I used to love making scones with my Granny, and these Cheesy Vegan Savoury Pumpkin Scones are inspired by those afternoons I spent with her, learning all her tricks of how to make the lightest, fluffiest and most delicious scones around.
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👵Granny's Scones
Granny's scones were legendary (a bit like quite a few of her recipes, that I have veganised for the blog, such as her Famous Rum Balls!) and were always super light and fluffy. She claimed it was because she stirred them with the feather of an Angel's Wing.
And I believed her.
She confessed eventually that it was really because she had cold hands and worked the dough quickly. See the Top Tips below for how to do this even if you don't have cold hands!
🧀Ingredients
This recipe has super simple and delicious ingredient. They are:
Vegan Butter - traditionally scones are made with butter, which is no problem as there are fantastic vegan butters out there. We love Naturli's vegan organic butter. Super buttery and also perfect to spread on the scones once cooked.
Nutritional yeast - this adds to that cheesy taste of these vegan savoury pumpkin scones. It's deactivated yeast and is a staple in many savoury vegan recipes. Now, back in the day, my Granny's cheesy scones were stuffed full of parmesan and cheddar cheese. Nutritional yeast works a treat, especially combined with the pumpkin and some fresh (or dried) sage and thyme.
Dijon mustard - adds that extra kick, and is also an ingredient you'll find in many vegan cheesy recipes. We love dijon mustard, and you'll find it featured in our amazing cheesy lasagne.
Pumpkin - you could use canned/tinned pumpkin here, but seeing as it's Hallowe'en as I'm writing this, why not use up some of the interiors of your Hallowe'en pumpkins! They're usually discarded, but are all edible, even though sometimes can be a little watery. Alternatively, if you have lovely sweet butternut squash or other squash you want to use, you can just steam or boil it. Any way works really!
All-purpose flour - the main bulk of the vegan savoury pumpkin scones.
Bicarbonate of soda and baking powder - to give that rise and fluffiness.
Dried herbs - sage and thyme go deliciously with these scones. You can use fresh or dried - both are delicious.
Vegan milk - just a small amount needed to loosen the mixture.
👩🍳How-To
This is how you do it.
- Combine herbs, nutritional yeast, butter and pumpkin in a bowl.
- Cut the butter and pumpkin together with a knife and mix well.
- Combine the flour with the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix the flour gradually with the pumpkin and butter mix, using a knife.
- Add a small amount of vegan milk to make a soft dough.
- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
- Cut out the scones with a glass or a cookie cutter.
- Put on a baking tray covered with baking parchment, and dust with flour.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
- Once done, leave to cool on a cooling rack.
🧐Top Tips
Here are some top tips for making these delicious pumpkin scones.
- You don't want the butter to melt before it hits the oven, and I don't always have the requisite cold hands for mixing the dough. So instead I use another trick I learned from Granny, which is to use a butter knife to cut the fat (in our case vegan butter). So try and work in a cool room, and use either your fingertips, or a knife.
2. My other top tip, is to use fridge cold or only just thawed frozen pumpkin / squash. This keeps the mixture cold and the butter from melting. If using tinned/canned pumpkin, put it in the fridge beforehand. If using fresh pumpkin, I suggest oven roasting the flesh of any large pumpkins to concentrate the flavour, before pulping it and letting it get properly cold in the fridge.
🧈Serving
These yummy cheesy pumpkin scones are the perfect thing to serve up for a savoury alternative at afternoon tea, or are also delicious warmed through and served with some hearty lentil soup. So yummy split and toasted with some vegan butter slathered on top!
🧐Pronounciation!
The correct way to pronounce "Scone" is so it sounds like done, and does not sound like moan. Obviously, right?! But we'll let you pronounce it however you like!
🍽️Similar Recipes
If you like the sound of these Cheesy Vegan Savoury Pumpkin Scones, you might also like some of these other tasty ideas:
Easy Vegan Savoury Spinach Muffins
Vegan Yellow Split Pea & 'Ham' Soup
Soothing Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup
The Best Vegan Scones & Clotted Cream
If you love this idea, please share this post with your friends and comment below; this helps others find our yummy recipes!
Love & Vegan Yummies,
Louise & Vanessa xx
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Vegan Savoury Pumpkin Scones
Equipment
- Knife
- Cookie cutter or a glass
- Baking parchment
Ingredients
- 60 g vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 40 g nutritional yeast
- 250 g cold mashed pumpkin or squash (Approx 300g of uncooked pumpkin yields 250g cooked)
- 355 g plain (all purpose) flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarb soda
- 1 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried)
- 2 teaspoon sage (fresh or dried )
- 2 teaspoon vegan milk (just enough to bring the dough together)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6 and line a tray with baking parchment.
- Stir the nutritional yeast, herbs, butter and mustard in a bowl until combined. Best to use a knife to combine the butter.
- Add in the cold mashed pumpkin and stir until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Gradually add the flour to the pumpkin mix, and use a flat knife (a large butter knife is ideal) to cut the mixture together until it is just combined and starts coming together. If needed add a tiny bit of vegan milk to bring together.
- Once you have a soft dough, turn it out onto a floured surface and give a light kneed to pull it all together (very light! you don't want tough scones!)
- Roll and pat the dough out until it is about 2cm thick.
- Use a big cookie cutter or a glass and cut between 10-12 scones out and put onto the tray. (Any leftover dough, pat together to make a wobbly scone. It's you cook's treat for later!).
- Dust with flour and bake the scones for about 14-15 minutes, until golden on top. They will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom when properly baked.
- Let cool on a wire rack and then serve!
- Delicious served warm with vegan butter!
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