Petite (or not so petite) Vanilla Bean Scones

I absolutely LOVE the mini vanilla bean scones from Starbucks, so I began my hunt for a recipe online to make my own.  That is when I found a great recipe from The Pioneer Woman called Petite Vanilla Bean Scones! 

Ingredients

• SCONES
• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• ⅔ cups Sugar
• 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled
• 1 whole Large Egg
• ¾ cups Heavy Cream (I used 1 cup) 
• 2 whole Vanilla Beans
• GLAZE
• 3 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 1 whole Vanilla Bean
• Dash Of Salt (I didn't use salt)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla “caviar” inside. If you have not scraped the "caviar" out of vanilla beans before, I found it to be a little tricky. Oh and the vanilla beans come two in a jar and they are $6 a jar. OUCH!!!!  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 (I didn't do this part), then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles. I had a little trouble cutting the dough symmetrically because I ended up with more and they weren't so petite! Oh well the bigger the better, right?

Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined (I used a silpat mat and it worked GREAT) 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 were soooo scrumptious, many thanks to The Pioneer Woman for the recipe and your inspiration!