It’s hard to get in the fall spirit with temperatures still in the 80’s here in Texas.  I haven’t been able to make stews or those “hearty” winter meals yet, but I did run across a pumpkin scone recipe from Parents that I decided to tweak a little bit.  It is definitely an “American” scone recipe, but it is very tasty! While scones in appearance look similar to biscuits, they are typically sweeter, but not as sweet as most American desserts.  With the pumpkin, cranberry, and whole wheat flour these scones have some fiber, antioxidants, vitamin A, and vitamin C so they pack a nutritional punch. I would still put them in the dessert category though so eat moderately!

First you mix all of the dry ingredients together. Then use a pastry blender to add in cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. I used margarine but it doesn’t work as well.

Then mix the  pumpkin, buttermilk, and egg together in a separate bowl. Once it is mixed you can add it to the dry ingredients.

Next add the cranberries and gently stir together.  Do you see my precious little boy’s face? His mouth is full of cranberries I had just given him to eat, and his look says it all, “Crazy Mommy! Why are you putting all of those yummy things into that bowl instead of putting them in my mouth?”

Now the dough is ready to be dropped by the 1/2 cupful onto a cookie sheet and sprinkled with a sugar-ginger mixture. It is ready to go in the oven!

Now they are ready to be enjoyed with a hot cup of tea!

Sound yummy to you? Here is the recipe so you can soon be enjoying scones too!

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup dried cranberries (try to get all natural no added sugar)

Directions

• Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl.
• Add butter and mix with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• In small bowl mix together pumpkin, buttermilk, and egg.
• Gently stir mixtures together and add the cranberries.
• Drop dough by 1/2 cupfuls onto cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
• In small prep bowl mix together 1 T of sugar and 1/4 t. of ginger. Sprinkle sugar-ginger mixture evenly over dough.
• Bake for 16 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly on wire rack.
• Enjoy! Makes about 10 scones.