Get your oven to 425 degrees. Yeah, that's a pretty hot oven, but that's exactly what you want here. Grab two baking sheets and line them with parchment paper. Trust me, parchment makes cleanup so much easier. Why 425? Because this higher temperature helps the scones bake fast and get a slight crust on the outside while keeping the inside moist and tender.
In a big bowl, throw together your dry ingredients: sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger powder, and cinnamon. Whisk these together really well. The goal is to make sure the leavening agents and spices are evenly spread throughout, no pockets of pure baking powder hiding in there. This is important because you want every scone to taste the same and rise evenly.
Cut your margarine and coconut oil into small pieces and add them to the dry mix a bit at a time. Now here's the key: you're going to use a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingertips to work the fats into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs or coarse sand. This is what creates those tender, flaky pockets when everything bakes. Don't skip this step and don't rush it. Take a few minutes and actually do the work.
Pour in your pumpkin puree. Add your minced candied ginger and shredded fresh ginger. Stir everything together until it's all mixed. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky. This is exactly what you want. Don't go crazy with the mixing. Mix just until everything comes together. Overmixing makes tough scones, and you don't want that.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Give it a few gentle kneads, maybe 2-3 passes. You're just bringing it together, not developing gluten. Be gentle here.
Divide the dough in half. Press each half into a circle shape that's a few inches thick, roughly 1/2 inch. The thickness matters. Too thin and they'll dry out. Too thick and they won't bake through properly. That 1/2 inch is your sweet spot. Don't stress about perfect circles. Rustic is actually better.
Using a sharp knife, cut each circle into about 5 or 6 wedges. Think pizza, but with fewer, bigger slices. You'll end up with about 10-12 scones total. And here's the thing: they don't need to be perfectly even. Uneven actually looks more homemade and charming.
Place your wedges on the baking sheets with about 1-2 inches between them. This spacing is important because they'll expand a bit while baking and you don't want them touching and baking together into one giant blob.
Pop them into the oven at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes. You're looking for them to be baked through but still moist inside. The outside should be set and just barely golden, not brown. Here's a tip: start checking at 12 minutes. Every oven is different, and overbaking is the enemy here. You want them tender, not dry. They're done when a toothpick in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, not wet batter, but not completely clean either.
Pull them out of the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes, 3-5 minutes is perfect. These are best served warm, so don't wait forever. Serve them plain, with butter, with cream cheese spread, or with jam. You really can't go wrong.