Saturday, September 15, 2012

Vanilla Bean Scones

vanilla bean scones

Friday night... it used to mean so much more than it does now.  In my early 20's, I would head home after a full day of school in addition to a full day of work, shower, glam myself up, and wait for the clock to tick 10:00PM.  After all, everyone knows that anyone heading out before 10 was definitely not "cool", and cool is what I wanted to be.  Tired, but looking forward to seeing friends, I would meet my BFF, Gail, at our local hang out where we both somehow gained a second wind and would dance the night away.


Vanilla Bean Scones, Glaze
Now, however, Friday brings a whole new meaning.  Friday is the only night of the week that Liv doesn't have dance, hence, I don't have to drive anywhere if I don't want to.  And frequently, I don't want to.  While I do enjoy the occasional High School football game or an early bird cocktail with girlfriends, I mostly look forward to a night with no schedule and a bedtime bordering on 9PM. 

With the car parked and put to bed by 3 PM this afternoon, our family has enjoyed this unusually hot San Diego Friday evening (our temps reached the mid to high 90's, and with no air conditioning, it's a little hot...) under a fan catching up on the latest episodes of So You Think You Can Dance along with a simple dinner from the grill.

Looking for a sweet treat, Liv thankfully remembered the product of my early morning baking extravaganza - tender, sweet, Vanilla Bean Scones.  Topped with a sweet glaze speckled with tiny vanilla bean specs, I originally proclaimed these scones bland.  That proclamation, perhaps an early jump to conclusion, came as they were fresh from the oven while the glaze was still "drippy" and not set.


Vanilla Beans with Plumeria
Liv and her girlfriend a few hours later, however, had a very opposite opinion.  Bringing them scones for our carpool ride home, each girl's eyes nearly popped as they took their first bites, and asking for critiques, the only on they came up with was, "You didn't bring enough!".

Taking my second try this evening, I have to agree with the girls.  Tender and with that ever so slight "crunch" as one bites into the hardened vanilla glaze, these delicate scones had me slyly reaching for seconds.  A wonderful, basic recipe that eases one's sweet tooth and brings a little excitement into Friday night.

Speaking of Friday night, it's 9:05.  I need to get to bed...

Vanilla Bean Scones, Vanilla Beans, Plumeria


Vanilla Bean Scones
It was the yogurt in place of heavy cream that drew me to this recipe and eased my guilt at reaching for seconds.  Replacing a bit of the A/P flour with my favorite, slightly sweet spelt flour eased my guilt just a little more.  Jennifer's use of Vanilla Beans in addition to Vanilla Extract made these scones even more tempting and with beans left over form our Vanilla Extract Project, these scones hit the spot.
adapted from It's Baked In
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1 1/2 cups A/P Flour
1/2 cup spelt flour (may substitute all-purpose)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small chunks
1/2 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla Bean Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1-2 Tbs milk

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Place the yogurt and egg into a small bowl.  Split your vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the yogurt/egg mixture.  Add the 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.  Whisk to combine, set aside.

Place flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a time or two to blend.  Add the chopped butter chunks and process approximately 10-15 times, or until the flour resembles a coarse meal.

Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl and add the yogurt mixture.  Stir with a wooden spoon just until incorporated (using a light hand, over mixed scones will become tough), dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat to 3/4 of an inch thickness into your desired shape.  We pat ours into a rectangle, and cut the scones into squares, however you can pat into a circle and cut into wedges, or use a cutter to cut perfect circles.

Place the cut scones onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat at least 1 inch apart, and bake until very lightly browned, about 9-12 minutes.

Place baked scones onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

While scones are cooling, prepare your glaze.  Place the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and the seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean into the bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Add 1 Tbs of the milk and whisk.  Add the remaining milk about a teaspoon at a time until you have reached your desired consistency - thicker will obviously produce a thicker glaze, thinner a thinner version.  Mix what to your taste - Liv prefers a medium thick for a decently thick glaze on the scone.

Dip the tops of your scones into the glaze and replace onto the cooling rack until the glaze has set.

Liv Life Note:  Note that scones are usually best the day they are made, these however were a nice breakfast treat the morning after.


Vanilla Bean Scones, Vanilla Beans, Vanilla Glaze

17 comments:

  1. Last night I fell asleep before 9. I'm blaming being pregnant, but it still felt a little pathetic ;-)

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  2. I love scones but have never made just plain vanilla. I can see, though, that the glaze would make it special. I can relate to the 20 something behavior. I'd work my day job and then go to grad school at night. But Friday night was for drinking and dancing the night away with girlfriends and Saturday nights were for dates. Now I get tired just thinking about it. :)

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  3. I feel your sleep deprived pain, I had to stay up till almost midnight because of the high school football game being an away game last night. I would have loved to come home to one of these. I'm so sorry I just found a message from you I hadn't answered. Yes I am going to the festival. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
    -Gina-

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  4. I would love to have a dozen of these wonderful scones....do you deliver? No? Then I will pin it and make some in the near future!

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  5. Vanilla bean scones, what a treat! I never ever bake them but I totally should as a treat for breakfast! Mmmm yum!

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  6. Kim: Funny you should post this recipe now. Bob was trying to make an ice cream recipe this week that called for vanilla beans. We couldn't find any in Altus OK. The scones sound really good.

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  7. Oh, I'm loving the yogurt substitution! I never enjoy my baked goods soon out of the oven. I wait many hours or even till the next day because I feel like they taste better. Like that whole "fresh blueberry muffins out of the oven" thing? No, thanks.

    I'm so going to try this out, Kim! My oven wasn't working yesterday but it did today! Odd. I whipped up a batch of peanut butter and chocolate cookies with coconut flakes and chopped walnuts. When the weather cools down even more, I'll give these scones a try :-) Thanks!

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  8. Ah, those were the days, my friend. During our recent travels, we found ourselves pulling into KC around 10:30 and were really proud of ourselves that we went out for a while! We hadn't done that in AGES! Would you compare these lovelies to Starbucks???

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  9. Haha, I remember those days. They weren't too long ago for me. But, now that Patrick and I have the house. Bye bye to Friday nights. Heck I normally asleep by 10 now!

    These Scones look to die for! One of my favorites for sure!

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  10. These sound wonderful, Kim. Sometimes the simplest things are the best instead of something chock full of 900 flavors. :-)

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  11. These knock the socks off of the ones I get from Starbucks! I love the specks of vanilla.

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  12. Lovely scones! I was craving for some vanilla bakes, and just made a vanilla pound cake today! Your vanilla scones looks really good, and delicious with that glaze! Sometimes simple yummies like this are really the ones that makes us happy!

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  13. Lovely scones! I was craving for some vanilla bakes, and just made a vanilla pound cake today! Your vanilla scones looks really good, and delicious with that glaze! Sometimes simple yummies like this are really the ones that makes us happy!

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  14. Scones are one of my favorite foods. I have a pumpkin scone that I can't wait to make. We're still in the high 80's, pumpkin has to wait till the low 70's or 60's. But these vanilla bean scones I can make today!! Thanks

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  15. Friday night is definitely a "stay in" night if we can possibly manage it. Life is so crazy, it is important to have one night to decompress from the week. I would love to sit around and munch on those scones. I love vanilla spiked treats!

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  16. I made these this morning and they were yummy although I found the dough to be a bit dry and hard to manage into a circle so I had to work the dough more than I would have liked. I used AP flour. Could that have been the problem? I'm going to try to find spelt flour. Never heard of it! lol
    In addition, your recipe states 1/2tsp of vanilla. The glaze uses 1/4tsp. Where does the other 1/4 tsp go?

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  17. @joaniegirl... thanks for catching my mistake!! I added the 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the yogurt mixture for the dough. We like vanilla!
    I don't think the spelt flour would have made a difference in the dryness. Sometimes humidity makes a difference in how much liquid you need, and on a dry day you may need to add a touch more liquid.

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