Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones

Name: Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (* see note); 1/2 cup brown sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum-free!); 1/4 teaspoon sea salt; 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (* see note); 1 large egg; 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/2 cup unsalted butter; 1 cup powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream (add gradually)

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Fall will be here soon, so it's time to break out my gluten free pumpkin spice scones recipe. If you love pumpkin, this is an incredibly easy recipe to make. These scones are easy to make in around 40 minutes.

Table of Contents

Why These Scones Are Great:
Ingredient Notes:
How To Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones:
Tips For Sucess:
Recipe FAQ:
More Gluten Free Scones Recipes:
Recipe
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Imagine rubbing the sleep out of your eyes on a crisp fall morning and biting into a perfectly fall-flavored breakfast! That is what you get when you make these gluten free pumpkin spice scones. No one in the Fearless Dining home can resist that spicy goodness they are filled with.

This is one of the best scone recipes because it's perfectly sweetened and has a thick icing on top. The pumpkin, spices, and texture are impressive. If you love scones as much as we do, be sure to check out all of my delicious gluten free scones recipes on the blog. There are both sweet and savory scones!

Why These Scones Are Great:

You can't eat these beauties without getting a smile on your face because they scream FALL! They are soft, flavorful, and really easy to make.
This gluten free pumpkin scones recipe is easy to make with simple ingredients.
They taste delicious with or without the cinnamon icing.
You can make these as shown in triangle-shaped wedges or use a biscuit cutter to make round scones.
You can easily freeze these scones so you can enjoy them anytime.
Add mixins like chocolate chips or pecans!

If you love pumpkin, you will also want to try my incredibly flaky Gluten Free Pumpkin Biscuits too!

the top of an iced gluten free pumpkin scone.

Ingredient Notes:

Here are my recommendations for ingredients and important notes about each ingredient. Also, see my Tips For Success and Recipe FAQ for more detailed information.

Gluten Free Flour Blend - I tested this recipe using the Cup4Cup blend. King Arthur's Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend will also work, but your scones may not rise quite as high. That doesn't mean others will not work, I have not tested other flours, and I can not guarantee the recipe will work if you use other mixes.
Xanthan Gum - If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add one teaspoon.
Brown Sugar - You can use light or dark brown sugar.
Baking Powder - I highly recommend using aluminum-free baking powder. It will make a big difference in flavor.
Pumpkin Spice - Use store-bought or make your own homemade pumpkin spice.
Ground Cinnamon - Be sure to check that your spices are gluten free. Penzey's and McCormick are gluten free.
Heavy Cream - I used heavy cream because it is a little thicker and helps offset the pumpkin puree's wetness. You can use milk, but the heavy cream is a lot better.
Pumpkin Puree - If your pumpkin puree is watery, put it in a strainer to remove some of the excess moisture.
Butter - Use vegan butter if you are dairy-free. Use unsalted butter.
Egg - Use size large.

How To Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones:

Preheat your oven to 350º F and make sure your oven rack is in the middle position in the oven.

Step 1: Add your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use a wire whisk to blend the ingredients together. Add the COLD butter cut into chunks to the dry ingredients.

To measure your gluten free flour, I recommend using either the spoon method or leveling method.

Spoon Method: You can also use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour.

Leveling Method: Put the measuring scoop into the flour and fill. Do not pack the flour. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.

Step 2: Use a pastry blender to cut the cold butter chunks into the gluten free flour mixture. Your final mixture should resemble crumbs.

Step 3: Add the wet ingredients to a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to blend the wet ingredients together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Step 4: Use a spoon to mix the wet and dry ingredients into a soft dough. I like to refrigerate my scone dough for 20-30 minutes, but this is unnecessary if you are short on time.

TIP: If you chill your scones dough, be sure to wrap it in plastic, so it doesn't dry out!

Step 5: Move the scone dough to a piece of wax paper and use a rolling pin to roll the scone dough to 2 inches in thickness. Use a sharp knife to score the dough into wedges.

Scoring the dough means making cuts, but not cutting all the way through the dough. Optional, sprinkle coarse sugar over the scone dough.

Place the scones onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350º F for 22-25 minutes until done.

Step 6: Mix up the icing and drizzle it over cooled scones. You can dip the scones into the icing if you prefer more icing to coat the whole top.

Step 7: This is what your cinnamon icing will look like. You can make it thick or thin in consistency.

Step 8: Use a sharp knife to cut through the scones on the lines you scored before baking.

Step 9: Move to a cooling rack and allow the scones to cool before adding the icing.

a gluten free pumpkin scone on a small white plate.

Tips For Sucess:

Use aluminum-free baking powder. I can't say enough how important this is to avoid a metallic aftertaste.
Use very cold or frozen butter. Cold butter really helps you get those flaky layers that scones are famous for.
If your pumpkin puree is watery, put it in a strainer to remove the excess liquid.
Use brown sugar instead of white sugar. This adds a slightly caramelized flavor to the scones.
Heavy cream in this recipe helps with moisture and offsets the liquid in the pumpkin puree. I have not tested this recipe with a dairy-free option, but Silk brand makes dairy-free heavy cream.

Recipe FAQ:

What is a scone?

A scone is a baked good that is well known in British baking. Scones usually have a subtly sweet flavor and can be sweet or savory. They come in all sorts of shapes and designs. You will also find them shaped like small pieces of pie in many coffee shops and restaurants.

What is the difference between a scone and a biscuit?

The number one difference between a scone and a biscuit is that scones have eggs in them, and in most cases, biscuits don't. Additionally, biscuits don't normally have fruit in them, but they sometimes have savory ingredients.

Why do my scones go flat?

Sometimes scones go flat if you have overmixed them. Make sure to mix the batter until it's combined instead of mixing too long. Overmixing causes air bubbles to form when the scones are baked. The bubbles pop and cause a dense, flat scone.

Also, make sure always to use super cold butter. I know it's tempting to melt the butter before mixing, but if you do, the results will not be great because you won't get those yummy flaky layers. They will be hard and dense if you do.

What can I substitute for the egg?

If you have an egg allergy or simply don't tolerate them, you can replace the egg with Just Egg brand egg replacer.

How long do scones keep fresh?

These gluten free pumpkin spice scones will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.

More Gluten Free Scones Recipes:

*Note I completely revamped this recipe from an older pumpkin spice scone recipe from September 2019.

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