Week 13 - Imitation Vanilla Scones

So on pioneerwomancooks.com I saw these Petite Vanilla Bean Scones.  I don't know exactly why . . .but I had to make them.  They looked so good and yet they seemed so different from my "traditional" understanding of scones (think fried bread - more like a doughnut bread). 

So I went to the store and looked for vanilla beans.  HOLY EXPENSIVE STUFF!  Since the recipe called for 2 of them this would have cost me $32.  At my store they were $15.99 each.  OUCH!

So I made them without, using my vanilla extract (subbing 1 1/2 tsp for each bean).  It was not as vanilla-ey as I wanted so next time I would use 2 tsp.  (but there will probably not be a next time)

They were so very cookie like.  Just thicker.  Not the doughnut bread I thought of when I thought of scones. 

They were very good with Hot chocolate (and I am sure that is why they sell them at Starbucks because they are probably good with coffe -- but I wouldn't know as I am not a coffee drinker). 

SCONES


3 cups All-purpose Flour
⅔ cups Sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled
1 whole Large Egg
¾ cups Heavy Cream (more If Needed)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or more if you'd like

GLAZE
3 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
½ cups Whole Milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Dash Of Salt

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add vanilla to cream. 
Sift together flour, 2/3 cup 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 cream 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

Add vanilla to milk. 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, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.