Orange Pumpkin Scone Cookie Cut Outs Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and spice.
• Add the butter and toss to coat with the dry ingredients. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, press and cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form and some peanut-size pieces remain. Toss in the ginger until evenly coated.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin and eggs until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until no dry bits remain and mixture forms a mass.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly flour. Divide the dough mass into two even pieces in the bowl and dump each piece onto the prepared sheet on opposite sides. Dampen your hands and press each piece into 3/4-inch-thick rounds (about 6 inches in diameter). Refrigerate or freeze until stiff.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. When the oven is ready, take out the dough and cut each round into 6 even wedges using a sharp knife or bench scraper. Nudge the wedges about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the tops with oats.
• Bake until golden brown and firm when gently pressed, 20 to 22 minutes. To see if they're cooked through, tear one open immediately to make sure there's no wetness in the center. If there is, return the pan to the oven for a few minutes.
• Cool on the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature, wrapped in a napkin to eat out of hand.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Put the butter in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour, icing sugar and orange zest and beat together to make a softish dough. Knead into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 1 hour.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut 24 circles with a 7.5 cm round plain cutter. Put them on a couple of baking sheets.
• Using a small sharp knife, cut out Hallowe'en faces on 12 of the circles. Gather up the spare biscuit dough and press into pumpkin stem shapes, trimming with a sharp knife. Press to the top of each biscuit with a knife to join. Make lines on the face biscuits with the back of a roundbladed knife, to look like the markings on a pumpkin. Bake all the biscuits for about 15 minutes until pale golden. Leave to set for a while, then cool completely on a wire rack.
• Mix the glaze ingredients to make a smooth, runny icing, adding a bit more juice if needed, then set aside. For the filling, beat the mascarpone with the icing sugar, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.
• Spread the filling over the cooled plain biscuits, then press the 'face' ones on top - do this just before you want to eat them, otherwise they go soft. Brush with the glaze, using a clean paint brush or pastry brush. Eat the same day.