Friday, February 09, 2007

Sarah vs. Major Coffeehouse

Kyle and I are huge fans of a certain major coffeehouse. Despite making lots of treats for my beau, he often orders a pumpkin scone with every drive-thru order. If you have read this blog, you will see that I love to cook. And it's not like I'm jealous or something, but I like to make treats that make my sweetie happy. As a result, I had to compete with the major coffeehouse and make my own darn pumpkin scone at home that would mimic what he probably pays 3 bucks each time for.

So here was my attempt. Based on Kyle's description of what he bought, I think it's pretty close. Kyle said it was similar but more moist, as the ones he would buy were probably baked elsewhere and shipped to the store, causing it to be not as fresh. The recipe calls for two kinds of 'icing' (glaze and a drizzle), as that's what the original scone features, but to cut down on the work, you could make only the glaze and add the spices to that and avoid the drizzle part.

Pumpkin Scones

4 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup Earth Balance margarine
1 cup pumpkin purée
¼ - ½ cup soy creamer (use less if using fresh pumpkin purée, add more if using canned pumpkin)

Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 tablespoons soy creamer

Drizzle:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons soy creamer
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch each of ginger and nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt. Use a pastry blender to add in Earth Balance until thoroughly mixed. In another large bowl, whisk together pumpkin and soy creamer.

Add combined dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Mix, then form into 2 balls of dough. Pat out one ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 10-inch circle. Use pizza wheel to cut dough into six wedges. Transfer wedges to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with second ball of dough.

Bake until golden for 15 minutes. Transfer baked scones to a wire rack to cool, with parchment or wax paper underneath to catch drips.

While scones cool, prepare glaze. Mix until smooth. Spread about 1 tablespoon of glaze on each scone as it cools. Prepare drizzle mixture, and use a fork to drizzle each scone decoratively.

Makes 12 scones.

19 comments:

urban vegan said...

That scone looks majorly yummy. Thanks for the recipe.

Judy said...

I have to know: Tim Horton's? Starbuck's? They look so good, and I love pumpkin.

Unknown said...

Well Judy, let's just say that the scones were inspired by a coffeehouse that doesn't offer double-doubles! :)

Anonymous said...

Those look amazing. I can't wait to try them.

Harmonia said...

Hello! Looks yummers!

Caty said...

They look great! Thanks for the recipe.

bazu said...

Good for you! I hate a certain major coffee shop, and I've heard that their pastries contain major trans fats. Your scone looks fabulous.

Carrie™ said...

Those look fabulous! And sound really, really good. So, tell us...does Kyle skip the scones at the drive-thru now? If I had those at home, I certainly would!! No question.

Unknown said...

Well, he did say that he liked mine better! Only problem is that I'm too busy to always have a fresh batch on hand to accompany everyday's morning coffee :(

He had brought these in to share with his coworkers, and one of them took one with him to TAKE to the coffehouse to eat it with his coffee! I'd like to think it was because it tasted so good, and not because it saved him a purchase :)

Kati said...

Oh wow! I've actually never been to the major coffeehouse of which you speak, but I bet your baked goods could beat their's any day. I will definitely try this recipe - thanks!

Linda said...

these look so incredibly perfect. i can't wait for the weekend so i can give them a try!

Anonymous said...

I work for "this major coffeehouse" but wanted to make a dairy-free version and so far they look great! I'm just the middle of making the glaze/drizzle!

mustardseed said...

I get kinda scared when I see whole wheat flour, it's good new for me but does it taste grainy? Cause I haven't had much success with whole wheat flour.

Unknown said...

As for the w/w flour - it can turn some baked goods into hard bricks. I've had to try a few different brands (I like PC Organics best, but it's only in Canada), but for a foolproof solution to using w/w flour, make sure it's soft pastry flour! It goes through a much finer milling process and nearly mimics white flour, in my opinion. Good luck!

Laurie Stark said...

MOST AMAZING THINGS EVER. They're moist and chewy and soft and just sweet enough. And so easy! I always seem to have random cans of pumpkin collecting dust in my cupboards so this is a good recipe to have on hand.

Oh, and I added dark chocolate chips!

I used white flour because I didn't have ww flour on hand (like mustardseed, ww flour usually makes me run for the hills), but that's great advice about getting ww pastry flour! I'll look for that.

Oh, and I've had those pumpkin scones from The Coffeeshop That Shall Not Be Named and these are wayyyyy better. Their scones are always too hard!

Anonymous said...

These scones ROCK!! They are a new staple in my house and the omnis love them as well! Thank you, thank you, for this wonderful recipe.

Anonymous said...

I have made this recipe again and again--- it is utterly fantastic. Trust me, now go make some!

Unknown said...

I work for said major coffeehouse and I can tell you that, yes, the pastries are delivered frozen and we thaw them fresh daily, but they are not baked fresh daily. Also, all of our pastries contain major trans fats are are ridiculously high in calories. I'm a vegan so I never eat anything there, but I would recommend to anyone to stay away from most of the pastries!!!

melissa said...

I know this post is way old, but I still wanted to say that I made these and they're super delish! Thanks for the recipe! I wanted to minimize sugar, so I made a glaze/drizzle with just one cup of icing sugar, but both the spices and the maple syrup. Yum!