6tablespoonsunsalted buttercut into ½-inch pieces (mine was cold)
5ozbuttermilk (divided use)132 grams
½cupcanned pumpkin pureeall pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling
1tablespoonspure vanilla extract
Caramel Glaze:
1stickunsalted butter114 grams
½cupfirmly packed light or dark brown sugar100 grams
¼teaspoonfreshly squeezed lemon juice
⅛teaspoonkosher salt
¼cupheavy cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour HALF the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla extract into the well. Still using your hands (I did this with a spatula scraper), combine the ingredients until all the dry mixture is wet. Gradually add just enough remaining buttermilk until the dough is soft enough to work with.
Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a disk about 1 ½ inches thick. Using a 3-or 3 ½- inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many scones as you can and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones.
Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the scones cool slightly on the baking sheet (about 20 minutes) before glazing them.
While the scones are cooling, prepare the caramel glaze: Place the butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk gently until the mixture is smooth. Just as the mixture comes to a light boil, add the heavy cream and reduce the heat to low. Whisk well for 2 minutes, or until the glaze is thickened and smooth; then remove the pan from the heat.
To glaze a scone, hold it by the bottom, dip the top in the warm caramel glaze, and place it back on the baking sheet. Makes 5 o 6
Notes
This is a half version of the original recipe. I bought the book right when it came out and the original full version called for ¼ cup cinnamon and ¼ cup ginger which was probably an error. The original recipe also made a very soft dough, so I originally just dropped the scones from a ⅓ cup measure. Now I use half the buttermilk and the dough is workable and can be punched. I've also reduced the spices to 1 tablespoon of each which is still plenty!