Cheesy Pumpkin Scones #BreadBakers

Made with cheddar AND Parmesan, these cheesy pumpkin scones are tender inside and toasted golden outside, perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea. 

I’m not a big fan of pumpkin spice all the things like many people get excited for during this season but I do love actual pumpkin. In soup, pasta sauce, gnocchi, muffins and so much more. Big fan.

That’s why when our Bread Baker’s host for today’s event chose “pumpkin” for our theme, I was excited. I bought a beautiful little pumpkin and got ready to bake. 

Cheesy Pumpkin Scones

For my mashed pumpkin, I roasted wedges of pumpkin in their skins with just a light drizzle of olive oil until fork tender. Then I scooped the soft flesh out, mashed it and measured out one level cup. It weighed 255g. 

Ingredients

For the scones:

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup or 113g cold unsalted butter, cut in little blocks

3 1/2 oz or 100g extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

1 oz or 28g Parmesan, coarsely grated 

1 cup or 255g mashed pumpkin (see note above ingredients list)

Optional glaze:

1 tablespoon mashed pumpkin

1 tablespoon milk

Method

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and prepare a baking sheet lining it with baking parchment or a silicone mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt and cayenne.

Use a pastry blender or a couple of knives to cut the butter into the flour. 

You want little lumps and flecks of butter still showing, not the homogenous sandy texture we want for pastry crust. 

Mix your two cheeses together and set aside a generous handful to use as topping. 

Toss the bigger pile of cheese with the flour mixture.

Add in the pumpkin. 

Fold and fold until the dough is just evenly moistened and holds together. It might look too dry at first, but the pumpkin should have enough moisture. If it truly doesn't, I shall roll my eyes at you but you can add a drizzle of water or milk.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. 

Wet your hands and use them to shape the dough into a 3/4"or 1 cm thick square. The dough won't stick to damp hands. This avoids adding extra flour to the dough which can dry it out.

Cut the square into 9 pieces. As you can see, mine weren’t very even but I’m sure you’ll do better! 

Transfer the scones to your prepared baking pan. 

Mix together the mashed pumpkin and milk to make the glaze. 

Brush onto the scones. If you don’t have any leftover pumpkin, you can brush them with just milk.

Top with the reserved grated cheese.  

Bake in your preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until puffed up and golden. Turn the baking pan around halfway through for even cooking. 

Serve warm, as is or with butter. These are so cheesy and delicious! We meant to share them with the neighbors but ended up eating them all. I made little ham sandwiches with the bigger ones. SO GOOD.

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers and I to share our bakes. Our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm chose “pumpkin” as our theme. Check out all the links below. 

• Food Lust People Love: Cheesy Pumpkin Scones 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sourdough Pumpkin Bread 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls 
• A Messy Kitchen: Pumpkin Hazelnut Babka
• Sneha's Recipe: Red Pumpkin Paratha

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Roasted Pumpkin Gratin

The perfect post-Halloween use of the little pie pumpkins I use as indoor decorations, this roasted pumpkin gratin is flavorful, super rich and cheesy. 

Every year I buy the little mini pumpkins at the supermarket, mostly for a pop of Autumn color in the house but also because we love to eat them. When left whole, the little pumpkins last for ages in a cool house but once Halloween is past, I start thinking about cooking them. 

One of our favorite recipes is luscious creamy coconut curry baked right inside scooped-out pumpkins.  Another is a Thai-inspired pumpkin stir-fry with shrimp.  

And, of course, a third is this roasted pumpkin gratin featuring a French seasonal cheese called Mont D’Or, which is made with unpasteurized cow’s milk. It is produced in the cooler months only and is shaped by circling it with spruce bark. As it ages, it becomes runny and full of flavor. We adore it. 

Roasted Pumpkin Gratin

‘Tis the season but if you can’t find a Mont d’Or cheese, substitute your favorite soft rind cheese like Brie or Camembert, preferably made with unpasteurized milk, if possible. The stronger the flavor, the better is my attitude.

Ingredients 

2 mini pumpkins, about 1 lb or 450g each, seeded and cut in wedges

Olive oil

Fine sea salt

Red pepper flakes

1 Mont d’Or, chilled – weight 8.8 oz or 250g (See note above for substitutes)

Fresh ground black pepper

Cayenne

2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) for garnish

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and lightly oil a large iron skillet or another baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil. 

Arrange the pumpkin wedges in your prepared baking vessel. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes.

Roast the pumpkin wedges for 35-40 minutes or until they are fork tender. The skin on the smaller pumpkins is absolutely edible. In fact, it’s my favorite part. 

Slice the chilled cheese and cover the pumpkin with the slices. Add a few generous grinds of black pepper and a sprinkle of cayenne.

Return the pan to the oven and roast for a further 10-15 minutes. 

Take it out briefly to sprinkle on the pepitas and put it back in the oven. 

Roast for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is golden on top. If you’d like it a bit darker, you can put the oven on broil/grill for a few minutes but watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least five minutes before serving or that molten cheese might burn your mouth. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today our group is sharing recipes to trick or treat you for Halloween. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below.

• Sneha's Recipe: Keto Halloween Eggy Spiders
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Pumpkin Deviled Eggs
• Food Lust People Love: Roasted Pumpkin Gratin 
• Culinary Cam: Shrunken Head Apple Tart 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Spaghetti & Eyeballs
• Our Good Life: Witches Brew Vodka Cocktail

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns

These sweet sourdough pumpkin buns are soft, fluffy and flavorful. Sweetened with brown sugar, they are the perfect bread to serve with to your Thanksgiving feast. 

I am here to tell you that my sourdough starter, John Dough, is a survivor! I abandoned him in my Houston refrigerator in May and when I got back in September, I fed him a couple of times and he is back to normal. Go, John, go! 

I had a back up plan, though. In her fabulous book, The Sourdough Whisperer, Elaine Boddy gives useful and easy to follow instructions on how to dry out a sourdough starter for foolproof transport. I tried it with Jane Dough (my Jersey, CI starter) before I headed back here to Houston but then I didn’t need to use it when John revived.

What that means though is that I have dried sourdough starter to share, if a friend happens to need some or if John Dough gets into a slump. I can highly recommend connecting with Elaine if you love baking with sourdough and/or want to get started. Her books are great for experienced bakers and beginners alike. Plus she’s a really nice person. Tell her Stacy from the delicious. group sent you!

Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns 

The dough for these sweet buns uses a fed sourdough starter. Your dough will rise nicely but there isn’t a pronounced sharpness from the starter. This recipe was adapted from one on Aberle Home.

Ingredients for 12 buns

1/2 cup or 113g FED sourdough starter (100% hydration)

1/4 cup or 60ml milk, lukewarm

1/2 cup or 120g canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)

2/3 cup or 132g dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 3/4 cup or 344g unbleached bread flour

1/4 cup or 56g butter, softened

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Optional to finish: 2 tablespoons melted butter

Method

In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the fed starter, milk, canned pumpkin, brown sugar and egg until well combined. 

Sift in the flour and mix again until there is no dry flour showing. 

Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Mix in the butter and salt until thoroughly combined. 

Knead on medium speed (or in the bowl by hand) for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the dough becomes very smooth and elastic. You might need to scrape the bowl down a time or two at the beginning to incorporate butter that has stuck to the sides. I did. 

This is a really soft dough. Form it into a ball as best you can in the bowl, and cover. Allow to rise at room temperature until it has doubled in volume or overnight in the refrigerator. (If you do an overnight cold prove, allow time for the dough to come back to room temperature before continuing with the next steps.) 

I did a slow overnight rise for this batch of buns because I believe that the extra time also makes the dough more manageable. 

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and divide it into 12 pieces (weigh dough for uniform buns - my whole dough ball weighed 864g/12 = 72g for each bun.) 

Dampen your hands with a little water so the dough doesn’t stick to them then form the dough into a tight ball by pinching the sides to the bottom. Cup your hand around the dough ball and push it around gently to create a nice round ball. 

Repeat to shape remaining pieces of dough. 

Place the balls in a baking pan lined with baking parchment, leaving room for them to rise. Ideally, they will touch once they have risen. For these buns, I used a 9x13 in or 23x33cm pan. Cover them with cling film and leave to rise for about 45-55 minutes.

If it’s cold in your kitchen and you have a microwave, put water in a microwavable bowl and heat it to almost boiling. Set the pan of buns on top of the bowl and leave the microwave closed for the rising time. Works like a charm. 

Near the end of your rising time, preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Bake the buns on the center rack for 12-15 minutes or until they are lightly golden on the edges. (The centers should read 185°F or on an instant-read thermometer when done.) Cool in the baking pan on a cooling rack. 

These are divine served warm. I like to brush them with some melted butter. You might like to as well. 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers to share their recipes. Since Thanksgiving is nigh, we are sharing breads that would be excellent additions to your Thanksgiving feast. Check out the list below. Many thanks to our host Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

• Crispy Sage and Garlic Parmesan Rolls by A Messy Kitchen
• Easy Sourdough Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Keto Coconut Flour Sandwich Thins by Sneha’s Recipe
• Sourdough Cloverloaf Rolls by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns by Food Lust People Love
• Thanksgiving Stuffing Rolls by Karen’s Kitchen stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

These dark chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are made with special dark cocoa and canned pumpkin, then topped with buttercream frosting and pumpkin candy for a delightful seasonal treat.

Who remembers Pick-A-Mix? Back in the good old days, Brach’s candies were displayed in an open case in many stores with a big Pick-A-Mix sign. You helped yourself to a bag and filled it with your choice of candies, paying by the weight. Often these candy cases were near the front of the store, just by the lines for the cashiers. 

My grandmother was a real character and, while she had a generous heart where her grandchildren were concerned, she did not tolerate laziness or ineptitude well, even in us. If the store had long lines at the cashier and only one or two lanes open, Gram would instruct us each to choose a candy from the Pick-A-Mix. 

She considered that well-deserved compensation for a lengthy wait in line. As a child I was mortified to comply, but one did not argue with my grandmother! My favorites were the cinnamon or the butterscotch hard candies. 

Nowadays it’s a rare store that still has a Pick-A-Mix case, but one can buy those Brach’s candies in bags, some with seasonal variations like the autumn mix, the party mix and the old-fashioned holiday mix with red, white and green hard candies.

Can I confess that I’m not a huge fan of the autumn candy mix for eating? I do love them for decorating though! Nothing cheers up a cake, cookie or cupcake like a few candy corns or tiny pumpkins scattered about. Those instantly say autumn to me. Halloween is not far off AND Thanksgiving is coming just behind it! 

With that in mind, I’ve baked you some chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, topped with the little Autumn mix pumpkins I have on hand. Wouldn’t they be perfect as one of the desserts for your Halloween party or Thanksgiving table? 

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes 

This recipe makes 18 cupcakes and plenty of buttercream frosting.  Using special dark cocoa ensures maximum chocolate flavor but if you don't have it, normal cocoa can be substituted. The addition of pumpkin adds a very subtle background taste even pumpkin haters might not discern, but it gives 

these cupcakes super moisture and creates a tender crumb. 

Ingredients

For the cupcake batter – makes 18:

2 1/2 cups or 315g all-purpose flour

1/4 cup or 30g extra dark special cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups or 355g canned pumpkin – not pie filling

1 1/2 cups or 300g granulated sugar

1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

1/4 cup or 57g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

For the vanilla buttercream frosting - makes about 3-3/4 cups:

1 1/2 lbs or 675g confectioners’ sugar

1 cup or 226g butter, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

6-8 tablespoons milk

To decorate – optional 

Ground cinnamon

Sparkly sugar

Candy pumpkins or candy corn

Shavings of chocolate candy

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your cupcakes pans by greasing them with butter or lining them with paper cupcake liners. 

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside. 

Using your stand mixer or electric beaters, beat together the pumpkin, sugar, milk and butter. 

Add eggs in one by one, mixing well with each addition. 

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet as you mix. Mix until well combined. 

Spoon batter into your prepared cupcake cups.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Let cool completely before you top them with frosting. 

To make the frosting:

In large bowl, with mixer at medium-low speed, beat confectioners’ sugar, butter, vanilla, and 6 tablespoons milk until smooth and blended. 

Increase speed to medium-high; beat until frosting is light and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in additional milk as needed for easy spreading consistency.

Use a piping bag and a large tip to decorate the cooled cupcakes with frosting. 

From high above the cupcakes, sprinkle a small pinch of cinnamon on each cupcake, along with some sparkly sugar, if desired. Top each with a tiny pumpkin or other seasonal candy.

Enjoy!  

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with pumpkin! Many thanks to our host, Renu of Renu Cooks. Check out all the pumpkin recipes below. 

• Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes from Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin and Black Bean Quesadillas from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Crème Brûlée from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pumpkin Prune Quick Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Pumpkin Sweet Potato and Amaranth Patties from Cook with Renu
• Quick Pumpkin And Other Veggies Sabzi from Sneha’s Recipe

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

Pin these Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes!

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