Soft and tender pumpkin scones with the flakiest layers throughout, made with sourdough discard! These are not dry; they practically melt in your mouth and are the most delicious Fall treat. The maple glaze makes them particularly dreamy, the perfect companion to the warm cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg within each bite.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
I never knew why people liked scones until I had a good one. When they’re good, they’re SO good.
They should be soft and tender with flaky layers throughout, NOT dry, butter, and just sweet enough. These Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Scones meet all those requirements, and maybe more.
They practically melt in your mouth (just look at all those layers!), and are the most delicious Fall treat. The maple glaze makes them particularly dreamy, the perfect companion to the warm cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg within each bite.
The Best Technique for Making Scones
The key to making flaky, soft, layered scones is due to a few things, including a folding technique I learned from Sarah Kieffer, who learned it from Cooks Illustrated. You’ll roll the dough out and fold it over itself like you would when folding a business letter, creating multiple beautiful layers, just as in these Sourdough Discard Biscuits. You’ll then use a biscuit cutter to make the square shapes.
Another important piece of the puzzle for great scones – keep your ingredients cold. This is why you’ll use cold butter and sourdough discard straight from the refrigerator, as well as the dough spending a short burst of time in the freezer. When butter gets hit by unexpected heat from the oven, it basically bursts and shoots the layers upward, creating those layers and the epic height!
How long is sourdough discard good for?
You can keep sourdough discard in your refrigerator for up to 10 days. The discard will be more sour the longer it stays in the fridge. So for something like these scones or sourdough discard muffins, where I don’t want the sourness to come through, I use discard that is less than 5 days old.
Your discard might accumulate a little liquid on the top while it’s in the fridge, which is called hooch, simply meaning alcohol that is the byproduct of fermentation. You can simple pour the liquid off into garbage, and scrape the very top off, and use the rest as discard.
What does sourdough discard do for scones?
Sourdough discard doesn’t make scones taste sour. Instead, it makes them fluffy and soft because it increases the acidity of the cake batter, which weakens the gluten in flour. And because it has already been fermented, the gluten in the discard itself has also been weakened. It has the same effect in this fabulous Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Bread.
The other thing discard does in baking is bring out the flavors of other ingredients in the recipe.This is due to the naturally occurring alcohols that develop in sourdough starter, and alcohol is a flavor enhancer. That means the main components of these scones; pumpkin and maple – really shine.
Flaky Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze
Soft and tender pumpkin scones with the flakiest layers throughout, made with sourdough discard! These are not dry; they practically melt in your mouth and are the most delicious Fall treat. The maple glaze makes them particularly dreamy, the perfect companion to the warm cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg within each bite.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and sugar. Then use the side of a box grater with large holes to grate the butter. Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss the butter flakes, rubbing the butter into the flour a bit so they resemble the size of peas.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sourdough discard, egg, pumpkin, vanilla, and heavy cream until smooth. Pour liquid mixture over the dry, and gently use a spatula to combine just until no dry streaks remain.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead until it comes together nicely, 6 to 8 times, adding flour as necessary as the dough will be a bit sticky.
Pat the dough into a small square with a dusting of flour on top and roll it into a 12-inch square. Transfer to a floured plate and freeze for 15 minutes.
Remove dough from freezer and fold the dough in thirds using a bench scraper, bringing the bottom towards the middle, then the top over it, like you would do when folding a business letter. Then fold the left side into the middle, and the right side over that to make a square. These are all your layers! Flip square over using a bench scraper, so seam of square is on the bottom. Roll dough out to a 12 x 4 inch long rectangle, using flour to keep it from sticking. Transfer dough back onto floured plate or baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes, while oven is preheating to 400 degrees F.
Remove from freezer and use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter to make 8 scones, pulling straight up on the biscuit cutter without twisting (this is to keep the super flaky layers). Or you can use a bench scraper (or sharp knife) to cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles, then cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles.
Place scones onto parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the tops and bottoms are golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer scones to a cooling rack.
Whisk powdered sugar, heavy cream, maple syrup, and salt together until smooth. Glaze each scone and enjoy.
Hi Ann! You could use pumpkin pie spice if you’d like, I just don’t prefer cloves which is usually in the blend. If you’d like to use pumpkin spice, you would use 1 3/4 teaspoons.
My husband, who loves the Starbucks pumpkin scones, said he can’t go back to those now after having these. They are amazing! I cut them into triangles (in the recipe even though the pictures are of squares) and they were the perfect size. My only mistake was putting them super close together on the pan. Other scones I make don’t spread at all so I thought it would be fine but these puff up quite a bit, so next time I’ll just space them about an inch a part. Absolutely delicious!
These were seriously so good. Everyone raves they had never liked a scone before having these! Making a double batch next time. I baked them from frozen and they were perfect!
Wow, these were so good! They rose beautifully in the oven and you could see the layers. The inside was soo soft and fluffy – they reminded me of my favourite pumpkin scones from a bakery except better :) The glaze was just the right complement (I also added a bit of cinnamon and maple extract to the glaze), although they would be good plain too. Glad that I put some of the unfrosted ones in the freezer for future treats!
I LOVE this recipe! I’m always hesitant to try new scone recipes because I really like the one I usually use, but this was great. I’ll definitely be adding it to my fall circulation of baked goods!
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed them. I know the little bit of freezing time adds a step, but as you said, I really think the amazing layers and texture are worth it!
Hi! I’ve noticed that there are many posts using sourdough discard and many of us are not familiar with whipping it up or using it in baking at all. Perhaps you could write a blog post specific to what it’s all about so we can enjoy some of these recipes!! Also, could you please offer sugar and flour substitutes for those of us who do not use refined sugars or white flour? Substitutions in general would be greatly appreciated…
Hi these are delicious!! Can I use pumpkin spice instead of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger? If yes, how much should I use? Thank you!
Hi Ann! You could use pumpkin pie spice if you’d like, I just don’t prefer cloves which is usually in the blend. If you’d like to use pumpkin spice, you would use 1 3/4 teaspoons.
This was my first time making scones of any kind and they turned out great! The maple glaze really puts them over the top. 🤤
So glad you liked them, Sarah! Your photo of your bake on instagram was beautiful.
Wow!!!! Seriously the best scones I’ve ever had! Thanks for such a great recipe!
My husband, who loves the Starbucks pumpkin scones, said he can’t go back to those now after having these. They are amazing! I cut them into triangles (in the recipe even though the pictures are of squares) and they were the perfect size. My only mistake was putting them super close together on the pan. Other scones I make don’t spread at all so I thought it would be fine but these puff up quite a bit, so next time I’ll just space them about an inch a part. Absolutely delicious!
Such a great compliment, glad you and your husband enjoyed them!
I have made these twice now and they are just incredible. The texture of these scones is dreamy. They are the best scones ever! Thank you, Amanda!
Love hearing this, so glad you like them Jen!
These were seriously so good. Everyone raves they had never liked a scone before having these! Making a double batch next time. I baked them from frozen and they were perfect!
so great to know you can bake them from frozen!
Soft and buttery inside and lightly crispy on the outside. The pumpkin flavor is nicely complemented with the maple glaze. Yum!
Amazing flaky scone!! Perfect fall treats! Love love love!
Great recipe!!
Wow, these were so good! They rose beautifully in the oven and you could see the layers. The inside was soo soft and fluffy – they reminded me of my favourite pumpkin scones from a bakery except better :) The glaze was just the right complement (I also added a bit of cinnamon and maple extract to the glaze), although they would be good plain too. Glad that I put some of the unfrosted ones in the freezer for future treats!
So glad to hear you liked the scones! And that they are up to bakery standards. :)
I LOVE this recipe! I’m always hesitant to try new scone recipes because I really like the one I usually use, but this was great. I’ll definitely be adding it to my fall circulation of baked goods!
Yay! So glad to hear that you enjoyed the scones. Have a great baking season!
I’d love to try this recipe! Do you think coconut cream and vegan butter will work to replace the dairy?
I would think so, but haven’t tested it this way! Let me know if you do.
A little more time consuming than my usual scone recipe but the result was totally worth it. Everyone thought they were delicious!
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed them. I know the little bit of freezing time adds a step, but as you said, I really think the amazing layers and texture are worth it!
These are very moist and packed with flavor. Flaky on the sides and soft in the middle! Thanks for the great recipe. It’s definitely a keeper!
I’m so glad you liked them! The picture on instagram of your bake looked fabulous.
Hi! I’ve noticed that there are many posts using sourdough discard and many of us are not familiar with whipping it up or using it in baking at all. Perhaps you could write a blog post specific to what it’s all about so we can enjoy some of these recipes!! Also, could you please offer sugar and flour substitutes for those of us who do not use refined sugars or white flour? Substitutions in general would be greatly appreciated…