pumpkin chocolate scones with espresso cream cheese glaze.

because we need one more pumpkin scone recipe for the internets!

we all just can’t stop with the pumpkin things around this time of year - but for a durn good reason. it’s all delightful. and cozy.

i do secretly like the pumpkin scone at starbucks (warmed UP!), even though it’s generally dry as a bone. i wanted to make a solid go-to homemade p-scone recipe. not bone dry. soft. but sconey on the outside. add chocolate & oats for texture. add a tasty glaze.

and here we be:

halfway through making this recipe i realized all the flavors were strikingly similar to the ones in this pumpkin espresso pie from a couple years ago…..but whatya gunna do? i like what i like.

that pie was mayjah delicious, too.

it seems kind of hard to get people to eat a scone.

want a scone?

…not really.

most scones are cardboardy dry bricks that you cough & choke on. not theeeese, though. these are super moist, dense & almost bready on the inside, but still firm and scone-y on the outside, thanks to the layer of cream brushed on before baking.

i got some hot pumpkin tips from sally’s baking blog - so helpful! blotting the pumpkin purée = genius. i thought it’d be a mess, but not at all! it really just slides off the paper towel somehow. and look at this cookie recipe of hers. i must have it.

i have a fond memory of a chocolate hazelnut scone from a coffee stand growing up. i recreated that recipe right here!

those scones don’t need a glaze. however, i’d say these pumpkin ones definitely DO. people were quite enjoying these scones when i made them, but the glaze was pretty much the star of the show.

it is sweet cream cheesy smooth glaze with a nice hit of coffee flavor. MMM! whomever decided that pumpkin & coffee could go together is both kooky & kooL, i suppose.

^ you can just tell the innards of the scones are moist from the pumpkin - and that heavy creeeeam. luxury.

here’s the glaze. there will be a little bit left over…i’m not sure what to do with it. maybe smear onto a graham cracker! it’s very tasty.

and chocolate wafers instead of chips because i wanted POOLS of chocolate in there, mmk.

…want a scone?

we’ll end this with a live text update & scone review from a friend:

“I’m not even kidding tho that scone was the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. Nuked it for 30 seconds and god damn so thank YOU!” — kind scone critic

Pumpkin Chocolate Scones with Espresso Cream Cheese Glaze

Makes 8 Large Scones

Total Time: 40 minutes

{Techniques adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction}

Ingredients:

Scones:

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed, or grated

• 1/3 cup heavy cream + 2 TB

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup pumpkin purée - blot off the excess moisture with paper towel

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate wafers, roughly chopped. Or chocolate chips.

• 1/2 cup oats

• raw sugar, for sprinkling

Glaze:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature

• 2 TB. unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• 3 TB. strong coffee or espresso, cooled

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

• 1/2 tsp. espresso powder

Instructions-

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients except the brown sugar and oats. Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture and combine with your hands until it is shaggy with pea-sized butter bits.

In a medium bowl, mix the 1/3 cup heavy cream, blotted pumpkin, egg, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Drizzle the wet ingredients into the butter & flour mixture. Mix with a spoon until just combined.

Lastly, add the oats and roughly chopped chocolate wafers. Gently mix until ingredients are incorporated and a ball of dough is formed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Press the dough into a round, flat disk about 8 inches in diameter. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, slice the round into 8 even triangles. Use a spatula to place the scones a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheet, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Chill in the fridge for about 5 minutes before baking.

Before baking, brush the remaining 2 TB of heavy cream over the tops and sides of the scones. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown, checking at 18 minutes for doneness.

While the scones are baking, prepare the glaze. Make a shot of espresso or a very strong, small cup of coffee. I use the AeroPress to make strong coffee like this.

In a small bowl, whisk together the room temperature cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the espresso and vanilla and whisk again. Add the powdered sugar and whisk well until very smooth. Stir in the fine sea salt and extra espresso powder to taste.

Cool the scones slightly on a cooling rack after baking. Use a spoon to spread the glaze over the tops and sides of the warm scones. Top with extra espresso powder if desired.

Serve immediately! Enjoy within 2 days. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

qp

chocolate hazelnut oat scones.

well beyoncé is in town tonight and i'm sitting here writing about scones. so that's where i'm at.

but these scones are sooo mighty fabulous. just like bey.

i wonder if beyoncé likes scones. i would bake her some and bring em down there right now.

there was this coffee stand i'd go to with my mom when i was a youngster, where she'd get a coffee and i'd get a small cup of chocolate milk with whipped cream on top. with a coffee straw. i looooved that little treat so much. 

that coffee stand also had some amazing chocolate hazelnut scones. and i've never forgotten them. so this recipe was brought to life from my fond nostalgic memories of some tasty scones of my past. 

i added oats, too. becauuuuuse TEXTURE is everything in this life. the scones are soft, buttery, moist, with a slight crunch and roasty warm bits of hazelnut and melted chocolate throughout. the texture is quite perfecto. if i do say so mahself.

these are one of those things that i want back in my hands sooo soooo badly as i write this and look at these photos again. much like the feeling i had when i posted these biscuits. i so strongly wanted to punch my arm through the screen and yoink out a savory biscuit to gobble up. gah, so good.

don't these just look soft & pleasantly plump and nutty good?! you should make them.

i would highly recommend these with coffee! mmmmmm. and a crossword puzzle or magazine on a quiet sunday morn. now doesn't that sound just lovely.

i find that hazelnuts get kind of stale and weird if you don't use them up semi quickly. but after they were baked into these scones, they were like revived from their stale status. warm, nutty, and perfectly crunchy yet soft.

the best hazelnuts i've purchased came from a new seasons market in portland, oregon. i have no idea why i felt the urge to buy hazelnuts during a trip to portland, but i did, and they were some goodass hazelnuts. you go, new seasons.

aaand to top it all off, i brought a scone for breakfast at work for like the next five days, and i a.) did not get tired of them and b.) they stayed moist through and through! i feel like scones usually become hard as rocks after 1 or 2 days and its like eating chalkdust, but not these babes, no no.

gotta have 'em!

Chocolate Hazelnut Oat Scones

Makes 8 big scones // 16 small scones

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) COLD unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 oz. high quality chocolate, roughly chopped (I used 70% cocoa dark chocolate - didn't want it too dark) + 2 TB flour to coat
• 1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• dash of cinnamon

Instructions-

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. First, roughly chop the chocolate and coat it in about 2 TB of all purpose flour in a small bowl and place in the fridge to chill. Also roughly chop the hazelnuts.

In a large bowl, add the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder & soda, and dash of cinnamon. Stir to combine. Cut up the cold butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour with a fork until small pea-sized crumbs form. I usually use my * clean * hands for this part until the butter and flour have combined until crumbly. 

Add the buttermilk and vanilla to the bowl, and mix with a spoon or spatula. Use your hands to bring all of the dough together. If its too wet, add 1 TB of flour at a time. If its a little too dry, add a TB of buttermilk at a time. 

Toss in the chopped hazelnuts and incorporate into the mix with your hands. Add the chilled, flour-coated chopped chocolate last and mix until evenly combined and the dough has formed into a ball. 

On a well floured surface, turn out the dough and flip a couple of times. You want the exterior to have a light covering of flour and not be sticky at all. Press the dough down to about a 1 inch thick round. Cup your hands around the edges to keep it round. 

With a large knife, cut the dough (like a pizza) into 8 pieces. If you want smaller scones, you can make two smaller rounds of dough and cut each one into 8 pieces. These can also be square, I just made them triangular for scone-y sake. Transfer the uncooked scones onto a greased baking sheet and spread them out evenly.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean after inserting into the center of a scone.

Enjoy with coffee, milk, tea, what have you! 

qp