Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Copycat Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
These pumpkin scones are a Starbucks copycat recipe! They’re budget-friendly and easy to make right at home (and even better when homemade!).
Featured Comment
why you’ll love Starbucks Pumpkin Scones
- Starbucks copycat recipe. This is a complete copycat of the most beloved Starbucks bakery item that has since been discontinued! Except you can easily whip this up right at home with better taste and better texture without breaking the bank.
- An irresistible fall treat. These pumpkin scones pair so well with your morning cup of coffee or pumpkin spice latte, giving you your fall dose in every single bite. Not to mention, these make for a hot-selling ticket item at your next bake sale.
- The signature double glaze. The dual-layer icing is pure gold, featuring a sweet white glaze which is then topped with a warm-spiced drizzle.
- No mixer needed. Believe it or not, this is an incredibly easy, no-fuss recipe. There is no mixer required, and you can even make these ahead of time and freeze as needed (without the glaze).
What are starbucks pumpkin scones?
This was their iconic fan-favorite seasonal item that has since been discontinued in 2023, featuring a moist, cake-like scone flavored with pumpkin puree and a strong blend of warm, autumn spices, topped with a white glaze first, then finished with a pumpkin-spiced glaze.
How to make Starbucks Pumpkin Scones
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
- Cut in the butter. Add the cold, cubed butter, using a pastry cutter or your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse, pea-sized crumbs.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, egg, and vanilla.
- Form the dough. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, stirring gently with a rubber spatula just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
- Shape and cut. Knead the dough 3-4 times onto a lightly floured surface, rolling the dough into an 8-inch circle, about 1-inch thick. Cut the dough into 8 equal triangles.
- Bake. Place the triangles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake at 400°F for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden and the centers feel set and firm to the touch. Let the scones cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
- Make the glazes.
- For the first glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and milk, whisking until smooth.
- For the second glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and milk, whisking until smooth.
- Glaze and serve. Once the scones are slightly cooled, spoon the first glaze on top of each scone and let it set. Then drizzle or pipe the second glaze in a zigzag pattern over top and let it set.
freezing and storage
Make-ahead
Place the assembled unbaked scones in the fridge overnight, then bake as directed.
Storage
Leftover baked scones can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Freeze before baking
Place the scones on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the scones to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date, and freeze up to 2 months. To bake, thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed.
Freeze after baking (without the glazes)
Let the scones cool completely. Transfer the scones to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date, and freeze up to 2 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes. Drizzle with glazes when serving.
more favorited pumpkin recipes
Tools For This Recipe
Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Copycat Recipe: Frequently Asked Questions
Starbucks officially discontinued their pumpkin scones in 2023.
The signature double glaze, of course!
Unfortunately, no. Pumpkin puree contains 100% unsweetened cooked pumpkin whereas pumpkin pie filling contains pumpkin and various additives such as sugar, water, and spices.
Cold, cubed butter will create tiny pockets of fat, yielding tender, flaky scones.
Yes! Pumpkin scones will hold up very well in the freezer both before and after baking (without the glazes), keeping in the freezer for at least 2 months.
Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Copycat Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons milk
For the spiced glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Add cold butter, using your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, milk, egg and vanilla. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula until a soft dough forms.
- Working on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together. Using a rolling pill, roll the dough into an 8″ circle, about 1-inch thick, and cut into 8 wedges.
- Place scones onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- When the scones are done, cool for 10 minutes and spoon the glaze on each scone before drizzling with spiced glaze.
- Allow glazes to set before serving.
For the glaze
- In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar and milk. Whisk until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add more milk as needed.
For the spiced glaze
- In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and milk. Whisk until smooth.
Equipment
Notes
- Avoid pumpkin pie filling. Canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling are not the same, and are not interchangeable. Be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin as pumpkin pie filling comes pre-mixed with sweeteners and spices.
- Use cold butter. The cold butter will create pockets of steam that will lift the dough, yielding light, airy scones.
- Do not overmix. Overmixing the dough will result in tough, dense, rubbery scones. Handle the dough as gently and as little as possible until it just comes together.
- Sift the confectioners’ sugar. Sift the sugar before mixing the glazes to prevent any unwanted lumps in the smooth, glossy icings.
- Adjust the consistency. If the glaze is too thick, add a splash of milk. If the glaze is too runny, add more confectioners’ sugar.
- Freeze without the glazes. When planning for leftovers to freeze, hold off on glazing or they will turn sticky and grainy upon thawing.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I have pumpkin pie spice, how much of that would you use instead of the individual spices? I can’t wait to try out this recipe!
About 2 tsps, or more, to taste.
How would these do on aluminum foil or just a baking sheet sprayed with baking spray? I don’t have parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet
Yes, that should work just fine.
I finally made these after having pinned them long ago, and I can’t believe I waited! They were amazing! And so much better than Starbucks! Even my husband liked them, even though he was adamant that he doesn’t like scones. They’re so much more moist than any scone I’ve ever had. The one downside to that was that I was planning to deliver them to friends the next morning and by then the glaze had nearly melted off (and they were just plain ugly), but the ladies at my bible study still enjoyed them thoroughly!
I linked back to your recipe here: http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2015/12/new-community.html
Thanks for a great recipe!
These scones look fantastic! Wondering if I might be able to create a gluten free version for my daughter who has celiac disease.
I made these today for a potluck at work. They were a hit! The only thing i don’t like is the cloves in the icing. i would leave that out next time. My husband didn’t think it was a big deal, but I guess I’m just not a clove lover.
But they were delicious and beautiful! Thanks for the recipe!
I followed the recipe carefully; however, my dough was sticky to the point that I couldn’t handle it with my hands, let alone roll it. I had to resort to adding more flour to be able to work with it but unfortunately this came at the cost of altering the flavour of the scones. I ended up throwing the scones and left over dough into the trash which was a shame as I hate wasting ingredients. I know others have commented that they have had similar experiences – I have no idea what I did differently that would cause them to turn out the way they did.
Madison, can you share what kind of pumpkin puree was used here? I have found that different brands of pumpkin can be more watery than others.
I had these at a friend’s party today and they blew me away! She told me this was the recipe she used and I immediately jumped on Pinterest to find it! I am a little concerned that I may eat them all if I make them myself so I was pleased to see the suggestion to make 12 instead of 8 under the nutritional information box.
I just wanted to point out that you will save an amazing 130.9 calories per serving by changing the servings from 8 to 12, not a mere 12 as indicated below. It’s probably just a typo, but I thought you might want to fix it :).
“Save yourself nearly 90 calories by making this version instead of picking one up at Starbucks (you’ll also avoid the inevitable temptation to add a super sweet beverage to your order by not entering the store!). And when you make these yourself, you can control the size so instead of 8, make 12! If you do, you’ll shave off another 12 calories per serving.”
Thank you for pointing that out!
Found this recipe (a little late but better than never!). The scones taste exactly the same – so good – but I had problems with the glaze. It seemed so easy but didn’t taste quite right, and definitely didn’t harder the way a Starbucks scone does. I am still looking to improve that part, but hey – worst case scenario, I just leave it off!
Can I replace the butter with coconut oil?
You can certainly try substituting coconut oil but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. It is always best to use the ingredients listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible.
These are sooo good! I made them with my girl this morning 🙂 Thanks!
Loved the recipe so much I decided to make it vegan. Check it out http://labellepatel.com/2014/11/20/vegan-pumpkin-spiced-scones/
I love the scones so much I couldnt get enough of them … my team mates loved them too… I cant wait until I make another one of theses recipes
It was a mess when it came to kneading it on the lightly floured surface. I had to keep adding flour, but first I had to keep rinsing off my hands to get the sticky dough off. Then I tried to roll it out but it kept sticking to the rolling pin. I must have added at least another half cup of flour to this “lightly floured” surface and it really didn’t seem to help. I finally abandoned the rolling pin and pressed the dough out into a rectangle with my hands. When I used the pizza cutter the dough stuck to that too. I had to use a combo pizza cutter/spatula to get the triangles onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. These have had to be the most deformed scones I’ve ever dealt with. Even though these scones are really ugly, they do taste pretty good. Nice glaze. Best tip I can offer is to have an extra person or 2 to assist with the preparation, so they can keep adding flour to the surface while the other person or 2 is kneading and rolling the dough. This is not a good recipe for only one person to prepare. Unless you don’t mind ugly deformed scones!
I’m so sorry it was so difficult for you, but something may have gone wrong because these scones are meant to be super easy!
Well, I guess it’s just me, but what a disaster!! Maybe I had extra watery pumpkin puree, but I had to add another whole cup of flour, and that still wasn’t enough to make it all come together. I ended up just dumping dough on the pan. Cooking now and hoping for the best…while I clean up sticky dough from my counter 🙁
Deanna, that should definitely not be happening. Did you follow the recipe exactly as is without any substitutions? And what kind of pumpkin puree did you use?
The same thing happened to me! Added lots of extra flour, but still really sticky! They came out of the oven baked just fine, but I’m not sure why they were so watery. I just used a regular can of pumpkin, generic brand. It didn’t seem watery to me at first, but I’ve never used pumpkin puree before. Is it supposed to be pretty thick?
Yes, pumpkin puree does have a bit of thickness to it.
Made these and they turned out AMAZING! Thank you for the recipe!
I just tried these. Its an amazing recipe, didn’t have to change any of the amounts of the ingredients. I haven’t even tried to pumpkin scones at Starbucks, but I am sure they can’t beat this recipe! So delicious, fluffy, but also rich. Also, the glaze does amazing things!!! The spices really come out perfectly in this whole thing!
I used buttermilk, used 1 cup of wheat flour and upped the pumpkin content, 1/2 cup didn’t seem like very much and what else is one to do with all the extra pumpkin? Consequently I had to use a lot of extra flour in the kneading/rolling stage. This also probably resulted in my scone being a bit more cake like that I prefer but nonetheless I was satisfied with the outcome. I will probably make these again this fall.
I just made these. I used a spoonful more pumpkin and needed about 5 Tbs. of milk, but that’s no doubt because of the moisture content of flour varying. Excellent!
Just made these to surprise my kids for breakfast on our ‘pumpkin day’ – they are SO delicious!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Wow, I just cooked these scones, it’s fabulous! Thanks for this recipe 🙂 hi from Russia :))))