Vanilla Bean Scones

Whew!  I thought I lost this recipe so I'm going to share it with everyone and that way I will never lose it.  I decided to try baking these after paying over $3 for one at Starbucks.  I think these are better than theirs anyway!  This recipe is adapted from Iowa Girl Eats.  I will post more pictures, including how to scrape a vanilla bean, when I make them next.

This recipe makes 18 scones.

Scone Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup half & half
1 egg
2 vanilla beans, scraped

Glaze Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons half & half
1 vanilla bean, scraped

Before you cringe at the fact that it calls for a total of 3 vanilla beans, check out the prices at Beanilla. Right now they're advertising 10 beans for $12.45 or 25 beans for $22.45.  Compare that to 2 beans for $7 at Kroger.

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees then line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

2) In the bowl of a large food processor (or in a large bowl) add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then pulse or whisk to combine.  Add cold butter and pulse until well incorporated and mixture is the texture of cornmeal.  Alternatively, use your fingertips or a pastry cutter to blend butter in.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together half & half, egg, and vanilla bean seeds.  Add to flour mixture and pulse until just combined.  Alternatively, stir until the dough comes together in a ball.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface then gently knead 4 or 5 times to bring the dough together.  Roll dough into a square about 1/2" thick.

4) Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 9 squares (3 squares by 3 squares).  Then cut each square diagonally in half to make 18 scones.  (If you want to make mini scones, cut those in half.)  Transfer to prepared baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes, or until edges are just starting to turn golden brown.  I like to turn the pan around half way through baking so that they brown evenly.

5) Remove scones to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together glaze ingredients.  Dip colled scones in glaze then place back onto cooling rack to harden completely.