Since we’re already talking about Starbucks, pumpkin, and coffee, we might as well talk about Starbucks and pumpkin with coffee.

Starbucks pumpkin scones, to be precise.

I have a love-hate relationship with scones. As in, most of the time I hate them. But then one day I tried a Starbucks cinnamon chip scone, and the oddest thing happened- I didn’t hate it. A few more bites and I found myself actually liking it. And now I love them.

So imagine my dismay when I pull into Starbucks for a scone & iced coffee fix, and they’re all out of cinnamon chip scones. Instead, I saw a platter of pumpkin scones resting behind the glass, plastered in icing.

I figured I might as well give it a try. I do love pumpkin after all. I asked for one without the icing, but those apparently don’t exist.

Now, I’ll give Starbucks some credit. Their pumpkin scones are much better than their pumpkin lattes, but the thick crust of icing was a deal breaker. I’m in the scones-shouldn’t-be-overly-sweet party. That’s why they’re scones, not dry cookies.

So of course that meant only one thing. I had to make my own. Then I could have all the same tasty goodness, minus the sugar overload, plus a little whole grain.

If you’ve ever tried to come up with your own baking recipe, you know that the chances of things working out the first time are about the same chances of me running into Britney Spears at Target.

Case in point?

Pumpkin biscuits and pumpkin cinnamon biscuit bread thingamombob. Oh, you don’t recognize those? Yeah, they never made it to the blog. They turned out ok- but not perfect. And then I forgot the recipe I started with. Whomp whomp whooomp.

But this time…this time there was perfection from the beginning. It wasn’t exactly a first-try recipe since I started with my cinnamon chip scone recipe, but even the slightest change in a baked good recipe can spell disaster. Luckily this time it worked out. I scarfed at least three down before I even thought of moving on to the icing stage.

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

Vegan-ized, whole wheat-ified, de-sugarized. Still delish-ified.

The key to scones is to a) keep the butter cold and b) not to overwork the dough.

Start off with your dry ingredients, included cinnamon, nutmeg, and the remaining holy trinity of pumpkin flavor: allspice, ginger, and cloves.

Cut in the cold butter. I used Earth Balance so it’d be vegan, but feel free to stick with regular butter. Mix in the wet ingredients and form a ball of dough. Chances are you’ll have to get your hands in their to make the dough come together.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle, then slice into squares, and then triangles. We’re making mini scones today. You can make big ones if you’d like, you might just need to up the cook time a minute or two.

Spread on a lined or greased baking sheet and pop them in the oven.

A few minutes later you’ll be pleasantly greeted with fluffy pumpkin scones.

Let cool completely before icing. I actually prefer them without the icing, still warm from the oven. But feel free to go the icing route too.

I made a cinnamon glaze and a pumpkin spice icing. You can use one or the other, or a combination of both. The combo ones were my favorite.

So now go grab your homemade iced coffee from yesterday, and sit down with a plateful of better-than-Starbucks pumpkin scones.