Each year I look forward to the pumpkin scones at Starbucks.  The cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg warming the pumpkin to form a triangle of perfection, then lightly coated with a sweet vanilla sugar glaze.  There’s just something so magnificent about them, lightly dunked in a steaming hot latte to give a little moisture to the mass-produced scone.

I actually started making my own a few years ago when the air turned decidedly chilly too early in the year for Starbucks to think about pumpkin scones.  It was suddenly up to me to find a suitable alternative, and find it, I did.  In fact, the scones I came up with in my own kitchen blew the Starbucks scones out of my taste bud memory bank completely.  I was hooked on this moist spicy scone at first bite.

Since I can no longer partake in the Starbucks version (sadly, Starbucks does’t offer gluten-free scones), I consider myself pretty lucky for having that long-ago craving for a scone in the middle of August.  I’ve adapted my original recipe to be gluten free using my favorite flour blend.  So you’re not gluten free?  That’s okay!  Just swap the funny flours for all purpose and omit the xanthan gum and you’ll be in pumpkin scone bliss quicker than you can imagine.

Gluten Free Spiced Pumpkin Scones
Original Recipe by Delta Whiskey

3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup potato starch (or corn starch if you prefer)
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I’ve made this with both light and dark)
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup pumpkin
3 tablespoons heavy cream (milk will be just fine too)
1 egg

Glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream (again, milk will be just fine)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Freshly grated nutmeg or confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients for 90 seconds with a whisk, making sure to get all of the flours and xanthan gum incorporated.  Cut in butter until it is about the size of peas.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

In another medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients then fold them into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, taking care not to over beat.

Using a large cookie baller (mine is about 3 tablespoons), scoop the dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 15-17 minutes, until lightly golden on the bottom.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly while you prepare the glaze.

Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a small bowl, adding cream or powdered sugar to get the consistency of glaze you want.  Glaze the scones once they have cooled slightly.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite recipes for this beautiful season?  If you’re interested in sharing, drop a comment or send me an email to whiskey(at)deltawhiskey(dot)us and I’d be happy to cook them up (of course, I’d have to do a little converting to gluten-free) and post them right here to share with everyone else.

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