Thanksgiving Scones (aka Pumpkin Scones)

This was my ode to Thanksgiving! I spent the day very thankful and appreciative of all of my American friends and family for impressing this glorious holiday upon us! Seriously, what a great day! A day to celebrate everything that you are greatful for, sharing the day with family and focusing on good food! I can't think of anything more wonderful. I think next year we are definitely going to embrace Thanksgiving and actually get wrapped up in the cooking and planning for the day. This year I was pretty thankful though, I got to babysit my little niece and nephew so had lots of special cuddles and laughter while my brother and sister-in-law got to have a special date night out in London. It was time I would see the little kids until next year, so I felt very lucky to be able to spend the night with them.

But, I had purchased some pumpkins in anticipation and was determined to make something Thanksgivingy with them. I hadn't made pumpkin scones in such a long time, so thought a little comfort from home might be just the trick for a Thanksgiving treat.

The method to make these scones is quite different to normal scones, but they still manage to be light and fluffy, and aside from preparing the pumpkin, are easier to make, so who am I to change the method!

Ingredients:

1 oz (1 tablespoon) soft butter

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 cup cooked and cooled mashed pumpking

1 egg

2 1/2 cups SR flour (or plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder per cup)

pinch salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk (varies depending on how much water is retained in the pumpkin).

Method:

1. Cut pumpkin into large cubes and cook either in a saucepan of water or a bowl with water in the microwave. Cook until pieces fall apart when skewered. Drain the water and let to cool.

2. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until soft and light.

3. Add cooled pumpkin, well mashed.

4. Add in egg and stir well.

5. Fold in flour, salt and spices.

6. Add milk in small amounts, depending on how watery the pumpkin is. For my batch this time I needed the smallest amount of milk, so added more flour so that is was more manageable.

7. Flour the benchtop and knead the dough for a few minutes until it all comes together. It needs to be moist in the middle but not too sticky, so add milk and flour accordingly. Use a scone/cookie cutter (or alternatively a glass does the same job) and cut out the scones to arrange on a floured baking tray. Dip the cutter into flour between each cut as the dough will be quite sticky.

8. Arrange the scones on the tray to be not quite touching, but close by so that they expand into one another.

9. Bake in a hot oven (200C/ 390F) for 12 -15 minutes until golden brown on top.

I made a cinnamon cream to go on the scones, but found the flavour too much and detracted from the scones, so just had a lashing of butter instead!!!!!

So, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving for those who celebrate the holiday, and for those who don't, I hope you can think of a few things to be thankful for anyway when you make these scones!