Pumpkin and Date Scones

I made pumpkin and date scones for afternoon tea with last night’s leftover roast pumpkin. It’s exam time in our house, so I have been practising my debriefing skills over cups of tea and homemade treats in an effort to stimulate conversation. I pureed the pumpkin, skin and all, to include in these scones. It doesn’t really matter what type of pumpkin you use, and the pumpkin can be steamed or microwaved as well. The dates add a little sweetness. You can try substituting the dates with raisins or figs, too. Serve the scones with anything you like. We had them with homemade labneh and honey, and they were delicious!

I recently attended a workshop with Kristen Allan https://kristenallan.com.au, so I’ve been thinking up lots of ways to use her labneh, keffir and yoghurt in my cooking. It’s rather satisfying – and therapeutic – to make things from scratch that you would normally buy pre-packaged from the store, don’t you think?

Chocolate chip and peanut cookies tend to get the conversation going our house, too. Here’s the recipe: https://atamandastable.com.au/chocolate-chip-and-peanut-cookies/

Best wishes,

Amanda

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Print Recipe

Pumpkin and Date Scones

Pumpkin and date scones, served warm from the oven with honey, butter, labneh or ricotta, are a delicious afternoon treat.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Keyword: quick

Servings: 12 scones

Author: Amanda Lawson

Ingredients

• 2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour substitute with white or spelt flour
• 60 g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
• 2/3 cup pureed cooked pumpkin I used butternut pumkin with the skin on
• 3/4 cup buttermilk add 3/4 tsp lemon juice to regular milk to make buttermilk
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
• 1 tbsp mixed spice
• a pinch of salt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200°C(180°C fan-forced) and dust a baking tray with a little flour.
• Sift the flour, salt and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the pumpkin, dates and 1/2 cup buttemilk. (The remaining 1/4 cup of buttemilk is to brush on top of the scones). Mix with a spatula until it becomes a sticky dough.
• Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more flour.
• Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin until it's 2 cm thick. Cut out the scones with a 5 cm cutter. Brush with a little extra buttermilk.
• Space the scones out on the tray and cook for about 15 minutes until golden on top.
• Server with butter, honey, labneh or ricotta

Notes

The scones taste best eaten the day they're made, but they can be reheated. They're also suitable to freeze.