Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones and Pumpkin Buttermilk Biscuits

It occurred to me on Saturday that I hadn't baked anything in some time.  Since fall is finally here I knew exactly what I wanted to bake with!  So I went through the cupboard and found a can of pumpkin puree that I knew was in there (and have been saving).  Then I had to decide what to make.  I originally wanted to make some pumpkin whoopie pies with maple-flavored cream cheese frosting, but I didn't have everything I needed.  I thought about making pumpkin bread, but that seemed a little boring.  So I decided to bake some pumpkin scones and some pumpkin biscuits.  What can I say - I go a little crazy sometimes.  This is what happens when I haven't had time to bake in awhile.  

Out of these two recipes, both Alex and I preferred the scones.  I thought the combination of spices really worked and it came through very clearly, without being overpowering.  I also thought the crumb was nice - soft and crumbly, without being dry.  And I liked the crunchy sweetness of the turbinado sugar topping.  I think that bittersweet chocolate is perfect for these scones.  The bittersweet chocolate gave the scones a really nice deep, chocolatey flavor that worked really well with the pumpkin and the spices.  Semisweet chocolate would work too I guess, but I don't think I would use milk (or white) chocolate because it would be too sweet.  The biscuits couldn't seem to decide if they were supposed to be sweet or savory.  Topped with butter and honey they were pretty good, but we thought they needed more salt to both accentuate and balance out the sweetness of the honey and sugar in the biscuit batter.  And I thought the texture wasn't as flaky as I would have liked.  They almost seemed a little doughy and heavy in the centers, rather than flaky and light.  I'm thinking that I might not have mixed the batter as evenly as I could have.  Oops.  The blog where I found the recipe suggested serving them with butter, some bacon and a drizzle of maple syrup.  That might be enough to really make me love the biscuits, but I'm not there just yet.

Recipes after the jump!

Ginger Spice Scones

My secretary loves scones, particularly the scones from the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle in NYC.  Now I don't know if these scones are particularly traditional, or just that good.  A few weeks ago I found myself at Whole Foods before work and I picked up a few scones for her in addition to lunch for me.  Ever since I have found myself thinking about scones.  So tonight I decided to actually make some scones, which was a first for me.  I figured scones are a lot like biscuits, which I have made several times in the past, so how hard could they really be?  The answer is, not that hard.  And they are wonderfully adaptable.

For our scones I decided to use crystallized ginger and a combination of Asian spices - cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, and cloves.  Originally I wanted to throw in some dried currants in lieu of the ginger, but the local grocery was out.  So I decided to just stick with crystallized ginger, which might actually have been a better choice anyway.  Alex said that the scones were a little dry, but scones are supposed to be crumbly and a little dry, aren't they?  Otherwise he said they were really good and that he really liked the flavor.  I think they would be wonderful served with some clotted cream, which I think would solve Alex's complaint that the scones were dry.  But where does one buy clotted cream?  I also think they would be lovely spread with a little orange marmalade, but Alex disagrees.  He thinks that the marmalade would mask the flavors of the spices and ginger.  Now that I know how easy scones are to make I will definitely be making more.  Perhaps my next batch will be pumpkin caramel scones for fall.  Or more likely, some raspberry chocolate chip scones.  I might tweak the recipe a little to combat Alex's complaint of dryness, but then again, I might not!

Recipe after the jump!