The sneaky thing about having a food blog is that you can make yourself look like a superstar by only posting your successes in the kitchen. Something turns out gross? Sticks to the pan? Fugly as hell? You simply don’t put it on the site (with the exception of these). So you have no idea right now how many pumpkin disasters I’ve had since September.

I started off the Fall by making a list of all the pumpkin recipes I wanted to try. This was similar to my Summer 2010 To Bake List, and remember how well that turned out? Anyway, there are seriously 22 items on this Pumpkin List. Everything from Pumpkin Muffins to Sour Cream Streusel Pumpkin Bundt Cake.

I got started with some Pumpkin Bars and it was disappointment after disappointment (with the exception of that Pumpkin Pie, but that’s not really my thing). Let’s recap:

• White Chocolate Pumpkin Bars – I had some structural issues with these bars, which involve a white chocolate blondie layer topped with a pumpkin layer. The pumpkin topping is thicker and heavier than the white chocolate blondie. So the pumpkin sunk to the middle and bottom of the pan which pushed the white chocolate blondie to bake up around the edges. Annoying and ugly. I brought these to dinner at Nicole’s and did not even bother taking a photo. Barry dealt with the leftovers.
• Pumpkin Blondies – I had issues with the texture of these bars. When you bake with pumpkin there is a mushiness factor. It keeps everything moist, which is theoretically a good thing, but not when it came to these. Gross. Too mushy. I brought them to Book Club and the girls ate them, but I think they were just being polite.
• Pumpkin Granola Bars – Just no. I threw them out.

I decided after all these debacles, it was time to go back to what I know and love. I made Pumpkin Scones for Lydia last Winter, shortly after Ethan was born and she was all about food she could eat with one hand. She loved them. I used a different recipe this time because I liked the two different glazes, which makes these look like more of a Starbucks rip-off. They are the perfect texture, there is no mushiness factor, and the look super cute after you dress them up with the icing. Are they really suitable for breakfast? Probably not, but they’re perfect with a cup of tea.

Now, there are still 10+ recipes on the Pumpkin List, and I have one more can of it in my cupboard. I might get to a couple more things, but it’s time to buckle down and get serious about Christmas Cookies. So Pumpkin might have to wait!

Pumpkin Scones

Source: We Heart Food 

Ingredients

Scones

• 2 cups flour
• 7 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 6 tbsp butter, cold, and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tbsp milk or cream
• 1 egg

Powdered Sugar Glaze

• 1 cup + 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tbsp cream or milk

Spiced Glaze

• 1 cup + 3 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tbsp cream or milk
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• pinch ginger
• pinch cloves

Directions

1. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and spices in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until mixture is crumbly, and butter is pea-sized.
2. Whisk together pumpkin, cream and egg. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold in until just combined. Form into two balls.
3. On a floured surface, pat the dough into two circles or one long rectangle about 1″ thick. Cut into wedges (if you did circles) or squares then triangles. You could also cut out using a biscuit cutter.
4. Bake at 425 on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 14-16 minutes. Cool completely before glazing.
5. For glazes, mix all ingredients together. Use a pastry brush or spoon to cover the cooled scones with the powdered sugar glaze. Let set for about half an hour.
6. Depending on how much time you have, you can either a) use a spoon or fork to drizzle the spiced glaze over top of the scones or b) pour the spiced glaze into a piping bag/plastic bag/squeeze bottle and let your artistic side run free. Take that Starbucks!