Similar to the seasonal scones offered at Starbucks, these light, fluffy gluten free Pumpkin Scones are filled with pumpkin and warming spices.
There are few things as comforting on those cool autumn mornings as the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. When the leaves have turned bright reds, yellows, and oranges I notice that I start to crave aromas that are comforting.
The smell of pot roast cooking all afternoon. A vanilla candle flickering on the counter top. And the pumpkin spice in these Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones. To me – that is perfection.
These gluten free Pumpkin Scones are great eaten warm, but unlike most gluten free baking, they are still delicious eaten the next day too.
The glaze is optional, but adds a nice sweetness to the scone, perfect for those chilly weekend mornings when you curl up with cup of your favourite brew and a good book.
Tips to make the perfect Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones:
- I find the best scones are made using very cold butter. I measure out the amount that I need, and then place it in the freezer while I get the other ingredients ready.
- To make scones without a food processor, I simply shred the chilled butter into my dry ingredients using a simple box grater. Works great, and helps the butter to be uniform – no large chunks!
- Once you have added your wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, try to not handle the dough too much. Just enough for the dough to come together in a ball, but not enough to warm the butter up too much.
- Don’t pat the dough too thin – you still want the scones to be about 1″ thick before baking. Too thin, and you’ll still have tasty scones, they just won’t be as tall.
If you love these gluten free Pumpkin Scones, I think you’ll also love:
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Gluten Free Lemon Scones
- Gluten Free Blueberry Scones
- Gluten Free Cranberry Bliss Bars
Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones
Similar to the seasonal scones offered at Starbucks, these light, fluffy gluten free Pumpkin Scones are filled with pumpkin and warming spices.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Scones:
- 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted very cold butter
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 Tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 large egg
- milk to brush the tops of the scones with (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon coarse sugar to sprinkle on the top (optional)
Spice Glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners' (icing) sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Instructions
Pumpkin Scones:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust the parchment paper with a small amount of rice flour. Set aside.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients. Stir until the butter is evenly distributed.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, and egg. Stir into the dry ingredients until it comes together in a ball. Try to handle the dough as little as possible, so that the butter stays cold.
- Turn the dough out onto the baking sheet. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top, and form the dough into a circle, about 8-9 inches across, and 1" thick.
- With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 wedges. Carefully move the wedges apart, leaving at least 1" between them so that they will not touch when baking.
- Brush the tops of the scones with milk and sprinkle with course sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to sit for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Once cooled, drizzle with Spice Glaze (see recipe below) and serve.
Spice Glaze:
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the ingredients until smooth. I like to make the glaze so that it is too thick then microwave it to warm it up. When you do that, it becomes runny enough to glaze the scones, but sets up in a minute. No sticky mess.
- Use a spoon or fork to drizzle the glaze over the top of the slightly cooled scones. Store cooled scones in an air-tight container. If you want to stack them, place waxed paper between the layers.
Images and recipe updated October 2018.
Lauren Kelly says
Jeanine these look AMAZING!! I just shared on my page 🙂
Jeanine says
Thanks, Lauren!
Celeste says
These looked so perfect for a fall morning, but something went wrong. I followed the recipe exactly and the taste was something like chemical and salt. Too much xanthan gum, maybe? So sad that I had to throw them out, not even the maple glaze the I put on them could help. Sorry.
Jeanine says
I have no idea what happened then, did you use salted butter? I’ve made these a few times, and they are based on the Fluffy Biscuits and Vanilla Scones recipes that I’ve posted, and I’ve never had a problem with any of them. Others have made them too, without a problem, so I’m not sure what happened. Sorry about that!
danika says
It does look like the Xantham Gum to flour ratio is off.
Did you mean 1/4 tsp xantham gum?
Jeanine says
No, I make this recipe with 4 tsp xanthan, and they work like a charm. I haven’t cut it back to see how little I could get away with and still get the same result, but will work on that when I have time.
danika says
I tried it with 1/4 tsp xanthum and they were delicious! holy cow, what a great thing to wake up to. perfect with a cup of coffee.
Celeste says
But, I wanted to added the texture was nice 🙂
Karen says
I have made these twice already this weekend and they are fabulous!! They are fluffy and tasty. I did make one change, I used my all-purpose gluten-free flour mix instead of the rice/tapioca mix. The second time I made these I forgot the pumpkin spice mix but with the glaze they still taste so good! Thanks Jeanine for another delicious recipe.
Betty says
These pumpkin scones taste every bit as amazing as they look..I’m still savoring the thought of them. They were so very good, so Jeanine, I just had to bake up some of my own today.
For the glaze I added some pumpkin puree to the icing sugar as well as maple flavoring and a few dashes of cinnamon.
Sherrie @ Living Simply Gluten Free says
These looks super yummy – I love a great scone.
Congrats on being featured on Huff Post!
Jeanine says
Thank you, Sherrie!
Hilary says
WOW! Yum! Great recipe ***** 5 stars!
Jeanine says
Thanks, Hilary! 🙂
Christine says
I tried these this morning, they were fine, but not fabulous. Dare I suggest the addition of a little vanilla? Also, next time I will add raisins or orange peel for a some zing! 🙂
Jeanine Friesen says
Feel free to jazz it up anyway you see fit, Christine. It’s merely a template. 🙂
Pamela Bagwell says
Oh my!!! delicious!!! Really delicious!!! I thank you! My mouth thanks you! Yumm!!
Jeanine Friesen says
Haha, glad to hear that, Pamela! 🙂
Elise says
an amazing recipe!!!! My friends who don’t eat gluten free prefer these scones. Sooo sooo good!!
Jeanine Friesen says
Thank you, Elise! So glad to hear that all (even the gluten eaters) liked them.
Karen Armstrong says
These are absolutely delish! Probably the most tender and moist scones I’ve ever had (GF or other). I’m glad I stocked up on canned pumpkin because I will be making these very often. Thank you for the recipe.
Jeanine Friesen says
Thank you very much, Karen! I’m glad to hear that. 🙂
Mrs.T says
I just now baked these, Jeanine. They are fantastic! I trust your recipes so much that I actually doubled this one to use up the amount of pumpkin I had left in a previously opened can. I didn’t double the amount of glaze, but there was just enough for the 16 scones. Thank you SO much for your baking expertise that is helping so many people. As I was tasting one of the scones, I also thought I might add dried cranberries next time. Or maybe chopped dates. Definitely the best gluten free scones I have ever tasted!
Jeanine Friesen says
Those are definitely great add-in ideas, Mrs. T! Go for it! 😀 Use it as a base, and build on it from there. So glad to hear that you’re having a great time baking. I had so many failures in my first few months, it wasn’t fun at all. lol
Dorothy Monasmith says
I am baking for a niece. Does anyone know if Watkins pumpkin pie spice made a year ago is gluten free?
Would like to know before trying your scone recipe.
Jeanine Friesen says
It ‘should’ be OK, Dorothy, but I can’t find any info on the Watkins spices. Maybe contact a rep tomorrow to check?
Gwen says
Just found your site today when looking for a great pumpkin scone recipe. I have to follow a low fodmap diet which includes gluten and lactose free. These were awesome. Baked similar non gluten free for a tea for 70 people last week and have been hankering for some that I can eat. Look forward to making more of your recipes starting with a modified perogie 🙂 Thank you!!!
Dina says
I was wondering if I can substitute white rice flour for the brown. I would like to try these for my mother in law for Thanksgiving.
Thanks.
Beth says
FINALLY got around to making these. So happy I did, and so sorry I waited so long. Yum!! Perfect for this wet rainy morning. I ate two and put the rest in the freezer for other fall mornings. Thanks again for sharing your wonderful talents.
Note: The only changes I made were to use Cybele Pascal’s flour blend for the flours. Worked GREAT, and to reduce the oven temp to 375 and baked for 15 min.
Jeanine says
lol, glad that you got around to baking them, FINALLY Beth! 🙂 So glad to hear that they have the thumbs up from you! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Sara says
These were so good that the kids and I just ate the whole batch for dinner. They are always asking for the pumpkin scones at Starbucks so these totally made our day!
Jennifer says
I want to take these on a weekend trip where I don’t believe the cottage will have a food processor. Do you think they would work out if I made the dough through step 3 at home, then shaped and baked fresh the next day? Have you ever tried that?
marissa says
This recipe nlooks great! I do not have a food processor, have you ever tried making it in a kitchen aid standing mixer? Would that work?
Jeanine says
Hi Marissa, if you don’t have a food processor, all you’ll need is as box grater (or a large hole grater). I actually find making scones and biscuits this way works the best. Mix your dry ingredients, shred the cold butter into the dry, stir until evenly mixed in, then stir in the wet ingredients until it just comes together. Works GREAT!
Frances Boggess says
I didn’t have brown rice flour or tapioca starch, so I just replaced with a gluten-free flour blend, and they turned out great!
GEM says
Love this recipe. I found it when it was on baking beauties. I’ve made it often. Three things I’ve done is make mini scones (about 24) and bake for 12 minutes. I also sometimes and in dried cranberries and top with turbinado sugar. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Jeanine says
Thanks! Yes, it has been around for a while. Love the addition of dried cranberries, great idea!
Diana Law says
These are tasty! Thanks! I added some walnuts and sour cherries to them.