An easy veggie-loaded sweet or savoury snack or side, these low sugar pumpkin scones (biscuits in America) are sweet, fluffy and soft. Perfect served warm with lots of butter!
- 450 g (3 cups) wholewheat or wholegrain spelt flour (or use half-and-half wholemeal and plain if you prefer)
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch sea salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or 2-3 drops liquid stevia (use both for a sweet scone or use 1-2 tablespoons of a baking blend of sugar and stevia if you prefer)*
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice or mixed spice
- 110 g (1 stick / 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold and cubed (or use the same amount of cold coconut oil for dairy free)
- 200 g (3/4 cup) pumpkin puree (the pure stuff, not pie filling) or sweet potato puree (cook a couple in the microwave or oven until soft, then peel and blend until smooth)
- 85 ml (1/3 cup) milk (dairy or unsweetened non-dairy) - start with this amount, but you may need to add more
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Preheat oven to 230C/450F/gas 8. Get a big mixing bowl and stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and spice mix. Rub in the cold butter cubes with clean fingers until most of the butter is rubbed into the flour, with little lumps still appearing every now and then. It shouldn't be an even breadcrumb look - more a mix of small and larger breadcrumbs.
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Mix in the pumpkin puree, then pour in most of the milk. Bring the dough together with a wooden spoon or your hands, adding a splash more milk as needed until it just comes together as a smooth-ish (but not sticky) dough.
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Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the dough to about 2cm (1/2") thick. Use a 6cm (2 1/2") round cookie cutter to cut out scones, re-rolling the leftover dough to use it all up. Place the scones on a lined baking tray and brush with extra milk, then bake in the oven for 13-18 mins, until the scones are puffed up and golden brown on top with a slight crack in the middle. Allow to cool slightly, then serve warm with plenty of butter. The scones are best eaten fresh, but will keep for a few days in an airtight container on the counter. You can eat them cold, but they do dry out so we usually microwave them for a few seconds to reheat before serving. They also freeze pretty well for a month or so!
*2 tbsp maple syrup also works well here, with 2 drops liquid stevia if you want them sweet. For totally sugar free, xylitol works (2-3 tbsp).