Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones

These gluten-free pumpkin scones are such a treat for breakfast in the fall! They're soft, light and tender, with warm notes of pumpkin spice and a sweet maple glaze. These are also easy to make - the dough comes together in about 15 minutes - and like most homemade baked goods, they're so much better than anything you can get from Starbucks!

this recipe

Here's What You'll Love About This Easy Pumpkin Scone Recipe

• It's quick and simple to make - about 15 minutes for the dough, and 5 minutes for the (optional) glaze.
• There are no special kitchen appliances required.
• The scones bake up soft and tender, and stay that way for days! This is gluten-free baking at its best - nobody will know the difference.
• A simple maple glaze adds the perfect amount of sweetness and truly makes them quintessential fall scones.
• You can make the dough and freeze it for later. This is my favorite thing about homemade scones!

Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions

If you've made any of my scones before - these blueberry buttermilk scones are a personal favorite - you'll recognize that they all follow the same basic ingredient formula: flour + butter + cream + flavor-enhancers. This recipe for gluten-free pumpkin scones is no exception! Here's a look at what you'll need:

A few notes:

• Use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum, guar gum, or a similar binding agent. My favorite brands include Cup4Cup, King Arthur Flour, and Bob's Red Mill. You can also use regular all-purpose flour. Just keep an eye on the texture of the dough and add more heavy cream if it seems too dry.
• I used light brown sugar (aka golden brown sugar) for my scones, but the darker variety should be fine as well.
• You can replace the individual spices in this recipe with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice.
• Use very cold butter that's been cut into cubes (which makes it easier to disperse in the dough). If you're using salted butter, reduce the salt in the scones to ¼ teaspoon. I like to splurge on European-style butter for scones; it has less water and more fat, helping the scones rise rather than spread, and giving them a better flavor.
• Be sure to use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which looks similar but is not the same. I've only tested this recipe with canned pumpkin, and can't speak to how well homemade pumpkin puree will work.

For the maple glaze on these pumpkin spice scones, you'll need the following:

Skip the added salt if you use salted butter.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones

Start by whisking all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl - flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.

Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and cut it in with a pastry cutter (also called a pastry blender) until the pieces are roughly pea-sized and well- dispersed. If you don't have a pastry blender, you can use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients: pumpkin puree, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and fold it in with a rubber spatula until incorporated. The dough will be a bit crumbly.

Use your hands to finish working the dough together, adding more cream sparingly if it seems too dry. It should be soft but not particularly sticky. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet and press it into a round disk about 1" thick. Place it in the freezer to chill for 1 hour.

If your baking sheet won't fit in your freezer, you can temporarily transfer the parchment paper and scone dough onto a smaller tray or plate to freeze. 

Toward the end of the chilling period, preheat your oven to 400ºF. Just before baking, use a sharp knife to slice the scone dough into 8 equal pieces, pizza-style. Spread them apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the scones for 15-20 minutes, until they've puffed up and appear dry (not glossy) on top. A toothpick inserted into the center of one should come out clean. Place the baking sheet over a wire rack and let the scones cool for about 15 minutes. Then, transfer them directly to the rack and let them cool to room temperature before glazing.

To make the maple glaze:

Add the butter to a small, microwave-safe bowl and microwave just long enough to melt (about 30 seconds). Whisk in the maple syrup and vanilla extract.

Add the confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, and salt, whisking until the mixture is smooth. Finally, mix in up to 1 tablespoon of cream as needed so that the glaze is just thin enough to drizzle down slowly from the whisk when lifted - it shouldn't be runny.

Spoon the maple glaze onto the pumpkin scones, spreading it over the top of each one and letting it slowly drip down the sides. Let the glaze set before serving.

Scone Baking Tips

• The ratio of dry to wet ingredients in scone dough is important. To get it right, it's best to weigh your ingredients - especially the flour - with a kitchen scale. If you don't have one, make sure you measure your flour properly by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off.
• Always, always, always use cold butter and cream for scones. Keeping the butter cold until it hits the oven will help your scones rise better and give them better texture.
• Don't overwork the dough! Your goal is to handle it just enough to bring it together.
• Like most scones, this pumpkin scone dough freezes exceptionally well. After chilling the dough and slicing it into individual pieces, you can place the unbaked scones in a freezer-safe Ziploc and freeze them for up 3 months. Once you're ready to bake them, let them sit at room temperature while you preheat your oven. The baking time may need to be increased by about 5 minutes. (I have a full post on freezing scones if you want more information!)
• While I personally think serving these pumpkin scones with a maple glaze takes them to the next level, you can of course skip it. If opting for no glaze, I'd suggest brushing the scones with cream and sprinkling them with coarse sugar before baking.

Pumpkin Scone Recipe FAQ

More Gluten-Free Recipes with Pumpkin

Don't stop here! I have plenty of other delicious pumpkin recipes you can enjoy on a gluten-free diet.