Pumpkin Spice Scones with Salted Caramel & Pecans

Can someone please stop me from putting salted caramel on all my food? I can’t help it. It’s caramel and salt for godsakes. I love the the way they intertwine. Sweet…salty….HEAVEN.

Last weekend, I made brunch and wanted to delete the word BAGEL from the usual Sunday fare. I think you may have noticed that I have used quite a bit of pureed pumpkin in my recipes lately.

The reason being is, when you open a can and there is a boatload inside what do you do with the leftovers? Well…you freeze em of course!

I divided up the pumpkin into small zippy bags and placed them inside the freezer until I needed them. All you need to do is quick thaw them in a bowl of hot water. p.s. I have million zippy bags in my freezer filled with odds and sods. Some I can identify and some….well they look familiar but I’m not so sure what’s inside. Yes, I know I should label them but I kinda know that if it’s red it’s tomato paste because WHY do recipes only call for 1 tablespoon and then you have 3/4 of a can left? WHY!!! Now the bigger zippys usually have something really good in them. Like leftover mac and cheese or maybe sweet and sour meatballs. I can usually do a forensic assessment on these bags and know what the contents are……ugh who needs labels. This is much more fun.

My standard scone recipe is one that requires shaping the dough and cutting into triangles or squares. If you want to see how click here and it will take you to one of my favourite scone recipes on earth.

These pumpkin scones are even easier. All you do is mix and drop.

Really? Really.

Express scones.

They take on a more scraggly look but who cares right? I had no intent on getting fancy with these because we were both starving and couldn’t wait to eat them warm straight from the oven.

All I know is this….I took the leftovers to work the next day and one of my colleagues walked into my office (while stuffing a scone in her face) and said she has a love/hate relationship with me now. The love part speaks to the fact that I BRING TREATS that she can’t resist. The hate part is because I BRING TREATS that she CAN’T RESIST. Go figure.

Pumpkin Spice Scones with Salted Caramel & Pecans

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notes - * Why do your ingredients need to be cold? It is important that your ingredients remain cold. The purpose is to keep the butter solid and not let it melt. If your dough is kept cold, it will have little bits of dispersed butter. This results in SHEAR YUMMINESS when you bake these babies in the oven. All that solid butter melts into the dough but leaves pockets and layers in the scones. OH YES. Now, if are making scones in a warm climate, FREEZE yoru butter. Cold butter makes scones rise higher! Did you know all this? It's quite the opposite of baking a cake or cookies. Everything has a reason and this works ...trust me.

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
OR 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead of the ginger, cloves and nutmeg
½ cup very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (see note about COLD ingredients)
½ cup canned solid-packed pumpkin**
⅓ cup cold milk
1 cold egg, beaten
For the salted caramel glaze
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1 tbls salted caramel sauce, homemade - easy recipe by baker by nature or store bought is fine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a large baking sheet with vegetable-oil cooking spray or use a non stick silicone mat. I love MINE!
Chill the bowl and any utensils you will be using in the refrigerator before making the scones. See note regarding why you need to use COLD ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg ( or pumpkin pie spice)
With a pastry blender or two knives, cut cold butter into flour mixture until particles are the size of small peas.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, ⅓ cup cold milk, and the egg.
Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. stir just until mixed. Do not over mix or you will end up with rocks and not scones. ha!
Scones can be cut into any shape you desire. I just dropped heaping tablespoons on the baking sheet but you can shape this dough and cut into triangle or squares.
Make sure they are 2 inches apart to allow for spreading, making 10 -12 mounds.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool for 15 minutes before you glaze them.
To make the glaze, mix powdered sugar with milk, caramel sauce and vanilla. Drizzle over scones and top with chopped pecans. I like to serve these warm so I reheat them for a few seconds in the oven or microwave.