These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Scones are made with almond flour and arrowroot starch and topped with glaze. A copycat recipe of the favorite Starbucks pumpkin scones!
Fresh gluten-free pumpkin scones. Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, it's the breakfast recipe you never knew you needed!
Inspired by Starbucks scones, this copycat recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. You definitely won't find that at Starbucks.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- No added oil and uses natural sugar to sweeten.
- Add vanilla glaze if you want a sweeter touch.
- Gluten-free, vegan, and paleo mean they fit into many diets.
Ingredients and substitutions
Here are a few quick notes about the ingredients in this recipe. You can see a complete ingredient list and instructions in the recipe card below.
Almond flour - The perfect gluten-free flour that adds a wonderful taste and great crumb.
Arrowroot starch - Gluten-free baking requires starches to properly hold together. Cornstarch can be substituted.
Ground flaxseed - When mixed with warm water, these gel up to easily replace eggs in a vegan recipe.
Maple syrup - This natural sweetener adds another hint of fall to the pumpkin flavor.
Ground cinnamon, ginger, and cloves - These are a classic combination of spices for fall flavors and great match for pumpkin recipes.
Unsweetened almond milk - Binds everything together without excess sugar. Other non-dairy milk may be substituted such as coconut milk.
Pumpkin purée - Make sure you use real pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling mix.
Organic powdered cane sugar - To keep the glaze vegan, organic powdered sugar is the best option. Otherwise, regular powered sugar is fine. Omit the glaze to keep the scones paleo.
Step-by-step instructions
Before you start: Stir together your ground flaxseed and water and allow to gel.
Step 1: Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in all the wet ingredients until a dough forms.
With your hands, shape the dough into a round disk, and place it back in the bowl. Place dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Remove dough from the bowl, shape it, and cut it into triangles. Brush tops with almond milk with a pastry brush.
Step 3: Allow gluten-free scones to bake for 16-19 minutes.
Step 4: Allow scones to cool completely on a wire rack. Mix glaze ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread over cooled tops. (Totally optional, but totally delicious.)
Tips
- Want warm scones for breakfast? Warming these up for 10-15 seconds in the microwave works well for day-old scones!
- Go slow when whisking up the glaze as it's very easy to add too much liquid.
- A plastic sandwich bag with a corner cut makes it easy to ice zigzags on top of the scones.
Storage
Scones are always best the day they are made. But, store these healthy scones in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy them for up to 2-3 days. Baked goods made with almond flour do soften over time.
To freeze, make the dough and slice into wedges. Place on a tray and freeze until solid. Then transfer the frozen wedges to a freezer-safe ziplock bag.
Serving suggestions
These vegan pumpkin scones are perfect breakfast treat on their own, but would be delicious with the following drinks:
- Healthy hot chocolate
- Coffee with pumpkin spice creamer
- Coconut hot chocolate
- Vegan bourbon milk punch
FAQs
You can roast a sugar/pie pumpkin and mash the flesh to use, but a can is perfectly fine! This recipe doesn't use a lot, so you can always freeze the rest.
When using frozen pumpkin purée, it is important to drain off the liquid after thawing.
As written, this recipe fits a vegan diet. If you don't need to follow that you may use any milk and an egg for the flax "egg."
Pure pumpkin is naturally gluten-free. When buying canned or frozen pumpkin, it is always important to check the ingredient label to ensure no gluten ingredients have been added.
Yes! Substitute 1.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice for the spices called for in the recipe.
More pumpkin recipes
Love this recipe? Please consider leaving a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating on the recipe card below and let me know what you think in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons warm water
- 4 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons almond flour 216 g
- ½ cup arrowroot starch 63 g
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- a pinch or two of ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk, for brushing tops
Glaze, optional
- 1 cup organic powdered sugar 105 g
- 1-3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
Pumpkin Glaze
- ½ cup organic powdered sugar 52 g
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon almond milk
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small bowl or cup, prepare your flax egg and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Whisk to thoroughly combine.
- Add the flax egg, pumpkin, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to stir until most of the dough has come together and is moistened. There should only be a small amount of dry crumbs and pieces left, if any.
- Use your hands to gently form dough into an imperfect disc. If dough is sticky, sprinkle with additional almond flour and shape. Place back in the bowl. Transfer bowl to refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
- While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- When the dough is chilled, place a piece of parchment paper on top of a cutting board. Transfer dough from bowl to cutting board. Sprinkle more almond flour, if needed.
- Form dough into a smooth and even disc about 6 ½ to 7 inches in diameter. Use a sharp knife and slice into eight triangles.
- Transfer triangles to prepared baking sheet, arranging them in two even rows. Brush tops of scones with almond milk.
- Bake for 16-19 minutes. Tops of scones should be golden brown and scones baked through. Check at the 16 minute mark to see if edges are getting too brown, tent with foil if necessary.
- Allow pumpkin scones to cool on pan. If using glaze, stir together glaze ingredients in a small bowl and pumpkin glaze in a separate small bowl. Add additional powder to thicken, if needed.
- Once mostly cool, spread glaze on tops. Drizzle pumpkin glaze over glaze layer. Allow to set before serving.
- Scones are best the day the are made. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 to 3 days.
Notes
- Scones are always best the day they are made. But store these healthy pumpkin scones in an airtight container and enjoy them for up to 2-3 days. Baked goods made with almond flour do soften over time.
- Warming these up for 10-15 seconds in the microwave works well for day-old scones!
- A plastic sandwich bag with a corner cut makes it easy to ice zigzags on top of the scones.
Ingrid
I had pumpkin puree from a real pumpkin and after i mixed the dough, it tasted a little too mild. So I put an extra TBSP of pumpkin in the mix, and then added more flour, but gluten-free measure for measure flour from King Arthur Baking Company. It came out more pumpkin-y but not overpowering, with well-balanced dough texture! Delicious and healthy!
Tessa
Hi Ingrid! That's great! Thank you for sharing your substitutions. I'm so glad you enjoyed the scones! :)
Kim
Perfect fall treat!
Tessa
Yes! :)
Brynne
Such a great fall treat!
Tessa
Pumpkin spice goodness! :)