Vanilla Scones

I woke up too early for a Saturday.  I don't know why my internal clock is determined to wake me up by 7:00am every single morning.  For a second, I thought about going to the gym, and then got distracted by laundry, dishes, and the remains of a busy Friday night.  

By 8:00am, I was settled on the couch folding the last of the beach towels and listening to a TiVo'd episode of The Pioneer Woman in the background.  She was making breakfast.  Three different kids of breakfast.  McKay (my other early riser) was padding down the stairs with his blanket shortly after I finished folding towels, and snuggled up next to me to watch TV.  He's so completely content with anything (food shows, fashion shows, Oprah, wedding shows...)  I love that kid.  

While we watched Ree Drummond mix up batter for vanilla bean scones, and then whip up a quick eggs Benedict breakfast for her father-in-law's birthday, apparently McKay got hungry.  He said, "Those look so delicious.  We should make them for breakfast."  

So we did.

I wish I could show you how cute he was helping with the sifting, the measuring, and the cutting of butter into the flour, but I didn't take a single picture.  Because sometimes, in the seconds it takes to grab the camera and make sure it has a little card in it, and set it to all the right settings, you miss the moment completely.  This was a good moment...a whole handful of them in fact...and I wasn't about to walk away for even one second and take the chance of missing any of them.

via

An hour later, when everyone else in the house woke up and wandered into the kitchen, McKay proudly presented our creation.  And everyone loved them.  

We changed the recipe a little.  We didn't have vanilla beans (because who actually has those things on hand in their kitchen??)  And I didn't have heavy cream.  I was just going to use milk, but as I was getting it out of the fridge, McKay said, "What would it taste like if we used orange juice instead of milk?"  And I said, "Well, let's find out."  So, instead of 3/4C of heavy cream mixed with the scrapings of a vanilla bean, we used 3/4C of orange juice mixed with a teaspoon of vanilla.  I added a little orange extract to the glaze, too, and they had just enough of an orange-y flavor so that you could taste it but not be overwhelmed by it.  Pretty brilliant, huh?  Love that kid!

Here's the original PW recipe in case you are now craving Vanilla Bean Scones.  

• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2/3 cups Sugar
• 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled
• 1 whole Large Egg
• 3/4 cups Heavy Cream (more If Needed)
• 2 whole Vanilla Beans
• GLAZE
• 5 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk, More If Needed For Thinning
• 1 whole Vanilla Bean
• Dash Of Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla "caviar" inside. Stir caviar into cream. Set aside for 15 minutes.

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

To make the icing, split one vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the caviar. Stir 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, 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.

These really are super easy.  I would make them again.  McKay says he would, too.  We both thought it was funny that she said the scones would keep for several days.  Ours didn't even make it through a whole Saturday!  :)