Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze

Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze

I have always loved to mix up concoctions in the kitchen.  That's the word I used for the original recipes I created as a child and then bullied my younger sister into sampling.  She still talks about the time I made "cookies" by mixing bran flakes, peanut butter and honey.  I rolled this concoction into balls and refrigerated them.  You know, they might not have been that original but they didn't taste half bad.

Ever since childhood, I have been mixing and measuring, dreaming up new ways to create tasty treats in the kitchen.  It is a genuine hobby, and like I tell the children in my classes, we mix a little science and a little art to make magic!

Rows of yummy goodness.

I am grateful that I had lots of inspiration in my life including a little sister who was mostly willing to be brave and try what no one else was willing to try.  I should add that she is now an excellent cook in her own right.  More than anything in the world, I love going to her cozy house and sitting in the kitchen while she whips up treats for me!  I am supremely thankful for a mother who let me talk and talk and talk her ear off while I stirred whatever dinner she was making.  A ritual that we still participate in today and I am happy to say she still has both her ears.  My dear grandmother, Nini, who sat me down in college and helped me copy all the family recipes on cards for my own collection.  And my other dear grandmother, Grandma, who sifted through her family recipes and photographs and made a family cookbook.

Add in all the aunts, cousins, college roommates, coworkers, neighbors and friends and you begin to piece together your life by the recipes you've collected.  When I pull out my recipe box, it is a trip down memory lane, like an episode of "This is Your Life" each recipe is a reminder of the dear person who shared it with me.

So this beautiful Fall morning with sun shining and coffee brewing, I played in the kitchen, mixing this and adding that, and out came warm, slightly sweet and tempting pumpkin scones.  This recipe was created by me for you and I hope it will be good enough to find it's way into your recipe box!

Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze

Scones
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
6 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin, canned puree not pumpkin pie filling
1 tablespoon molasses

Maple Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon half and half

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Add the butter and cut into the flour mixture using two forks until the mixture resembles course meal. 

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk, molasses and pumpkin.  Mix until just combined.  The dough should be thick.  Turn out onto a floured board.  Dust flour on the top and roll out to 3/4 to 1 inch in thickness. 

Using a fluted biscuit cutter, cut into rounds and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes or until orange-brown in color and firm to touch.

While the scones are baking, mix the powdered sugar, maple syrup and half and half in a small bowl.  You want the glaze to be thick because it will melt onto the warm scone.

Remove scones from the oven and top with glaze.  Eat immediately.

Makes about 15 scones