Yesterday, my dear friend came over with her husband and new baby to watch the Georgia v. LSU game (I’m still not ready to comment on this).  While I’m decent at meal planning for the week or knocking things off my to-do list at work, I’m terrible at self-care.  Not the massage or mani/pedi self-care circuit (also terrible at that), but the kind that involves spending time with your closest friends, who know your soul from what seems like another lifetime ago.  I think it’s the best kind of self-care.  It was therapeutic and re-centering.  Stephanie and I have known each other before babies, before husbands, and before the days, months, and years started flying by at warp speed.  In those carefree days of college, there wasn’t a lot to worry about.  Maybe an upcoming date?  Maybe juggling a work commitment and your roommate’s birthday party?  Maybe the Biology exam on Thursday when you hadn’t attended class in 3 weeks?  You get the idea.  Things look a little different these days.  Stephanie and her sweet family only live 45 minutes away in Annapolis, but it seems like we’re states away as we get caught up in the day-to-day grind on the home front.

A quarter into the game when we were already losing terribly, we left the husbands and babies at home to grab some cocktails at Founding Farmers (don’t worry…we still watched the TV at the bar).  We talked about mutual friends we hadn’t seen in forever, the challenges of being a working mom, the next steps in our careers.  We talked about it all, and what seemed like 30 minutes turned into a couple of hours. Just the two of us, some cocktails, and some seriously good brie and caramelized onion and apple bites.  I didn’t know how much I needed this until it happened.

These pumpkin scones are perfect for sharing with someone you love this fall — maybe someone you haven’t seen in awhile.  Who do you need to catch up with?  Perhaps this is your week to do it.  These scones are perfect to share with someone on a couch in your pajamas with a big cup of tea or coffee.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

These scones are SO.  SIMPLE.  TO.  MAKE.  I used to be intimidating by scones, but I feel confident in saying that I’ve perfected these scones enough so that you can make them in 20 minutes from start to finish.  I’ve made them twice this weekend.  Starbucks has nothing on these scones.  For real.

And this glaze.  OMG.  It’s really quite an extravagance, so you may be tempted to skip out on the glaze, but you really should try it.  The mapley-goodness from the maple syrup gives it the extra fall coziness that complements the pumpkin.  I am freezing one of the batches so I can have a little extra special breakfast for a few days.  It’s also worth noting that I’ve paired this recipe down to only make 4 scones.  This is the perfect amount for us.  Any more and we usually end up wasting at least half of them, but feel free to double if you’re making them for a crowd.

Yields: 4 scones

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the scones:

• 1 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, cold and diced
• 1/4 heaping cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

For the glaze:

• 1/3 c. confectioner’s sugar
• 3 teaspoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons, heavy whipping cream, plus bit more

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cloves, and salt into a medium bowl.  Cut in cold, diced butter using your hands, two forks, or a pastry cutter.
3.  Whisk the pumpkin puree and heavy whipping cream together in a small bowl.  Add the pumpkin puree mixture to the flour mixture with a spoon.  Combine the two together but don’t over mix.  It’s okay if your dough has a little exposed flour and/or butter on them.  That’s a good thing!
4. Scoop all of the dough onto your baking sheet and form dough into a circle about 3/4″ thick.  Cut the dough into four equal pieces.  Brush the tops with some of the remaining heavy cream.
5. Bake 15-17 minutes until nice and crackly and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
6. Meanwhile, whisk the confectioner’s sugar with maple syrup.  Add 1 teaspoon of heaving whipping cream at a time until the glaze reaches a consistency that’s spreadable but not too thin (you want it to coat the back of a spoon and slowly drizzle off).  Using a spoon or putting the glaze in a Ziploc bag that you’ve cut the tip off of, spread your glaze over the cooled scones.

Now go call that old friend and enjoy!

And, as always, if you make something from this little blog, PLEASE tell me how you like it!  Nothing makes me happier than people trying my recipes.  Comment below or tag a photo on Instagram @wornslapout !