Pumpkin scones delicious year-round

Q. Dear Recipe Doctor: Every year I enjoy the pumpkin scones from a nearby coffee house, and every year I miss them when fall is over. Can you make up a pumpkin scone recipe that I can make at home (but lighter) year-round?

A. I hear you on the seasonal pumpkin goodies (I also enjoy the pumpkin bagels at my neighborhood bagel shop). I didn’t find a well-reviewed pumpkin scone recipe from my usual recipe Web sites, so I took one of Martha Stewart’s scone recipes and tweaked it to be a pumpkin scone and less fat. I started by replacing a cup of the flour with whole-wheat flour (you won’t even notice the difference).

I used whipped butter instead of stick butter (which brings down the fat grams per tablespoon from 12 to 7) and I used 6 tablespoons instead of 8. I replaced the lost 2 tablespoons with fat-free or light cream cheese. I wanted to use whipped butter instead of a less fat margarine because it has the best consistency to be evenly incorporated into the flour mixture. The original recipe called for almost a cup of heavy cream, but I added canned pumpkin to the recipe and decreased the amount of cream to 1/2 cup and switched to fat-free half and half. I used one large egg and egg substitute instead of 2 large eggs as well.

The calories went down by 115 per scone and the grams of fat went from 21.5 to 7 grams and the saturated fat from 13 grams to 4. Cholesterol decreased from 115 to 43 milligrams and the fiber increased from 1.5 grams to 4.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

These are yummy scones that scream “fall” when served as is. But if you want to get fancy, you can drizzle or spread melted white chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup melted with 2 teaspoons canola oil) over the scones or top each scone with a nice powdered sugar glaze and pipe some orange tube frosting over the top of that for decoration.

The original scones (not with pumpkin) contain 400 calories, 21.5 grams fat, 13 grams saturated fat, 115 milligrams cholesterol and only 1.5 grams fiber per scone.

1 cup whole-wheat flour

2 cups unbleached white flour, plus more for work surface

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons cold, whipped butter

2 tablespoons light or fat free cream cheese

1 large egg (higher omega-3 egg, if available)

1/4 cup egg substitute

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons fat-free half and half

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or use a good quality nonstick baking pan).

Add whole-wheat and white flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to large mixing bowl (use the paddle attachment for your standing mixer, if you have one) and mix on low speed to blend. Add the whipped butter and cream cheese in small pieces to the mixing bowl and mix on medium-low speed until the mixture looks something like wet sand (about 1 minute).

In a 4-cup measure, whisk together the egg, egg substitute, pumpkin and half and half until smooth. Add the pumpkin mixture all at once to the flour mixture in mixing bowl and beat on low speed just until blended.

Set dough on a lightly floured sheet of wax or parchment paper and shape into a round disk, about 9 inches across and 1-inch thick (or 1 1/4 -inch thick). Cut into 8 wedges and place them on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in center of oven until the tops are golden brown and firm, about 30 minutes.

Yield: 8 scones

Approximate nutrition per scone: 280 calories, 7 grams fat (4 grams saturated, 22 percent fat calories), 9 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrate, 43 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 374 milligrams sodium.

Weight Watchers Points: 5