Old fashioned pumpkin scones - a classic CWA recipe (no mixer) (2024)

If you’re looking for a recipe for classicpumpkin sconesthe old fashioned way (just likeCWA pumpkin scones) then look no further than this (no mixer required!)easy pumpkin scone recipe.

This recipe is a classic from the Country Women’s Association.

Pumpkin scones the old fashioned way

Why make this pumpkin scone recipe?

This recipe is a simple classic. It’s perfect for afternoon tea topped with fresh strawberry jam and cream and served with a cup of coffee or tea.

Anything made by the CWA (Country Women’s Association) is bound to be the best version you can find. Trust me!

So happy to find this simple recipe! I knew what I was looking for for an afternoon tea, but the pumpkin scones recipe I was finding were so complicated, or too sweet…this one is JUST right!Stephanie

Let me tell you a little story (or just skip down to the recipe).

Cravings are a funny thing aren’t they?

I often wonder how your body can suddenly desperately need something you might not have thought of in ages.

My second pregnancy had quite a few of those moments.

When I was about 11 weeks with my second, I was getting ready to take lunch to a friend who had just had a baby.

I was going to eat lunch in literally 40 minutes but out of nowhere came the thought that I just had to have a sausage roll.

I hadn’t been to a bakery and bought myself a sausage roll in as long as I could remember but I drove straight to our local, handed over my money, ran to the car and before I’d even started the ignition I was into it.

When I got out of the car at my friend’s house I had to dust off the crumbs to hide the evidence.

I’m not kidding! Luckily there was no one around to witness it.

Pregnant or not, scones are something I get cravings for every few months and they’re all I can think of until I get my fix.

My kidss love them too.

This good old-fashioned pumpkin scone recipe comes from theCWAscone recipe book.

Yes they have an entire book of CWA scone recipes.

What I love about old recipes is that they’re not too specific.

There was no hand-holding 40 years ago and recipes just specified temperature with ‘in a hot oven’ and baking time with ‘until cooked.’

There was no electric mixer to help and everything was done by hand.

I guess they didn’t run the risk of being sued for someone burning themselves on said hot oven or setting the house on fire cooking them ‘until cooked.’

Usually I adapt recipes like this for the mixer but when I make these, I do it just as the recipes stated and get my hands dirty smooshing the butter and flour together.

The kids rather like making pumpkin scones too as you can imagine.

I have to breathe through the mess.

I swear the hands-on action made the pumpkin scones taste better.

Must be the love and hard work (although my other scone recipes are pretty tasty too).

These are light and fluffy and oh-so-morish.

In fact I think I hear the cravings starting up again in the back of my mind (no I’m not pregnant!).

What do you need to make pumpkin scones?

To make pumpkin scones you will need:

• Self-raising flour– don’t have any? Here’show to make your own self-raising flour.
• Cooked mashed pumpkinaka pumpkin purée – I like to steam the pumpkin to cook it.
• Raw sugar– or regular white sugar if that’s all you have.
• Butter– the real type that comes wrapped. Don’t use margarine.
• Egg– about 70g
• Full-fat milk– you can use light if that’s all you have but full-fat will create the best flavour and consistency.

What type of pumpkin should I use for pumpkin scones?

The best type of pumpkin to use for pumpkin scones is the Queensland Blue.

If you’re making Lady Flo’s recipe then you really should stick to a Queensland pumpkin!

But if you can’t find them, you can use whatever you can find.

Can you use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin

Yes you can absolutely use pumpkin pie filling to make pumpkin scones.

It’s not something commonly found in Australia but in the US and Canada it comes in a can.

How to make pumpkin scones

Here’s how to make this classic pumpkin scone recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven and line a baking sheet (or oven tray)with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
3. Add the sugar and whisk it through then use your fingers to rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
4. Add the egg, milk and pumpkin and fold them through.
5. Turn the soft dough out onto a floured board or bench, flour your hands and pat it out to about 2-3cm thickness.
6. Use a floured, round cutter to cut out rounds and place them on the lined baking tray so they are just touching.
7. Gently pat any leftover dough together then let it rest a few minutes and pat out and cut out more circles.
8. Bake the scones for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool or gobble them up straight away with jam and cream.

Now scone baking used to be something I was a little bit afraid of.

There seemed to be so many things that could go wrong – scones that don’t rise, scones that are too crumbly and dry (I’d say solution to that is more cream!), scone dough that’s too sticky… oh so many things standing between me and the perfect scone.

I’ve put together a list of some of the problems you might come across when making scones so you can have perfect pumpkin scones the first time.

Why didn’t my scones rise?

There’s really nothing worse (if you’re craving a good scone) than pulling scones out of the oven to find you’ve bake a tray full of dense, pancake-like scones.

So why did your scones go flat and not rise?

There are a few reasons this might have happened.

Reason #1 that your scones didn’t rise

The first reason is probably the most common – over-kneading.

If you’ve made bread before, you’ll know that you knead the bread to activate the gluten and make everything really hold together and get super strong.

We don’t really want that with scones.

For scones, we want them to be a little bit crumbly (but not dry) so the dough will probably still be a little bit wet. Just knead until it has alljustcome together and then you’re ready.

Reason #2 that your scones didn’t rise

You twisted the cutter.

When you’re cutting your scones it’s really important to flour your cutter well and press it gently into the dough.

Twisting the cutter makes them rise unevenly and can result in them not rising as much as you’d like.

Check out the video below to see this in action.

Reason #3 that your scones didn’t rise

You didn’t bake then all nice and close together.

Once you’ve cut your scones, you need to put them on the tray so they’re just gently kissing each other (but not too close – see the video below).

Had pumpkin in the fridge and having no idea what to use it for, I turned to the internet and voila! Pumpkin scones:) This recipe was easy to follow and so yummy! I took pics of the whole process as well. Thank you for sharing!Marta

Scones are really kind – they lift each other up as they rise so putting them nice and close together helps create a good rise.

Reason #4 that your scones didn’t rise

I’m sure there are a lot more reasons but this is the last one I’m going to cover – your self-raising flour might be off (or your baking powder if you’re using plain flour and baking powder).

A really easy way to check it (whether you’re using baking powder or Self Raising flour) is to put a little bit in some water or better yet, white vinegar.

If it fizzes then it’s ok, if not, best you get some new baking powder.

Watch the video below for a quick demo on how to cut the scones and line them up nice and close together.

Ignore the toddler wanting to play with his car in the middle of the dough.

How to make your scones rise higher

If you really want to get a good rise on your scones you can even freeze your butter prior to adding it.

The dough can also be chilled before baking for super scone rise.

Cut out the rounds and arrange them on the tray then put the tray of raw scones into the fridge for 20 minutes.

A few other FAQs

What can I use instead of self-raising flour?

​You can make self-raising flour by adding one teaspoon of baking powder for every half a cup of plain flour.

So for this recipe you’d need 2 cups of plain flour and 4 teaspoons of baking powder.

Does the butter need to be cold to make scones?

Yes it does.

The reason you need cold butter for making scones is to make sure the butter stays solid until it’s in the oven.

When it melts only at a high temp, it creates beautiful, flaky layers and pockets (it also helps them to rise).

​Can you use margarine instead of butter?

In theory yes, you could use margarine in place of butter.

For flavour and texture, butter will give better results.

In terms of my personal opinion, margarine isn’t a real food.

It contains a mixture of different oils and chemicals and in my opinion, is best avoided.

Do you need to use egg in scones?

​Yes. Eggs help to bind the ingredients and help your scones to rise.

These scones sound like a great combination! Especially for the fall when we are inundated with pumpkin spice everything!

Shelby

Can you bake scones ahead of time

Scones are best eaten on the day they’re made.

If you’re making them ahead of time, first make sure they are completely cool.

Once cool, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to several days.

How to reheat scones

Scones are best reheated in the oven.

Wrap them in aluminium foil and heat until warmed through.

Are scones the same as American biscuits

Scones and American biscuits (in Australia biscuits are cookies -it’s all very confusing) are very similar.

An American biscuit is more bread-like and usually savoury.

More pumpkin recipes

If you like pumpkin scones, you may enjoy some of our other pumpkin recipes:

• maple pumpkin pancakes
• Harvest Pumpkin Cake
• pumpkin apple muffins
• Chocolate spiced pumpkin bundt cake

More scone recipes

Not a fan of pumpkin?

You might enjoy some of our other scone recipes:

• lemonade scones
• giant cinnamon scone

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Pumpkin scones the old fashioned way

Yield: 16

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 cup cooked mashed pumpkin
• 2 tbsp raw sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp full-fat milk

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (356F) fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
3. Add the sugar and whisk it through then use your fingers to rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
4. Add the egg, milk and pumpkin and fold them through.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, flour your hands and pat it out to about 2-3cm thickness.
6. Use a floured, round cookie cutter to cut out rounds and place them on the tray so they are just touching.
7. Gently pat any excess dough together then let it rest a few minutes and pat out and cut out more circles.
8. Bake the scones for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool or gobble them up straight away with jam and cream.