in this recipe to amp up the pumpkin-y goodness.
- Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, Almond Extract
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED:
- Mixing Bowls
- Wooden Spoon
- Box Grater
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper – or Silpat Pads
HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN SCONES:
The best lesson I have learned in my scone making journey this year is to keep your butter super cold. In this recipe, I grate frozen butter into the batter which worked so perfectly. I learned this technique from Sally's Baking Addiction, you can read her basic scone recipe and technique here. Of course, this is a gluten-free baked good which changes the scone baking technique slightly.
Here is a quick overview of the steps to make GREAT gluten-free scones!
- Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – I really like the combination of almond flour and arrowroot. It creates the perfect soft crumb.
- Grate frozen butter and “cut” it into the flour mixture – “Cut” is a term used to describe mixing the butter into the flour. You don't want to touch or heat the butter with your hands. You can either use a pastry cutter, two forks, or a food processor to cut the butter until it looks like little pea-sized pebbles. I find grating the frozen butter and then quickly using two forks to combine with the dry ingredients works perfectly.
- Drain your Pumpkin! – This step is key for optimum pumpkin flavor. Pumpkin is a watery ingredient, draining out some of the liquid will produce a better scone texture and increase pumpkin flavor. Place pumpkin in a paper towel over a small bowl. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes and then measure out 1/2 cup. The paper towel will not absorb all of the liquid but it will absorb enough to make a difference.
- Add in wet ingredients – Fold in your pumpkin puree, egg, sugar, and almond extract. Do this step gently and quickly.
- Chill the dough – This step is necessary when baking gluten-free scones. The dough is naturally a bit softer and requires chilling before cooking. Chill for at least 15 minutes or as long as overnight (i.e. I often make the dough ahead of time and bake the scones fresh when we are ready to eat them!)
- Shape the scones – Turn the dough onto a lightly flour-covered surface (I sprinkle some almond flour on my cutting board). Fold it over a few times until it forms a ball and then press into a round disc. Slice the disc into 8 triangle wedges.
- Bake – Brush each scone with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake until the scones are lightly browned and cooked through 16-18 minutes.
- Drizzle – Melt white chocolate and drizzle on scones. Serve and enjoy!
POSSIBLE VARIATIONS ON PUMPKIN SCONES:
- Chip it up! Butterscotch chips would be divine in these scones (I couldn't find any at my local market, so if you try this let me know!). You could also bake white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips into the scones.
- Add dried fruit – Raisins, apricots, or crystallized ginger would also be delish.
- Go nuts! – Hazelnuts, chopped walnuts, or almonds would all be welcome additions. Simply stir in the nuts gently after the wet ingredients.
- Mix up the drizzle – Make a glaze instead and the flavor variations are endless, maple, ginger, pumpkin spice, etc.
NUTRITION NERD CORNER 🤓
Hey Pumpkin, Thanks for Being So Healthy!
Pumpkins are orange bundles of good for you nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
Just one cup of your orange flesh provides 200% the RDA for vitamin A, a potent immune modulator, and um… in case you didn't hear immune health is pretty darn important right now! Studies show that vitamin A can help your body fight infection.
Pumpkin is also a good source of vitamin C which supports immune cells to work more effectively, speed up wound healing, and increase white blood cell production to help fight infections.
Pumpkins are also an excellent source of fiber and the seeds are packed with minerals!
MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Pumpkin Pie in a Jar
Pumpkin Chai Muffins
Pumpkin Cookie Smoothie
Vegan Pumpkin Caramel Sauce
DIETARY MODIFICATIONS FOR THIS RECIPE:
This recipe is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian.
- Vegan – Replace butter with coconut oil
- Paleo – Replace butter with coconut oil
I can’t wait for you to try this Almond Flour Pumpkin Spice Scone! When you make it, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @abrapappa or use the hashtag #abraskitchen so I can feature your photo!
If you’ve tried this recipe, don’t forget to rate and leave a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
Pumpkin Spice Scones
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cold butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree *drained - see note*
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- melted butter
- turbinado sugar
- 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Using a box grater, grate frozen butter. Using a pastry cutter or two forks cut the grated butter into the flour mixture until it resembles pea-sized pebbles.
- In a large bowl whisk together the egg, pumpkin, coconut palm sugar, and almond extract.
- Using a wooden spoon combine the dry mixture with the wet mixture.
- Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle your work surface with a bit of almond flour and melt 1 tbsp of butter to brush the top of your scones.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and place on your floured surface. Shape the dough into a large circle, then cut into 8 even triangles by cutting in half twice.
- Brush the tops of the scones with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar (optional)
- Carefully place each scone onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until scones are golden along the edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- In a double boiler melt white chocolate chips and drizzle on top of cooled scones.
Notes
POSSIBLE VARIATIONS ON PUMPKIN SCONES:
- Chip it up! Butterscotch chips would be divine in these scones (I couldn't find any at my local market, so if you try this let me know!). You could also bake white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips into the scones.
- Add dried fruit - Raisins, apricots, or crystallized ginger would also be delish.
- Go nuts! - Hazelnuts, chopped walnuts, or almonds would all be welcome additions. Simply stir in the nuts gently after the wet ingredients.
- Mix up the drizzle - Make a glaze instead and the flavor variations are endless, maple, ginger, pumpkin spice, etc.
Nutrition
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I want to make these…they look so good. I looked all over the recipe for See Note regarding pumpkin, drained and didn’t see it. How long do you drain it for and do you measure the pumpkin before or after draining? do you use a filter??
Thanks for the catch Marianne! Sorry about that, I added the note now. I just add the pumpkin to a bowl with a paper towel and blot some of the liquid, and then measure after “draining” or “blotting”. Let me know how they turn out!
Yum! The perfect fall treat! This is a new seasonal favorite. Thanks Abra!