The simplest vegan pumpkin scones that are made quickly in the food processor, only require 11 ingredients, and are topped with the best pumpkin maple glaze. They’re perfectly flaky, moist and the best thing to pair with your morning coffee.
Earlier this year, I got very into homemade scones and was baking my Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones on repeat. If you haven’t given those scones a try, I can’t recommend them enough! The lemon poppy seed glaze on top is the perfect touch.
And for the longest time, I thought I preferred loaf breads like Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread or Vegan Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chunks because almost all of the vegan scones I have had from coffee shops and bakeries were incredibly dry and crumbly.
But once I started making vegan scones at home, my mind has changed completely.
Scones are my absolute favorite! I can’t wait to keep testing new flavors. Soon we may or may not have 20 scone recipes up because I just can’t get enough!
Preparing the Dough
One thing I do prefer about the dough for these pumpkin scones is that they come together very quickly and easily in the food processor.
You can have this dough together in less than 5 minutes and it’s practically impossible to mess up.
To have the most success, there are a few key things to note:
- Very, very cold butter is a must. I like to keep my vegan butter in the freezer and always buy Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks for vegan baking. It’s the closest thing I have found to real butter.
- Use a large cup food processor. If you use too small of a food processor, the dough won’t have enough room in the cup to pulse together and over mixing will likely happen. I own a 14 cup Cuisinart Food Processor and swear by it. I have had it for years and it has never given me any problems.
- Not all vegan yogurts are the same. For baking, I always use Kite Hill unsweetened plain yogurt. It’s fairly thick in texture and neutral in taste so it works really well for baking. If you cannot find Kite Hill yogurt, just make sure the yogurt you use is not too thin or runny. The vegan yogurt acts as the egg replacer in this recipe so you want it to be thick enough to act as a binder and hold the dough together.
Rolling Out the Dough
Once your dough has come together in the food processor, gently turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Work the dough into an 8 inch round as quickly and gently as possible so as not to warm and melt the butter. You should to be able to see pieces of frozen butter in the dough. This will ensure the scones are light and flaky!
I like to use a rolling pin to help me roll the dough out so that I do not warm it too much with my hands.
Finally cut the dough into 8 wedges and transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet!
Tip! Make sure to give the scones enough room on the baking sheet. If they are too close together, they will not crisp up as well on the edges.
Freezing the Scones
The final step before baking the scones is setting them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes while the oven preheats.
Why? Two reasons:
- Keep the butter as cold as possible: Freezing the dough will allow the butter to firm back up a bit if it melted at all before baking. Remember, the colder the butter, the flakier the scone! Don’t skip this!
- Prevent the scones from spreading: If the scone dough is too warm when you put them in the oven, you run the risk of having them spread outwards instead of rising upwards. Keeping the dough cold will help them keep their shape!
Frequently asked Questions:
You can make these scones in a bowl with a spatula. The food processor is just quicker and easier.
The short answer is no. Scones without vegan butter would be very flat and dense. If you want healthier, oil-free desserts, check out my Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookie and Flourless Brownie Bars (no bake).
Maybe. I do not recommend replacing the cane sugar with maple syrup as it will make the dough too wet. I also don’t recommend date sugar as it does not melt. If you want to try making these refined sugar free as possible, I would try coconut sugar but I did not test this and cannot guarantee perfect results. Coconut sugar will likely make the scones much darker in color, too.
I buy a pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice from my local grocery store. If you can’t find it in your grocery store, I would try ordering it on Amazon or making your own! Check out this DIY recipe by Minimalist Baker.
I would try using either pureed sweet potato or pureed, roasted sugar pie pumpkin. Substituting these could make the dough too wet, so if that is the case, I would add 1 tablespoon all purpose flour at a time until dough is correct consistency (refer to images earlier in post).
I hope you love these scones as much as we do! They’re perfectly spiced, so flakey and the glaze on top is the perfect final touch!
More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes
- 1 Pot Vegan Pumpkin Soup
- Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Filling
- Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte
Enjoy!
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Vegan Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
Scones
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour plus 1-2 tablespoons for rolling
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup canned pumpkin puree
- ½ cup vegan butter frozen and cubed
- ⅓ cup vegan yogurt plain unsweetened
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin Maple Glaze
- 1 cup organic confectioner's sugar powdered sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- To a large cup food processor (I use a 14-cup food processor), add the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, organic cane sugar, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice and pulse to combine.
- Next, add in the pumpkin puree, vegan yogurt, vanilla extract and cubed, frozen vegan butter.
- Pulse just enough times until a dough forms - do not over mix (see photos in post for reference).
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface (1-2 tablespoons flour) and gently work dough into an 8" round (see photos for reference). I like to use a rolling pin to prevent the butter from getting too warm from the warmth of your hands.
- Once in a round, cut into 8 pieces. Transfer 8 wedges to a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven preheats, stick scones in freezer to make sure butter remains cold.
- Once preheated, remove scones from freezer, brush scones lightly with vegan yogurt, and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
- While baking, prepare the maple pumpkin glaze by whisking together confectioner's sugar, vegan butter, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice until smooth. Taste and adjust pumpkin pie spice amount to your preference.
- Once golden brown, transfer scones to cooling rack. Once completely cool, drizzle scones with pumpkin maple glaze.
- Storage: Store scones at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
Notes
- You must use frozen or at the very least, VERY cold butter. If it is too warm, it will melt into the dough while you are preparing the scones and they will not be as layered or flaky.
- I only tested recipe with canned pumpkin puree. I cannot confirm that roasted and pureed pumpkin will work. It may be too wet. If you use roasted and pureed pumpkin and have good results, please let me know.
- Organic cane sugar and organic confectioner's sugar is vegan. Nonorganic varieties may not be vegan as they may bleach the color of the sugar with bone char.
- Recipe Styling Inspired by Half Baked Harvest.
Best scones! This recipe was so easy to0. I only have a small food processor so I used a bowl to mix the dry ingredients and my small food processor to mix the wet ingredients, then incorporated in the bowl together and it was still the perfect dough consistency. The glaze is the cherry on top to bring the flavors together, perfect for fall!
YAY! I am so glad!! Using a small food processor for the wet is a great idea!