I missed out on the fun of Halloween as a child, growing up in a household with strict Christian sensibilities – but I don’t carry around any huge emotional trauma from a childhood bereft of dressing up in ghoulish costumes, hollowing out pumpkins or knocking on strangers’ doors in the dark. The Halloween parties I attended in my late teens were less trick-or-treat focused, and more about raiding parents’ drinks cabinets.
When I started writing my blog, I was inundated with readers looking for pumpkin recipes other than “a sodding pie”. These scones are brilliantly adaptable – just sweet enough to eat on their own with butter, and just savoury enough to pile with cheese.
(Makes 8)
200g raw pumpkin, diced
2 tbsp oil (sunflower, vegetable or groundnut)
¼ tsp cinnamon
60g butter, softened
120g wholemeal flour
120g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g sultanas or other dried fruit
1 egg
50ml full-fat milk
Oats, for rolling (optional)
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark four. Toss the pumpkin with the oil and cinnamon in a roasting dish, and bake in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes, or until softened and caramelised around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Add the butter and mash well. Tip the flours, baking powder and dried fruit into a large mixing bowl and stir well. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the egg and milk, spoon in the pumpkin and stir to a soft, sticky dough.
Lightly flour your work surface, scatter the oats, if using, and knead the dough briefly, flouring your hands if the dough is too sticky to work with. Roll out to around 3cm thick and cut into rounds using a cookie cutter, or a mug or glass with the rim greased (I make mine in assorted sizes, for the adults in my household and the children’s packed lunch boxes).
Pop your scones on to a lightly floured baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until risen and golden, and a skewer or small knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• For more recipe ideas, see agirlcalledjack.com or follow@MsJackMonroe on Twitter.
• This article was amended on 3 November 2014. An earlier version suggested rolling out the dough to around 5cm, rather than 3cm, thick.
