Recipes are like treasures to me, particularly ones that I get from people that I love.  I never had the honor of meeting Steve’s mother, but I do have a couple of her recipes, and every time I make one of them, it feels like she’s right there in the kitchen with me.  And, as you know, I have tons and tons of my daddy’s recipes and cookbooks and I can’t tell you how much they mean to me.  Making some of his signature dishes for Thanksgiving was bittersweet but mostly I was glad to have that connection to him.

This recipe for Pumpkin Scones comes from one of my dear friends, Laura.  She made these for our first Mom’s Bible Study meeting last year.  They were absolutely delicious!   Laura is one of those special people that puts love into everything she does and I am blessed to be her friend.  One of the difficult things about living in a military town is the high probability that your friends are going to move away – it’s just the nature of the business.  And, that’s what happened with Laura’s family.  They moved this past summer.  There are many things I miss about Laura – her wisdom, her kind and gentle spirit, and her violin-playing at church on Sunday mornings.  And her pumpkin scones! 

Laura posted this recipe a few months ago on Facebook.  I was so excited to be able to try my hand at them.  As usual, I procrastinated greatly!   But, this morning, I finally got my act together and whipped up a batch of them.  And just like I always do when I make a recipe that belongs to one of my friends, I smiled and thought how lucky I am to have such amazing friends, both near and far.

And the scones?  They were so yummy, warm out of the oven.  My kitchen smelled amazing!

Here’s the recipe:

Pumpkin Scones

Daphne’s Notes:  Makes 6 scones – a perfect amount to keep one for yourself and share the rest with friends.  I didn’t use the white chocolate or the pecans because I am a pumpkin purist…okay, not really, but I didn’t have any white chocolate and I was running out of time to toast the pecans.  They were still yummy without them, but trust me, the white chocolate and pecans send them over the top!

2 cups  all purpose flour

1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold salted butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup chopped white chocolate (or more okay too yumm!!)

1/4 cup toasted and chopped pecans (optional)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup fresh or canned pure pumpkin (if using canned pumpkin make sure there are no spices or sugar added)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Egg Wash:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk or cream

Turbinado or powdered sugar (or sugar crystals) for sprinkling the tops of the scones (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack in middle of oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used a silicone baking mat).     In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.  The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.   Stir in the chopped white chocolate and pecans, if using.  In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture.  Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over-mix the dough.                                   

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the  dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 11/2 inches thick.  Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles).  Place the scones on the baking sheet.  Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar on top, if desired.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.   Transfer to a wire rack to cool.