Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

Tender, perfectly spiced and glazed Starbucks Pumpkin Scones are one of our favorite fall treats! This copycat recipe is simple and easy with plenty of pumpkin and spice flavor in a moist scone with sugar and pumpkin glaze.

When it’s pumpkin season, some of our other favorite recipes are Pumpkin Juice, Pumpkin Bundt Cake, and of course a classic Pumpkin Roll with cream cheese filling.

Table of Contents

1. Why this Recipe Works
2. Ingredient Notes
3. How to Make Pumpkin Scones
4. FAQ’s
5. Recipe Tips
6. More Scone Recipes
7. Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Recipe

At the law firm I worked for just out of law school, there was a secretary named Lena who loved to bake and made the most amazing scones ever. Once every couple of months or so, she would show up in the morning with dozens of scones to share with everybody, in at least 2 or 3 varieties.

I fell in love with scones thanks to her amazing maple bacon scones, her bright and juicy lemon blueberry scones, and her chocolate chip scones. I’m going to have to recreate all of them since I left the firm 4 years ago to stay home with our girls and I miss her amazing creations!

But possibly my favorite version ever are these copycat Starbucks pumpkin scones that show up each fall, usually at the same time as their pumpkin spice lattes.

Why this Recipe Works

• These pumpkin scones are wonderfully sweet (in the best way) thanks to two different glazes that top the soft, pumpkin spiced scone beneath. Which is honestly good enough to stand on its own if you want to avoid the sugar rush for healthy pumpkin scones (or healthier, at least).
• The pumpkin keeps the scones from being dry, which is a common problem for people who aren’t sold on scones yet.
• The flavor of the pumpkin is wonderfully showcased in both the scone and the glaze. This is a great recipe for fall bake sales, breakfasts, brunches, or as an afternoon snack.

Ingredient Notes

• Pumpkin puree: Make sure you are getting regular pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Or you can make homemade pumpkin pie puree yourself and use that instead!
• Molasses: Use original (sometimes labeled unsulphured or “regular”) molasses. It adds a wonderful depth of flavor and sweetness.
• Spices: You are welcome to use pumpkin pie spice, but I usually just use the spices in my pantry rather than buy an extra spice blend that I will only use a few times a year.

How to Make Pumpkin Scones

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. One of the keys to really excellent scones is to not overwork the dough, so it’s important to mix in the leavening agents and spices now so they are evenly distributed before adding wet ingredients.

2. Add the cold butter by grating it on a box grater and using your hands to toss it around in the flour so you don’t have any large clumps of butter. Or you could use a pastry cutter and cut the butter into the flour mixture that way until it is the size of small peas, just like if you were making pie crust.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, molasses, cream, vanilla, and egg until smooth. Again, this extra bowl is necessary because you don’t want to overwork the scone dough, so it’s best to really combine the wet ingredients separate so the egg and pumpkin are evenly distributed.

4. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture with a spatula until a soft dough starts to come together. It’s okay if some of the flour is still visible; you don’t want to overmix. Transfer the dough onto parchment paper or a lightly floured surface and knead three or four times, until it just comes together. I find it’s helpful to use the parchment paper to fold the dough in on itself a couple of times and what looked shaggy at first should start to hold together.

5. Pat the dough into a 10×7-inch rectangle with your hands. Use a sharp knife or or bench scraper to cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, then crosswise four times creating 8 rectangles. Next, cut each rectangle in half on the diagonal to making 16 total scones. 
6. Transfer the pumpkin scones to the prepared baking sheet and then bake in a 400°F oven for 10-15 minutes until done. You can do the toothpick inserted into the middle of a scone test to see if they come out clean, but I find it easiest to just look and see if the edges are starting to look slightly browned and the scones look done. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, and cream in a bowl and stirring to combine. Dip each cooled scone into the glaze and then place them glaze side up on the cooling rack. I like my glaze a little on the thicker side but you can thin it out more with more liquid or by using milk instead of cream.

8. Make the pumpkin spice glaze by combining the powdered sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons of cream in another bowl. Stir together until smooth.

9. Spoon the pumpkin glaze into a piping bag or Ziploc bag, then cut off the corner and pipe the glaze onto the pumpkin scones in a zigzag pattern. Let the scones set for 30-60 minutes so the glaze can firm up before serving. Both glazes should set pretty well, but they stay soft so be careful when storing these for transport to keep them in one layer or else all the glaze will get stuck to the bottoms of scones lying on top of other scones.

FAQ’s

Recipe Tips

• Use cold butter. Keeping your butter cold creates little pockets and layers when the scones bake that give them their distinctive texture. Just leave your butter in the fridge right until you are ready to add it to your dough, and then handle it as little as possible so it doesn’t start to warm up.
• Don’t overmix the dough. You really just need the scone dough to start coming together when you stir the liquids into your dry ingredients. But it’s totally normal for there to be streaks of flour when you turn your dough onto the surface you plan to use to shape your scones. Just gently knead or press it together 3 or 4 times once you turn it out of the bowl and it will hold together.
• Use parchment paper or keep your surface floured. Make sure you are patting out the dough on parchment paper or a lightly floured surface so that the pumpkin scones don’t start sticking as you are shaping them. If they do, then just add more flour to the surface or your hands. I also found that it helps to flour the pastry cutter or knife I use to cut the scones into triangles.

More Scone Recipes

• Triple Chocolate Scones
• Blackberry Scones
• Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

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This post was originally published in November, 2016. The photos and content were updated in November, 2021.