This morning dawned cloudy and cold, a very gray sort of autumn day–perfect, I thought, for rising early and making a batch of scones. My friend Debbie recently shared with me her recipe for gingerbread scones. Spicy gingerbread is perfect for a cold fall morning, especially with a cup of tea. I did a bit of research and added some oats for texture and a lemon glaze for contrast. I also decreased the sugar a bit as I prefer my scones on the less-sweet side. The Noshery added some dried cranberries; I left these out today but I imagine they would be a very tasty addition.
The resulting scones are deliciously crumbly but not dry, sweet but not too sweet, with a lovely contrast between spicy ginger and tart lemon. While you can certainly omit the lemon zest from the scones and leave off the glaze, I think the lemon flavor really added something to the whole gingerbread scone experience. These scones are perfect with a Berenstain Bears mug of Earl Grey tea. 
Gingerbread Scones with Lemon Glaze
Adapted from my friend Debbie and The Noshery
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ cup buttermilk or soured milk (see note)
1 beaten egg
3 Tbs molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze
Adapted from Tyler Florence via the Food Network
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp unsalted butter, melted
1-2 tsp water, as needed
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and lemon zest. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk, egg, molasses, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add buttermilk mixture to well, and fold flour mixture in just until moistened. Avoid overstirring! As soon as dough clumps into (mostly) one large ball, turn dough out on a piece of parchment paper. Pat into an even circle about 1 ½ inches thick. Cut circle in half, and cut each half into 3 even wedges. Slightly pull wedges away from each other to allow air to travel between them while baking. Slide scones and parchment onto baking sheet, and bake in preheated oven 10-15 minutes until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer scones to cooling rack.
To make glaze, add lemon zest to powdered sugar in small bowl. Stir in lemon juice and melted butter. Use a fork to whisk the glaze smooth. Add water a few drops at a time to achieve desired drizzling consistency, whisking smooth after each addition. Drizzle glaze over tops of cooled scones. Allow glaze to set before serving.
Note: to sour milk for baking, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon into the bottom of a 1/2 cup measuring cup, taking care to remove the seeds. Add milk to fill the cup, and let sit until thickened, 3-5 minutes. For 3/4 or 1 cup, use juice of 1 whole lemon.
