Pumpkin Scones with a Chipotle Chocolate Glaze

 

Everyone has their own opinion about pumpkin. I personally love it, but only for a short while every year. Usually, particularly lately, I’ve been pumpkin-ed out before Thanksgiving. It’s just been an overload everywhere, plus, I think I tend to get really excited early Fall to start cooking and baking with pumpkin again. I think that the American culture has recently become OBSESSED with it ever since the whole pumpkin spice latte became a major hit a few years ago. And I mean OBSESSED. I seriously cannot remember there ever being pumpkin flavored crackers, cereal, yogurt, granola, or even chips (what?) before in the stores until maybe two or three years ago. Alas, I wanted to have one final pumpkin ‘hoorah!’ before the season was over.

All of the ingredients you will need!

I was inspired at work…of course…because all I do is think about food. I’m only half-serious. But anyways, yes, I was inspired to combine the rich flavor of pumpkin with the warming and spicy flavor of a Mexican chocolate. I’ve been watching a lot of Bobby Flay and Food Network Challenges lately, which always seem to speak to me because there’s always an episode about flavor combinations (YES, Puuuuhleassse!) and Bobby definitely tends to cook on the spicier side. That’s where my idea for the chipotle came into account. I wanted the flavor of the chocolate and chipotle to really compliment and infuse with the the pumpkin and all it’s cinnamon-y goodness.

Two separate bowls for the west and dry ingredients.

Ingredients for the scones:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/3-1/2 cup brown sugar*
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 tbsp very cold butter, cubed
• 1 egg

* If you are making these without the chocolate glaze, I would recommend using 1/2 cup brown sugar for full sweetness. I prefer a little less sweet when using the glaze.

Ingredients for the Chipotle Chocolate Glaze:

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2-1 tsp chipotle chili powder*

* For more heat, use a full teaspoon. I like mine a bit more subtle with the 1/3 tsp.

Cutting the dough into 8 different pieces per half.

Directions:

For the Pumpkin Scones:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray two medium nonstick cookie sheets with nonstick spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and stir until well-mixed.
3. In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (except butter!): Canned pumpkin, heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla.
4. Cut in the butter to the dry mixture with a pastry blender.
5. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and fold until dough forms.
6. Knead dough on a floured surface and cut into two halves.
7. One half at a time, press dough into a small saucepan to form a circle, then cut into 8 slices.
8. Place scones on the baking sheets and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe yields approx. 16 scones. 

For the Chipotle Chocolate Glaze: 

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and whisk together over medium heat.
2. Bring mixture to a boil for 5 minutes and continue to whisk until the chocolate is smooth.
3. Remove from heat and continue to whisk, then immediately pour over scones.

Enjoy!

 

 

Mini Sweet Potato Pies & Pecan Crumble

The scrumptious mini sweet potato pies!

These little guys are just as good as they sound. And look, in my opinion. 🙂

I figured that I could use the leftover sweet potatoes from last night’s dinner– see Sweet Potato, Kale & Ground Turkey Hash –to make a yummy dessert. Sometimes, usually during the workday, (or odd hours of the evening) I get thoughts about flavors that work well together, or recipes that I want to create. This was definitely one of those cases. I ended up trying a new, flaky and delicious pie dough recipe–see The most delectable pie dough — and I used a muffin tin to bake these adorable mini pies!

For the pie dough, please refer again to the link above.

Recipe for the Sweet Potato Pie Filling:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, boiled, peeled, and mashed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup condensed milk
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Smashing the sweet potatoes…

1. I combined the smashed and peeled sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl with the sugar and melted butter.
2. Next, I mixed in the eggs, and evaporated milk on a low mixing speed with a hand-held mixer.
3. While mixing, I added the spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, along with the salt and vanilla to the mixture. You want to make sure to mix very well as the sweet potatoes could still have chunks from when you had mashed them.

For the Pecan Topping:

• 1 1/4 cup halved pecans
• 2 tbsp. butter, softened
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar

In my Ninja Blender (or a food processor of any kind) I blended the ingredients by pulsing for several seconds.

I rolled the dough out and cut to fit into individual muffin tins. I then spooned the Sweet Potato mixture into the dough cups followed by spooning the Pecan mixture right on top.

Bake the mixture at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 20 minutes or until a toothpick is removed without any liquid from cups.

This recipe yields roughly 16-20 muffin cups or one whole Sweet Potato Pie. Enjoy!

Just one more for the road. 🙂

–R