Iced Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones

By Nicole Hunn | Published: September 19, 2016 | Posted In: Holidays, Pastries, Scones, Thanksgiving Recipes

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time : 15

Cook Time : 20

These gluten free pumpkin scones have the delightfully crumbly, but moist, crumb of all good pastry, and all the tastes of pumpkin pie. Don't forget the simple sugar icing!

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These iced gluten free pumpkin scones taste like pumpkin pie in a neat little handheld pastry. Made with my favorite pumpkin butter, and spiced just right!

A close up of a pumpkin scone on brown parchment paper

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Why baking gluten free pumpkin treats is so important to me

I make no secret of how much I love fall: the clothes (everyone looks lovely in a turtle neck!), the activities (apple picking! visits to the pumpkin patch!), and the baking, oh the baking. When I first had to dive head first into gluten free baking, way, way back in 2004, it was early fall.

Since that was back in the dark ages of gluten free baking, I tried and failed (miserably) to recreate all my favorite baking recipes. It was a real heartbreak. I wanted my gluten free son to know all the wonders of the season. But now, more than a decade later, I am fully convinced of what I promise you all the time: if they can make it with gluten, we can make it without.

One of the biggest differences between gluten free baking and conventional baking is moisture balance. Gluten free flour blends tend to absorb more moisture than conventional flours. But it's a balance, you see. Baking with straight-up pumpkin puree adds too much moisture to baked goods, so I generally do not bake with it (unless we're talking gluten free pumpkin pie filling).

A side view of pumpkin scones on brown paper

Why these are the best gf pumpkin scones

Have you ever had the famous Starbucks pumpkin scones? They're more special than the social media star pumpkin spice latte, if you ask me.

They have that wonderfully crisp-tender crumb of the best scones like our gluten free blueberry scones, but instead of berries they're packed with tons of pumpkin flavor. We're able to make a gf pumpkin scone with the very same taste, texture, and flavor by baking with a high quality all purpose gluten free flour and our homemade pumpkin butter instead of plain pumpkin puree.

The icing on top of these beautiful scones is made by first making a simple sugar glaze with confectioners' sugar and a touch of milk. We dip the tops of the baked and cooled scones in the sugar, and allow it to set.

Then, we add some warm fall spice and a bit of maple syrup to some more confectioners' sugar and make a decorative orange-brown icing. That's used to drizzle on top of the white icing for a beautiful geometric look, and a bit of extra flavor. Fall perfection!

A close up side view of pumpkin scones on parchment paper

Baking gluten free pumpkin scones with pumpkin butter for maximum flavor

I do nearly all of my pumpkin-baking with pumpkin butter, which is just a thickly concentrated mixture of pumpkin puree, maple syrup, spices and a touch of apple juice (since there's no pumpkin juice!). I make a huge batch of my easy homemade pumpkin butter every so often, and it keeps in the refrigerator for weeks. But you can certainly buy it off the shelf. Trader Joe's has it own brand, and it's well-priced and quite tasty.

Overhead view of pumpkin scones on metal tray

Can you make these gf pumpkin scones ahead of time?

Yes! You can even make the dough for these gluten free pumpkin scones as far as a week ahead of time and freeze it on a baking sheet. Bake it right from frozen, and mix up the icing while the scones cool.

These lightly sweet lightly iced scones aren't overwhelming in spice, although of course you could add more pumpkin pie spice if you just can't get enough of the stuff. Baking with pumpkin butter means that we get a pastry-style texture in these gluten free pumpkin scones—plus deep pumpkin flavor and aroma. It will remind you of the very best parts of the Thanksgiving season. Long live fall!

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Iced Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones

These gluten free pumpkin scones have the delightfully crumbly, but moist, crumb of all good pastry, and all the tastes of pumpkin pie. Don't forget the simple sugar icing!

Course: Pastry, Scones

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 20

Chilling time: 10

Yield: 8 scones

Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

For the scones

2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for appropriate blend info)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
5 tablespoons (60 g) granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter roughly chopped and chilled
5 ounces pumpkin butter (homemade or store-bought, chilled)
¼ cup (2 fluid ounces) heavy cream chilled

For the icing

1 cup (115 g) confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk plus more as necessary
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.

Make the scones dough.

In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the cold, chopped butter and toss to combine.
With well-floured hands, flatten each piece of butter between a thumb and forefinger, handling the butter as little as possible. Add the pumpkin butter and cream, and mix just until the dough comes together.

Shape the dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured piece of parchment paper and, with well-floured hands, lightly pat the dough into a round.
Sprinkle the dough lightly with a bit of flour, cover with another sheet of unbleached parchment paper and roll out into a circle about 8-inches in diameter and about 1/2-inch thick.
Place the dough into the freezer and chill until firm, about 10 minutes.
Remove the dough from the freezer and, with a floured bench scraper or large, sharp knife, slice the dough into 8 triangles (the first two cuts are perpendicular lines through the center of the dough).

Bake the scones.

Place the triangles onto the prepared baking sheet and bake, rotating once, until lightly golden brown all over, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the scones on a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the white icing.

Place about half of the confectioners’ sugar in a medium-sized bowl and add 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix to combine.
It should form a very thick paste. Add more milk by the quarter-teaspoonful, mixing vigorously until it reaches a very thickly pourable consistency.

Ice the cooled scones.

Dip the top of each cooled scone in the icing, or spoon the icing over the top and place, icing side up, back on the baking sheet.

Make the spiced icing.

Place the remaining confectioners’ sugar and the cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl, and whisk to combine.
Add the maple syrup, and mix to combine. Again, it will form a thick paste.
Add the milk by the quarter-teaspoonful mixing after each addition, mixing vigorously until it reaches a very thickly pourable consistency.

Decorate with the spiced icing.

Drizzle the icing over the glazed scones in a geometric pattern. Allow to set at room temperature and serve.