Pumpkin Scones for Afternoon Tea

Yesterday afternoon I cleaned out our laundry room. It was a disaster area. For such a tiny room it was an awfully big mess.

As in most houses, our laundry stores our washing machine and clothes dryer, along with various baskets for taking the washing out to the clothesline, for storing the things that need ironing, for dirty clothes, and for holding unpaired socks. In addition, we keep a large basket in there for recyclables.

Because we have no garden shed, the single shelf in our laundry held (until yesterday) chook food, pool chemicals and various thingamijigs my husband needs for the pool, painting equipment, the tool box, and numerous other variously grotty items along with the more usual laundry detergent. Our laundry opens to our backyard so the floor is always dirty from children with wet feet running in and out on their way to and from the pool.

You get the picture.

Anyhow, after cleaning and decluttering for a couple of hours I suddenly realised that:

a. My children and a couple of extras would be arriving home from school in 15 minutes ready to eat the house itself if no snacks were available. And
b. Being Friday, no snacks were available.

Staring hopefully into my near-empty fridge, I discovered a bowl of left-over mashed pumpkin and decided to turn it into some pumpkin scones. I had made some earlier in the week and knew I could whip them up quickly.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Scones

250 g (8 oz) mashed or canned pumpkin (I used more than this)
2 C self-raising flour
pinch salt
20 g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
milk

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Sift flour with salt and mix in butter and pumpkin; you may need to use your hands for this. Stir in egg and a little milk, if necessary, to make a soft dough, then turn out onto a floured bench. Knead as little as possible as kneading toughens scones.

Pat into a round 3 cm/1" thick and place on a greased tray. Score into 8 wedges with a knife and brush with milk before baking for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

For individual scones you cut the scones into circles with a 5cm/2" cutter and cook for only 10-15 minutes. The scones will rise better if you place them, touching, in a block on your oven tray.

Split and butter. We spread ours with golden syrup. Yum.

This is a great way to force some extra vegies into your children!

This recipe is adapted from one found in Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion.