PARTNER POST: Discover new ways to incorporate seasonal teas into your holiday cooking and desserts with Celestial Seasonings.
Sweet with a hint of salt and made with a warm autumn tea, these sweet harvest pumpkin scones are easy to make and drizzled with a perfect salted caramel glaze.
I crave the autumn season like a favorite dessert. I start getting the itch for scarves, pumpkin everything (like pumpkin turkey chili), and crispy air. 
The nights suddenly cool off and I’m in a desperate search for a light, long sleeve pull over or a blanket that takes the chill off. The only thing I’m missing is that evening cup of tea.
I don’t drink a ton of tea in the summer, but during the fall and winter you can find me with a cup of tea, curled up on the couch with a blanket over my legs and my cat, Audrey, by my side. It’s the perfect way to end the day and it all begins with “The Magic of Tea.” No, really!
I was totally tickled to have the opportunity to work with Celestial Seasonings and their seasonal teas! I’m not lying in the slightest when I say that they are one of my very favorite brands of tea! We have a “tea drawer” in our kitchen, and there is absolutely always at least one box of Celestial Seasonings in it. Naturally, as you could probably guess from the first couple of paragraphs of this post, their Sweet Harvest Pumpkin tea is practically made for me, and I knew right away what I wanted to make with it!
In preparing the scone dough, I used all of the usual suspects when you make something with pumpkin. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves all go into the dry ingredient mixture (you could definitely just use pumpkin pie spice if you don’t have all of these in your pantry). But for the wet ingredients, I steeped one Sweet Harvest Pumpkin tea bag and allowed it to cool before mixing everything together.
The end flavor of the scones is unreal! So much of that luscious, deep fall flavor we expect from the pastries we buy from a bakery, we can get in a scone that you can easily make at home.
This tea is so yummy that I really wanted to use the tea two ways, and I could not think of a better way than combining that beautifully steeped black tea with all of its fall spices with my favorite salted caramel recipe to make a glaze.
Want to try another fun scone recipe for the holidays? Check out these Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Scones! Recipe here.
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- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 scones 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 stick (1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup 3 tbsp reserved Sweet Harvest Pumpkin tea, steeped and cooled
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce
- One bag Sweet Harvest Pumpkin tea
Instructions
- Bring about a cup of water to a boil, and then pour over tea bag in a cup. Allow to steep 3-5 minutes, and then remove tea bag. Measure out 3 tbsp and 1/4 cup of brewed tea to cool – the rest is yours to drink!
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Create a well in the center of the mixture, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, vanilla, egg, and 1/4 cup cooled brewed tea and mix well. Pour the mixture into the well of the flour mixture and using a wooden spoon stir to incorporate the mixture, until just combined. Do not overmix. In the bowl, knead the mixture together by hand to bring it all together.
- Dust your counter with flour before turning the bowl over and placing the dough on the surface. Pat and shape the dough into an even 8-inch round. (The mixture should be thick, not thin like pie dough).
- Using a floured knife, carefully slice the round into 8 wedges and carefully transfer to your prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the scones to cool completely.
- For the Glaze- In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, salted caramel sauce, and remaining 3 tbsp of tea together until desired consistency (if you need to thin it out a bit you can add a touch of milk). Dip scones into
- the glaze and set on wired rack until set.
Notes
The prep time includes the time it would take to make the caramel sauce – you could make it a couple of days in advance to save time.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Baking, Scones
