Savoury scones with a hick of chilli to complement the cheese and pumpkin.
I’ve wanted to do a savoury scone for a while now and this seemed like a good combo, I’ve been cooking with a lot of pumpkin and squashes as it’s nearly Halloween time so there’s an abundance of them around and this is a good way to use them up, especially if you’ve leftover pumpkin innards from carving.

Savoury chilli cheese pumpkin scones Breakfast Lunch snack

I’ve made my scone recipe many times and tried various flours but the one I always come back to is spelt, it’s wholegrain meaning high fibre, it has some gluten but less than wheat flour meaning you still get good texture but is easier to digest and doesn’t absorb as much liquid as other flours and has a nice flavour when cooked.
You can now find spelt flour in lots of places including supermarkets and health food stores.

Tip
A tip on cooking your pumpkin flesh, I found it best to steam it, this introduces more moisture than baking it which then gets added to the flour mix and helps it stay more moist and also means it blends better so that you won’t get any big lumps of pumpkin in your bite of scone!
You can also do this on a night where you’re steaming other veg then leave it to cool and store it for a few days in the fridge until you’re ready to make this recipe.

Savoury chilli cheese pumpkin scones Breakfast Lunch snack

Recipe (makes 7 scones)
500g wholemeal spelt flour
15g baking powder
150g pumpkin, steamed & cooled
150ml buttermilk
1 egg
125g room temp butter (I used local grass fed)
1 and 1/2 to 2 Tbsp chilli flakes (adjust to taste, use 2 if you really like spice)
125g mature organic cheddar cheese
optional: pinch of salt if butter is unsalted

Savoury chilli cheese pumpkin scones Breakfast Lunch snack

Directions
Pre heat the oven to 180C
Start by weighing out the flour, baking powder and salt, stir this together
Cube the butter then rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips
Grate the cheese then add this along with the chilli flakes to the mix and stir it
Next blend the pumpkin, egg and buttermilk together until smooth then stir this through the mix, you’ll need a bit of elbow grease for this, I also prefer using my hands after the first few stirs to bring it together
Tear off chunks of dough and shape into rough circles and lay them on to a lined baking tray, you should end up with 7 decent sized scones. You can add an egg wash at this stage for a brown colour on top, totally optional
Bake the scones for 20mins at 180C then remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes before tucking in, best served warm as the butter melts and is oh so delicious!
Happy Halloween folks!