The Best Easy Sourdough Pumpkin Scones with Discard

Scones are better when they are light, fluffy, full of fall pumpkin flavors, and have the tang and health benefits of sourdough! This fall season, sit down with a hot cup of coffee and a scone with real pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and flaky layers.

If you’ve been around for long, you’ll know that I LOOOVVVEEE pumpkin everything! You can find recipes on my blog for pumpkin sourdough pancakes, or chocolate chip sourdough pumpkin cookies, or spiced sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls, or pumpkin sourdough waffles with discard. So. Many. Pumpkin. Options. And now there’s one more!

You won’t believe how easy scones are to make. Once you cut your butter into the dry ingredients, you pour in the wet ingredients, mix gently, and shape. They are super simple and before long you’ll be able to serve your friends the best scones they have ever had! I think you’ll find it to be the perfect fall treat.

Ingredients for sourdough pumpkin scones

It’s that time of year for pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin everything! Whether you need a quick breakfast, a Thanksgiving brunch, or a fast treat, this is a great way to get the pumpkin flavor in a new way! Furthermore, a big plus is that you’ll also have a new way to use up the extra sourdough discard you have sitting around!

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Dry Ingredients

• 240g. all purpose flour (I use fresh milled flour made from soft white wheat)
• 60g. dark brown sugar
• 1t baking powder
• 1/2t baking soda
• 1/2t salt
• 1 1/2t pumpkin pie spice

Cut in the butter!!

• 1 stick of butter, cubed or grated

Wet Ingredients

• 100g sourdough starter (active sourdough starter or sourdough starter discard)
• 1 egg
• 100g pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Instructions

Dry ingredients

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together – flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. If you use freshly milled flour, it needs to cool because it comes out of the mill a bit warm. Pop it into the freezer for a while until it cools down. You want all the ingredients very cold in order to make sure the scones are nice and chilled when they go into the hot oven. This helps the butter melt more slowly and it creates a flaky texture.

I usually mix all my ingredients with a whisk, or my new favorite kitchen tool – a danish whisk!!

Cut in the butter

Add cubed unsalted butter into the flour mixture and cut it in with a pastry cutter until the chunks of butter are the size of peas. Make sure you have very cold butter. If you have room temperature butter, it won’t make tender scones with flaky layers. My very favorite pastry cutter has solid sides like THIS one so it’s sturdier.

As an alternative to the pastry blender, you can use grated butter that has been frozen or is very cold. Just add the grated frozen butter and you won’t need to use the pastry blender. Some people also use a food processor to chop the butter into small pieces. I’ve never done that, but I heard it works well.

Wet Ingredients

In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients – sourdough starter, egg, and fresh or canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling).

Give it a good stir! Once you add it to the flour mixture, you don’t want to work it too much, so it’s good to have it all completely incorporated at this point.

After that, add wet ingredients to the large mixing bowl with dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until it just comes together. Do not overmix or it will develop the gluten and make the scones tough. You’ll end up with a shaggy dough.

Shaping the sourdough pumpkin scones

Turn the shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. I usually flip the dough over onto the floured countertop so that both sides have a bit of the flour and aren’t sticky. Pat the soft dough into a rectangle. Fold it over and pat out again. Certainly you can use a rolling pin, but it’s easier just to pat it out with your hands. Do this a total of 7 times, and it will give you a light airy scone with flaky layers and pockets of air.

Gently make the scone dough into a circle about 1″ thick. Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 pie shaped pieces. Cut the dough straight down and straight up to make clean cuts. Surprisingly, when you saw back and forth, the edges will seal and it causes the scones to not raise as high. You can also use a round cookie cutter or a biscuit cutter, but make sure you put the cookie cutter straight down and back up without twisting it.

When you cut the butter in well, you end up with these flecks of butter that will give you the flakey layers. SO good!

Baking the pumpkin spice scones

Finally, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set the sourdough pumpkin scones onto the parchment lined baking tray. Leave plenty of room between the scones on the tray to allow them room to spread while cooking.

Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the scones with half and half, heavy cream, or a little extra buttermilk.

Put scones into the freezer while the oven preheats to 400 degrees. It is especially important to preheat the oven AFTER you make the scones when you’re using freshly milled flour. When working with flour that you mill at home, you need to let the mixture rest for at least 15 minutes before baking so it has time to absorb all the liquids. Even if you’re using all purpose flour, you’ll want to let them rest in the freezer to get nice and cold so they keep their shape better in the oven.

Bake the sourdough pumpkin scones on the prepared baking sheet for 18-20 minutes until they are golden brown.

Cool sourdough pumpkin scones on a wire rack.

Overall, for best results, eat immediately or store in an airtight container for about a week.

FAQs for pumpkin sourdough scones

Can you freeze sourdough pumpkin scones?

Absolutlely! These are a great make-ahead option. You can freeze the leftover scones after they are baked. I put them on a parchment lined baking sheet in the freezer. Once they are fully frozen, place the frozen scones into a zip top freezer bag or an airtight container and store in the freezer. Reheat in the toaster oven or microwave.

Alternately, you can freeze shaped scones on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper. Once they are frozen, take the unbaked scones and store in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container in the freezer. Next time you’re ready for a fall treat, simply bake them. Follow the baking instructions and add a few extra minutes on to the bake time for the frozen scones.

Variations:

Add chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or cinnamon chips into the dough before shaping.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight. Bake the next day for fermented sourdough pumpkin scones.

Top with a maple glaze.

Add streusel to the top of the scones for an extra decadent treat!

Drizzle with cream cheese frosting for an extra sweet treat!

In conclusion, these sourdough discard pumpkin scones are an excellent addition to your sourdough discard recipes. If you love quick breads, you’ll love this scone recipe. It’s easy and makes the most delicious scones full of pumpkin and warm cinnamon fall flavor!

Recipe Card for Sourdough Pumpkin Scones