Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones

These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones are moist and fluffy, fragrantly spiced and perfectly rich. They're great for dessert, breakfast or a snack and perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

Why you'll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones:

• they're undetectably vegan and gluten-free
• they're seriously moist
• they're perfectly spiced
• they're rich and "buttery"
• they're refined sugar free
• they're easily customisable
• they're easy to make
• they come together in one bowl!

What is the difference between American and British scones?

These Pumpkin Scones are American scones, which are quite different from British scones. Differences between American and British scones:

1. The shape: American scones are triangular, British scones are circular
2. The way they’re baked: American scones are made by making a round shape with the dough and cutting before baking, whereas British scones are made by cutting out individual circles from the dough
3. The way they’re eaten: British scones are sliced in half and eaten with clotted cream and strawberry jam whereas American scones are often covered with a glaze and eaten whole

How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones

Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the full recipe.

• Mix together all the ingredients for the dough in a glass mixing bowl.

Tip: Add the plant-based milk a bit at a time to ensure you don’t add too much - the dough should be soft, but firm enough to mould easily.

• Line a rectangular baking tray with greased baking paper.
• Use your hands to shape the dough into a slightly circular shape about 2 cm (1 inch) thick.

Tip: You can use a rolling pin, but I like to avoid floured surfaces and all the faff that comes along with that, so I prefer to just use my hands as it’s easier. You can use a floured rolling pin if you like, but there’s no need to use a floured surface as the baking paper works to stop the dough from sticking. 

• Once you’ve got that circular shape, just use a knife to carve lines into the surface of the dough - it's kind of like cutting a pizza, but don't cut it all the way through to the bottom!

• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until browned and an inserted skewer comes out clean.

• Leave to cool on a cooling rack before cutting up properly.

Tips for making the glaze:

• Mix together the coconut oil and the maple syrup - if coconut oil is solid then use a small whisk to combine.
• If the mixture is quite liquidy, I’d recommend placing in the fridge for a bit for it to firm up slightly.
• Make sure the scones have cooled completely before drizzling over the glaze (if you want it to look nice), otherwise hot scones will melt the glaze.

How long do these Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones keep for?

These Pumpkin Scones do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days - they're delicious reheated in an oven toaster!

Substitutions you can make to this recipe:

• you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
• you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
• you can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
• you can replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground walnuts or ground sunflower seeds
• you can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free
• for a nut-free version: use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and a nut-free plant-based milk
• you can use shop-bought pumpkin purée or make your own
• you can replace the pumpkin purée with sweet potato purée
• you can sprinkle over coconut sugar before baking
• you can sprinkle over chopped pecan nuts before baking
• you can add dried cranberries to the dough.

More vegan pumpkin recipes:

• Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
• Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
• No-Bake Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Brownies
• Pumpkin Muffins
• Pumpkin Cake

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones

These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones are moist and fluffy, fragrantly spiced and perfectly rich. They're great for dessert, breakfast or a snack and perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

4.80 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free vegan scones, pumpkin scones, vegan thanksgiving recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 8 scones

Calories: 295kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 225 g (1 cup) pumpkin purée (store-bought or make your own)
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice to taste (or sub a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ground ginger)
• ▢ 30 ml (⅛ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)

For the glaze (optional):

• ▢ 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• ▢ 6 teaspoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
• Once melted, add the maple syrup to the same bowl along with the vinegar, vanilla, salt, pumpkin purée and ground almonds
• Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and pumpkin pie spice
• Mix well until a dough forms, adding the milk a little bit at a time to ensure you don’t add too much - it should be soft, but firm enough to mould easily. You can add a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
• Line a baking tray with greased baking paper
• Use your hands to shape the dough into a slightly circular shape about 2 cm (1 inch) thick - you can also use a floured rolling pin for this, but I prefer to do it with my hands because it’s easier. There’s no need to use a floured surface as the baking paper works to stop the dough from sticking
• Keeping the dough in that shape, use a knife to carve the surface of the dough into eight - cut in half first, then each half into half, and each quarter into half again until you end up with eight even triangles. It's a bit like cutting up a pizza, but make sure not to cut all the way down through the dough
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until browned and an inserted skewer comes out clean
• Leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting up properly

For the glaze:

• Mix together the coconut oil and the maple syrup - if coconut oil is solid then use a small whisk to combine
• If the mixture is quite liquidy, I’d recommend placing in the fridge for a bit for it to firm up slightly
• Make sure the scones have cooled completely before drizzling over the glaze (if you want it to look nice), otherwise hot scones will melt the glaze
• Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days - delicious reheated in an oven toaster!

Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour

• You can replace the pumpkin purée with sweet potato purée.
• You can sprinkle over coconut sugar before baking.
• You can sprinkle over chopped pecan nuts before baking.
• You can add dried cranberries to the dough.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones

Amount Per Serving

Calories 295 Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Fat 18g28%

Saturated Fat 7g35%

Sodium 44mg2%

Potassium 305mg9%

Carbohydrates 33g11%

Fiber 5g20%

Sugar 14g16%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 4377IU88%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 174mg17%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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