Cheesy Pumpkin Scones #BreadBakers

Made with cheddar AND Parmesan, these cheesy pumpkin scones are tender inside and toasted golden outside, perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea. 

I’m not a big fan of pumpkin spice all the things like many people get excited for during this season but I do love actual pumpkin. In soup, pasta sauce, gnocchi, muffins and so much more. Big fan.

That’s why when our Bread Baker’s host for today’s event chose “pumpkin” for our theme, I was excited. I bought a beautiful little pumpkin and got ready to bake. 

Cheesy Pumpkin Scones

For my mashed pumpkin, I roasted wedges of pumpkin in their skins with just a light drizzle of olive oil until fork tender. Then I scooped the soft flesh out, mashed it and measured out one level cup. It weighed 255g. 

Ingredients

For the scones:

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup or 113g cold unsalted butter, cut in little blocks

3 1/2 oz or 100g extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

1 oz or 28g Parmesan, coarsely grated 

1 cup or 255g mashed pumpkin (see note above ingredients list)

Optional glaze:

1 tablespoon mashed pumpkin

1 tablespoon milk

Method

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and prepare a baking sheet lining it with baking parchment or a silicone mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt and cayenne.

Use a pastry blender or a couple of knives to cut the butter into the flour. 

You want little lumps and flecks of butter still showing, not the homogenous sandy texture we want for pastry crust. 

Mix your two cheeses together and set aside a generous handful to use as topping. 

Toss the bigger pile of cheese with the flour mixture.

Add in the pumpkin. 

Fold and fold until the dough is just evenly moistened and holds together. It might look too dry at first, but the pumpkin should have enough moisture. If it truly doesn't, I shall roll my eyes at you but you can add a drizzle of water or milk.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. 

Wet your hands and use them to shape the dough into a 3/4"or 1 cm thick square. The dough won't stick to damp hands. This avoids adding extra flour to the dough which can dry it out.

Cut the square into 9 pieces. As you can see, mine weren’t very even but I’m sure you’ll do better! 

Transfer the scones to your prepared baking pan. 

Mix together the mashed pumpkin and milk to make the glaze. 

Brush onto the scones. If you don’t have any leftover pumpkin, you can brush them with just milk.

Top with the reserved grated cheese.  

Bake in your preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until puffed up and golden. Turn the baking pan around halfway through for even cooking. 

Serve warm, as is or with butter. These are so cheesy and delicious! We meant to share them with the neighbors but ended up eating them all. I made little ham sandwiches with the bigger ones. SO GOOD.

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers and I to share our bakes. Our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm chose “pumpkin” as our theme. Check out all the links below. 

• Food Lust People Love: Cheesy Pumpkin Scones 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sourdough Pumpkin Bread 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls 
• A Messy Kitchen: Pumpkin Hazelnut Babka
• Sneha's Recipe: Red Pumpkin Paratha

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice

Umeboshi calamansi lime juice is a refreshing drink popular in Asia, made with calamansi limes and sour plums aka umeboshi over ice.

Back in February of this year, I went to my Costco and discovered several pallets of citrus trees right outside the front door. To my absolute amazement, one of them was a calamansi lime! The tag had a different name and the peels were orange instead of green, but I’d know that aroma anywhere after living in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia for a combined total of 13 or 14 years.

There were only a few left so I did not hesitate and put one in my shopping cart right away. Then a funny thing happened. I was stopped repeatedly by other customers as I did the rest of my shopping, wanting to know where I’d found the tree! Apparently, there were none left up front. One Asian woman even questioned why I needed it. I guess she was hoping I’d hand it over? Who knows!

Anyhoo, I planted the baby in the ground in my backyard and it rewarded me with a decent crop of little limes, as seen below. Crossing my fingers it will do the same again in the next few months. 

Depending on the country, this delicious drink is called different names. In Malaysia where I ordered it often, it’s known as limau kasturi asam boi or usually just limau asam boi, but it’s always made with calamansi or kasturi limes. 

And for those who are curious, normal green limes are called limau nipis in Malay. Just limau means lemon. 

Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice

If you aren’t fortunate enough to be able to source the calamansi limes you can make this with regular ones (skip blending the peels!) but you’ll need more sugar to counterbalance the tartness of the juice. 

Ingredients to serve two:

2 teaspoons sugar

6 calamansi limes

2 umeboshi or dried sour plums

Ice cubes

Method

Add 1 teaspoon sugar and one sour plum into each glass. Pour in 1/4 cup or 60ml hot water in each to dissolve the sugar and steep the sour plums.

Wash the limes and cut them in half. 

Remove the seeds and squeeze the juice into a large measuring cup or bowl.

Use a metal straw or spoon to mash the plums in the glasses a little. 

In a blender or food processor, blend the lime peels with 2 tablespoons of the squeezed juice.  

Strain through a sieve into your measuring cup or bowl, pressing gently with a spoon to get all the juice out. Discard the peels. 

Divide the juice between the glasses and add ice cubes.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 21th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter U. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the U recipes below:

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Upside Down Bacon Pancake
• Food Lust People Love: Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice
• Sneha’s Recipe: Upside Down Apricot Bundt
• A Messy Kitchen: Apple Bourbon Upside Down Cakeu
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Ube Pandesal
• Blogghetti: Jumbo Upside Down Pineapple Muffins
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Udon Noodle Salad
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Black Forest Upside Down Cake
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Chunky Pumpkin Ancho Unsweetened Cocoa Chili

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake 

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam 

E. Whipped Espresso Cream 

F. Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken 

G. Extra Herby Gremolata 

H. Smoked Herring Spread 

I.  Fresh Cherry Ice Cream 

J. Small Batch Strawberry Jam 

K. Kiwi Tomato Feta Salad 

L. Lobster Butter 

M. Milk-Roasted Chicken 

N. Nocciolata Swirl Meringues 

O. Jersey Octopus Ceviche 

P. Easy Pastina Soup 

Q. Shrimp and Quail Egg Garden Salad 

R. Celeriac Mash with Scallop Roe Butter 

S. Fresh Scallop Sashimi 

T. Roasted Chicken Thighs with Stuffing 

U. Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice– this post! 

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Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks

These garlic rosemary lamb shanks simmer in a slow cooker with beef stock, red wine and onions until they are so meltingly tender that you won’t need a knife! Carrots and potatoes cooked with the shanks round out the meal. 

Years ago, I was watching a Nigella Lawson program where she was roasting a lamb shank for one. That’s a cut I had never bought but, like everything she does, Nigella made it look so easy. 

I promptly forgot about it until I found a large shank (big enough for two) in my local grocery store and I made my purchase. Just like Nigella said, it roasted beautifully! You can see that recipe here. (It’s one I posted in my first six months of blogging before I learned a little more about photography. I leave those posts up because it’s part of the journey and, honestly, pretty photos or not, the food is delicious.) 

Ever since, I almost always have a couple of lamb shanks in the freezer, just in case. On cold and windy days, slow cooker garlic rosemary lamb shanks with potatoes and carrots are a warming hearty meal.

Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks

Sometimes I remove the lamb, carrots and potatoes and thicken the broth to make gravy and sometimes I serve it au jus, not thickened. I’ve included the instructions for making gravy but either way, this is a delicious meal. The longer you can leave the lamb to marinate, up to 24 hours, the better. This feeds two generously, with leftovers.

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Leaves from 2-3 sprigs rosemary, plus a little extra for garnish, if desired

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for slow cooker

2 medium onions, peeled and sliced

1 3/4 cup or 414ml beef stock

1 cup or 240ml dry red wine

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut in chunks

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks

To thicken the gravy:

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons cold water

Method

Score the lamb shanks with a sharp knife then season the shanks with salt and pepper all over, rubbing it in with your clean hands. 

Mince the garlic and rosemary leaves, discarding the stems. Sprinkle on the garlic and rosemary, massaging them in as well. 

Place both lamb shanks is a Ziploc bag, then pour the cider vinegar and olive oil over them. Seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Chill for up to 24 hours. 

When you think about it, give the lamb bag a massage ot two and turn it over during the marinating time. 

Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of the slow cooker, then line it with the onion slices.

Add in your lamb shanks and any marinade from the bag, along with the beef stock and red wine.

Cook on high for 2 hours then switch to low for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. 

When the lamb has one more hour, add in the carrots and potatoes, tucking them as much as possible in the cooking liquid.

When the time is up, check the lamb with a fork. If it goes in really easily, the lamb is tender. If not, set your timer for another 30 minutes or so.  

When the lamb shanks are done, remove them along with the carrots and potatoes from the slow cooker and cover all to keep warm. 

 

Switch the slow cooker to high again. 

Mix the cornstarch into the cold water then add the mixture to the slow cooker, stirring well. Cook until thickened slightly. The result is a lovely rich onion gravy.

Serve the lamb, carrots and potatoes with the savory gravy, garnished with a little chopped rosemary, if desired.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and our theme today is Crocktober, aka recipes made in a slow cooker or cooked long and slow in an oven or on stovetop. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm and Camilla of Culinary Cam. 

• Braised Beef Cheeks over Garlic Gnocchi by Culinary Cam
• Crockpot Orange Chicken by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks by Food Lust People Love
• Keto Masala Beef Steaks by Sneha's Recipe
• Leftover Kabob Fajitas by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peppered Short Ribs by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apple Oats by Our Good Life
• Slow Cooker Chili con Carne by Palatable Pastime

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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