Roasted Pumpkin & Cheese Scones

August 23rd, 2024

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Looking back at my recipes shared this winter I see a pumpkin theme emerging. So why not one more pumpkin recipe (I promise) with these excellent pumpkin and cheese scones? Possibly my favourite cheese scones to date with the mashed pumpkin bringing extra moisture so they don’t dry out and can be reheated the next day. 

I place pumpkin into a similar category as cabbage. Possibly not the most exciting vegetable, but a large pumpkin, like cabbage, goes a long way. And it is more versatile than you may think beyond roasting and mashing. When serving roasted pumpkin for dinner I highly recommend roasting extra to use in cooking in other ways. 

How to roast pumpkin pieces to use in baking:

Slice crown pumpkin or buttercup squash into 5cm wedges. Leave the skin on but scoop out the seeds. Arrange cut side down on a baking tray, brush lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Bake at 200C (fan 180C) for 25-30 minutes until the flesh is tender when pierced with a small knife. Cool then remove the skin from the pumpkin flesh. Mash the pumpkin until smooth (or as close to) and store it in a container in the fridge. I often roast up a whole oven tray, then freeze the mashed pumpkin into 1 cup portions for an easy thaw to use in cooking.

More Pumpkin Recipes on Homegrown Kitchen

• Pumpkin & Lentil Soup with Orange Rosemary Butter – diving into the archives for this tasty soup + info about seed sowing for spring that is just around the corner!
• Pumpkin, Shiitake & Walnut Pot Stickers – a flavoursome vegetable filling for dumplings. Or for a more traditional filling here are my Taiwanese cousin’s pork and cabbage dumplings.
• Leek, Pumpkin & Feta Galette – a recent recipe with pumpkin that has been popular. If you haven’t made it yet this is your chance.
• Roast Pumpkin Hot Cross Buns – I know it isn’t Easter time but these sweet ‘buns’ can be made any time of the year. Using sourdough they keep well.

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Roasted Pumpkin & Cheese Scones

Cheese scones are a real Kiwi cafe institution. In this recipe, I mix things up a bit (as I like to do) by adding mashed roasted pumpkin. The pumpkin essentially becomes part of the moisture content and adds a warming sweet flavour to the scone base. If you have ever added mashed pumpkin or potato to bread dough you will know what a difference it makes. The bonus is that the scones won’t dry out quite as fast so can be toasted and served the next day. 

Servings 8

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups (300g) plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp cayenne or chilli powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 100 g cold butter
• 1 cup grated cheese - well-flavoured such as cheddar or tasty
• ⅔ cup (about 150g) mashed roasted pumpkin
• 1 small free-range egg
• ½ cup (120ml) natural yoghurt or buttermilk
• about ¼ cup (60ml) milk

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 220C (fan 200C). Lightly grease an oven tray.
• In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.
• Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients, followed by half of the grated cheese and toss to combine (don’t rub in the butter). Tip, chilling the grater first will stop the butter from sticking so much and following with grated cheese helps too.
• In a mixing jug combine the mashed pumpkin, egg, yoghurt and ¼ cup milk. Add to the dry ingredients and use a butter knife to mix until just combined (the dough will feel quite sticky). Add 1-2 tablespoons of extra milk if the dough feels dry, again this will be dictated by the amount of moisture in the pumpkin used.
• Tip the dough onto a well-floured bench, knead briefly to bring it together, then shape into a 4cm thick rectangle (about 18 x 22cm). Cut into 8 pieces. Carefully transfer the scones to the prepared tray allowing space between each as they will spread as they cook.
• Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 15 minutes until the scones are puffy and golden.
• Cool on the tray for 10 minutes then serve warm with butter. Best eaten the day they are made, or they can be reheated in a 150C oven for 10 minutes the next day, or halved and lightly toasted.