Pumpkin Spice Scones for a September That Ree Drummond Calls Being All In
Pumpkin spice season officially opened on 1 September, and brands are still rolling out new products a week later. These tender, spiced scones use real pumpkin puree rather than syrup, so the flavour survives the oven instead of just coating the top.
Sunday, September 27, 2026/3 min read
Pumpkin spice season has an actual start date now, and this year it landed on 1 September, when a roundup marking the turn of the month quoted the Food Network personality Ree Drummond declaring that once September rolls around, "pumpkin muffins, cookies, cakes, pie, pancakes, bread, I am ALL IN." Three days later, a separate roundup of new pumpkin spice products hitting shelves found retailers still adding limited-edition drinks, dips, baking mixes and desserts to meet demand, with one reviewer of a pumpkin spice baking mix suggesting the brand keep it in stores year round. Both pieces describe a season that has become less a single latte and more a month-long rollout across every aisle of the supermarket.
Why a scone, specifically
Most home pumpkin baking defaults to cake or a loaf, both of which are excellent but rely on a long bake to set a wet batter. A scone works the opposite way: a cold, barely-there dough that spends only twenty minutes in a hot oven, so the pumpkin flavour and the spice blend stay concentrated near the surface rather than diffusing through a large crumb. Using real tinned pumpkin puree rather than a bottled pumpkin spice syrup, the kind stirred into the lattes driving this month's roundups, means the scone tastes of actual pumpkin, earthy and slightly sweet, rather than syrup with a name attached to it.
Ingredients, for eight scones
- 280g plain flour, plus extra for shaping (2 1/4 cups)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon each ginger, nutmeg and clove
- 75g granulated sugar (1/3 cup)
- 115g cold unsalted butter, cubed (1/2 cup)
- 120g tinned pumpkin puree, not pie filling (1/2 cup)
- 60ml double cream, plus 2 tablespoons more for brushing (1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar, for the top
Method
Heat the oven to 200C (400F) and line a baking tray with parchment. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips, or cut it in with a pastry cutter, until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs with some pea-sized lumps of butter still visible; those lumps are what make the scone flaky rather than dense.
In a separate bowl or jug, whisk the pumpkin puree, the 60ml of cream, the egg and the vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula just until no dry flour remains; the dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Overworking it at this stage is the main way home bakers end up with a tough scone rather than a tender one.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a disc about 18cm across and 3cm thick. Cut into eight wedges, like a pie, and space them on the lined tray with a couple of centimetres between each. Brush the tops with the remaining cream and scatter over the demerara sugar. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until risen and golden brown at the edges, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Two swaps that work
Swap the pumpkin pie spice for a shop-bought chai spice blend if that is what you have open in the cupboard; the profile is close enough that nobody will notice the difference. Dairy-free butter and oat cream both work in place of the butter and double cream, though the dough will be slightly softer to handle, so chill it in the fridge for ten minutes before cutting if it feels too sticky to slice cleanly.
Storage
These are best the day they are baked, split and buttered while still faintly warm, but they keep in an airtight container at room temperature for two days, or in the freezer, unbaked, for up to a month; bake straight from frozen, adding three to four minutes to the cooking time.
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