My daughter wanted to make us a ‘healthy’ pumpkin pie for dessert recently. So I got her one of those ‘pie pumpkins’ from the local farmers Market just down the road from us. The pie pumpkins are smaller, taste better and they have a sweeter flesh than the carving pumpkins.
When we got there the pumpkins were beautifully displayed on bales of hay, there were tons of them, so pretty! The ‘pie pumpkins’ had a bin of their own, so we chose the largest one and headed home.
It was pretty easy to prep the pumpkin. Just cut it up in pieces, scrape out the seeds and microwave the pieces for ten minutes or more as needed until the flesh is soft.
Scrape the cooked pumpkin flesh off the skin and use it like you would any plain pumpkin out of the can. Purée the flesh to make it smooth.(for more instructions see my page – Preparing a Pumpkin for Baking)
Ok, so back to my daughters healthy pie story. It was one of those no bake pumpkin pies with a nutty crust. I’m sorry to say it was not a recipe I would recommend.
There was some of the plain pumpkin left over, so I decided to use it for some scones. I didn’t plan on using the scones in my blog, but they came out light and delicious so I just had to share. Maybe the lightness is because of the Cake and Pastry flour, not sure, but they are good.
Pumpkin Scones – with fresh pumpkin
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups cake and pastry flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold butter
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 4-6 tablespoons table cream
- Pumpkin puree:
- 1 cup plain pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- Pinch nutmeg
- Pinch cloves
- Pinch cardamom
- Icing:
- 1 cup icing sugar
- A few tablespoons cream until it is a creamy texture for drizzling
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon if desired
Instructions
- Mash the pumpkin flesh and spices with a fork and microwave for 2 minutes to incorporate the spices and pumpkin, mash with fork again. Set aside.
- (If the plain pumpkin is out of a can, no need to microwave)
- Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into small chunks with knife, then use pastry blender to mix into dry ingredients until butter is small oatmeal like pieces.
- Mix together the pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla and 4 tablespoons of the cream. Pour into dry ingredients, mix until blended.
- If mixture is too dry add a little more cream.
- Scoop a heaping tablespoon full onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly with back of spoon.
- Bake at 380°F for 15-20 minutes, until browned slightly.
- Let cool and drizzle with icing sugar.
