Q. 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 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 with less fat.

I started by replacing a cup of the flour with whole-wheat flour (you won't even notice the difference). Then I tweaked the fat ingredients, using whipped butter instead of stick (which brings the fat grams per tablespoon from 12 to 7 but still has the best consistency for evenly incorporating into the flour mixture) and using less of it; added fat-free or light cream cheese for the remaining butter; and substituted canned pumpkin for part of the cream, using fat-free half-and-half for the remaining cream. Instead of 2 large eggs, I used one egg and the remainder egg substitute.

The calories went down by 115 per scone (the original plain scones contain 400 calories), and the fat went from 21.5 grams to 7 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

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

1/4 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 a large mixing bowl (use the paddle attachment 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 an 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).

Makes 8 scones.