Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Source: Being on vacation means you get to eat a ton of awesome food in other places, but it doesn't allow you to update a recipe blog... (If I knew how Portage Bay Cafe made their waffles, you bet I'd post it here.) So it took a friend mentioning that she had just had some awesome pumpkin chocolate chip scones to remind me that I hadn't posted here in a while. It was not at all hard to find a recipe for this on the web. In fact, it was hard to choose one, but I ended up adapting this one. (If you make the glaze(s), let me know how they turn out. I was lazy.)

Rating: Very Favorable

Notes: It's looking like these are best the day you make them, light and fluffy and scrumptious. They're not bad the second day either, but already taste a little tougher. I'll take this opportunity to push another product I love: Silpat. I'm sure baking on silicone will eventually kill me and all those around me, but I could not live without these. Air bake cookie sheets? Still easy to burn your cookies. Silpat? Never.

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INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups flour (better if you make it w. 1/2 c. being whole-wheat)
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2-2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 egg
• 1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips

METHOD:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious; set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips. Form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. The dough will be moister if you used more pumpkin, so add as much flour as you want to make it workable.
3. Cut the pieces into triangles or other shapes so that you end up with about 12 pieces. Place on Silpat on baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.