Pumpkin Scones (like Starbucks)

These scones are amazingly awesome and I think they are every bit as good as the Starbucks ones, which really surprised me.  They are tender, full of pumpkin flavor and have just the right amount of spice for me. 
Love the icings.  My only complaint about these is you have to wait forever to eat them after they are done.  You have to wait for them to cool before icing them, and then wait for the icing to harden to eat them. Way too long.  So, mine were not as pretty as they should be because I certainly did not wait until they were cool to ice them, and there was no way I was going to wait an hour to eat them.  And, they were still delish!


PUMPKIN SCONES (like Starbucks)
slightly adapted from
http://allsecretrestaurantrecipes.com 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 large egg

ICING I

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

ICING II

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ginger
• 1 pinch ground cloves

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 10-12 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 4 equal pieces in width. Cut those Four slices diagonally so that you have 8 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

To make the plain glaze:

1. Mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth.
2. When scones are cool, use a brush to paint, or dump carefully, plain glaze over the top of each scone.

To make the spiced icing

Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a spoon or whisk.