Have you ever had the Vanilla Bean Scones from Starbucks? They are so good with coffee…heck, all scones are great with coffee. I find that the scones from Starbucks are sometimes a little too sweet for me. That doesn’t stop me from eating them, but I figured I could just make my own and somehow try to make them healthier and less sweet. I found a great recipe here from the Pioneer Woman…wow, that woman can COOK!! I also had some vanilla beans that I’ve been dying to use. I’ve never baked with them before and I think this is the perfect occasion!
Ahhhh, perfectly beautiful…
Let all that vanilla bean flavor soak into the milk…
Meanwhile, cut the cold butter into our flour mixture until it resembles crumbs…
Work the dough into a rectangle. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect…just trim the edges..scones are perfectly, imperfect!
Cut them into small triangles…I ended up with about 22 small scones.
While the scones are baking, go ahead and make the icing.
Once they have cooled a little, dip those little gems into that sweet, vanilla bean icing!
Allow them to sit for about 1 hour…if you can wait!
Enjoy!!
Vanilla Bean Scones
SCONES
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oat flour
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks UNSALTED butter, Ccilled
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk, a little more if needed
2 whole Vanilla Beans (I used 1/2 vanilla bean and 1 tsp vanilla extract)
GLAZE
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk, more if needed for right consistency
1 whole Vanilla Bean (I used 1/2 bean and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Split the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla “caviar” inside. Stir caviar into milk and set aside to allow it to “marinate”. (I only used half of the caviar here and used the other half for the icing)
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut cold butter into pats, then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs.
Mix vanilla milk with egg, then combine with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork just until it comes together.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary.
Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles.
Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
VANILLA GLAZE
To make the icing, stir the rest of the vanilla bean “caviar” into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.
One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.