Pumpkin Scones — The Closest Thing to Sunday Biscuits When the Morning Calls for Something Warm

James stayed through Sunday and we went to church together at New Hope AME for the first time in I cannot say how many years. He grew up in that church. He was baptized there. He went all the way to Atlanta and found a church there that he loves but New Hope AME is the original address, the one all other addresses are compared to, and when we walked in together Sunday morning several of the older members recognized him immediately and embraced him the way the church body embraces people who have been away and come back — with the warmth that says you were here and you were missed and the door was always open.

After church I made Sunday brunch. Biscuits and country ham — James's specific request, the thin-sliced kind from the Piggly Wiggly that you cook fast in a cast iron skillet — and scrambled eggs and grits with butter and a little sharp cheddar, and a fruit salad because I wanted something fresh on the table. We sat on the back porch and ate in the late morning heat and talked about Dorothy the way you talk about sick people when the crisis is slightly distant — not the acute emergency version but the long sustained version, the marathon. What the treatment schedule looks like. How she is on good days. What she has asked James to do and what she has asked him not to do.

He left in the afternoon and I stood in the driveway and watched his car until it turned the corner. That is what I always do. I watched Bernice's car until it turned the corner every time she left, and Marcus's, and now I do the same thing with every person I love, because there is something in me that wants to see the last possible moment of the leaving before I let the space refill with ordinary. He looked well when he left. Not fine, not fixed, but held-together in a way that he hadn't been when he arrived. I hope the pot roast helped. I believe it did.

That Sunday brunch was all about biscuits — James’s request, and I was happy to oblige — but when fall settles in and there’s a can of pumpkin in the pantry, these scones scratch the very same itch. They come together almost as fast as biscuits, they come out of the oven warm and tender, and they sit on a plate next to scrambled eggs and country ham like they were always supposed to be there. When you are feeding someone you love and you want the table to say stay a little longer, something homemade and still-warm from the oven is always the right answer.

Pumpkin Scones

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 33 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
3. Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter pieces and work them into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining.
4. Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, half-and-half, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth.
5. Bring the dough together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix — a few dry spots are fine.
6. Shape the scones. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
8. Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over the warm scones.
9. Serve warm. These are best eaten the same morning, alongside eggs, ham, or whatever else you’ve set out on the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 46g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 290mg