The Best Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones

These Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones are truly the best! Fluffy and tender cream scones speckled with vanilla bean and glazed with a sweet vanilla icing. These are a delicious coffee shop treat that you can make at home!

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I don't know about you guys, but nothing sounds fancier to me right now than sitting in a coffee shop, drinking a very difficult to order latte and nibbling on some pastries-- like these Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones

But in reality, I'm more of a drive-thru type gal. I'm always busy and will 90% of the time have a toddler in tow.

So for now, coffee shops and peace and quiet will have to wait.

However, it does appear D is picking up on Mommy's coffee shop habits.

I find that each time we go through the Starbucks line, I get the same request, "D wants a baby scoooonne".

Of course, she's talking about these Petite Vanilla Bean Scones.

And I totally get the appeal. They're pint size, sweet, and cute-- just like her!

Now as much as I'd love to go through the drive-thru every day, it's not practical. I also know I can make a better version of these little vanilla marvels at home, so that's what I set out to do!

This recipe was originally intended to be a "copycat Starbucks mini vanilla bean scone" recipe, but my scones ended up baking up into a full size mama bear scones.

And I must say, this was a very happy accident because this scone is so darn delicious, one tiny baby scone won't cut it. However, I do have a "petite" version at the bottom of the recipe!

The flavor is warm, sweet, and well balanced. And the scone itself is tender, soft and melt in your mouth.

Not only are these Vanilla Bean Scones incredibly delicious, but it's almost silly how easy they are to make. They can be made in the food processor! No mixer required whatsoever.

In fact, you technically don't need to use any special equipment--no rolling pins, cookie cutters, etc...

Don't have a food processor? You can make the whole thing by hand in a flash!

So let's skip the drive-thru and make ourselves a batch. This is definitely a treat you've earned!

How to Make The Best Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones

Makes 8 Scones

What you'll need to make the scones:

• 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of white sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 4 tablespoons of butter (½ a stick), cubed and very cold
• ⅓ cup of heavy cream
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
• A batch of Vanilla Bean Glaze (see below)

Instructions for making Glazed Vanilla Bean Scones

Preheat the oven to 375º.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and pulse a few times to blend.

Add in the cold butter and pulse again until the butter is just incorporated and the mixture looks sandy..

Whisk the eggs, cream, and vanillas together in a small bowl or measuring cup and add to the flour mixture in the food processor.

Pulse again until the ingredients are just mixed and a dough ball has formed around the blade.

On a lightly floured work surface or a piece of parchment paper, remove the dough from the food processor and gently flatten into a disc, about ¾" thick.

Using a knife, cut the dough into 8 triangles (like you would a pizza) and place the dough pieces onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan.

Bake at 375º for about 10-12 minutes, until the top is puffed and cracked and the bottom edge is just barely starting to brown.

Allow to cool and glaze with Vanilla Bean Icing.

Vanilla Bean Icing

• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of whole milk

Combine all the above ingredients until the glaze is smooth and thick, but still runs off the fork.

Drizzle the icing over all the scones and allow to set before eating.

Or eat immediately--no judgments over here.

To make Petite Vanilla Bean Scones:

Prepare the recipe as stated above, up until the shaping part.

Once the dough is done mixing in the food processor, divide it into two balls of dough.

Working quickly, gently shape each dough ball into a disc and flatten it to about ½" thick.

Use a chef's knife to cut each small disc into 8 triangles, for a total of 16 baby scones.

Place each scone on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake at 375º for about 8 minutes. Glaze just like you would the large scones.

What is the secret to making great scones?

• Do not overmix the dough! The more you stir, mix, and work the dough, the more you activate the gluten, making the dough tough. It becomes more like bread than a light, fluffy, pastry. By using a food processor instead of a mixer, the dough comes together quickly, without a lot of hands-on activity. Therefore the chances of over mixing are reduced.
• Keep that butter cold! During the baking process, the butter will begin to melt inside the dough. This will create steam and air pockets, giving the scones additional rise and a fluffy, tender texture. If the butter is too soft before hitting the oven, the scone will end up greasy and dense.
• Use heavy cream! The additional fat from the heavy cream will keep the scones from drying out and keep the dough nice and tender.
• Do not overbake. The scones are ready to come out of the oven when they are browned on the bottom, and just starting to brown on the edges, but are still light in color. Leaving them in a minute too long will cause them to dry out.

I would not.

A mixer would overwork the dough, making your scones a little tough.

If you don't have a food processor, no worries!

You can mix the dough by hand by using your fingertips or a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter into the flour.

Make sure to work quickly so the butter doesn't soften.

Next, using a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or clean hands, make a well in the center of the dry mixture, and add in the wet ingredients. Gently fold the ingredients together until the mixture is just combined and there are no flour streaks showing.

Shape and bake the scones per the recipe.

Why use Vanilla Bean Paste instead of Whole Vanilla Beans?

My simple answer is vanilla beans are EXPENSIVE.

I'd love to use the whole bean more, but it can be difficult to source good beans at a reasonable price.

I find that vanilla bean paste gives me the same nice vanilla flavor and pretty specks that I'm looking for from a traditional bean pod--but at a much more manageable cost.

The paste also has a longer shelf life and allows me to control the amount of vanilla caviar that goes into my baked goods.

You can make all sorts of things with vanilla beans and vanilla bean paste. These scones are my favorite, but you can add vanilla beans to ice cream, vanilla chia pudding, whipped cream, or pudding! The little specks of vanilla just make everything look that much fancier!

Vanilla bean paste is super simple to find. Williams Sonoma definitely carries it, specialty kitchen stores have it, and of course, Amazon.

How to make scones more moist?

The trouble with scones is that they can be really dry and sometimes a little tough. Personally, I like a really tender scone--one that might resemble a fluffy biscuit. To achieve this, I add a bunch of fat in the way of heavy cream, cold butter, and a whole egg.

From a technique standpoint, just like I would a biscuit, I keep the butter super cold and barely touch the dough when mixing. This will ensure I'm not overworking the dough and making it too tough.

Another crucial way to make a moist scone is to avoid overcooking. When checking for doneness, I give the scones a little touch before taking them out of the oven to see if they're still soft. They'll continue to bake while they're cooking on the sheet pan, so taking the scones out when they are just barely done is the key to not overbaking. The scones should be puffed, but feel soft when poked, and have a little bit of color on the edges.

Lastly, the glaze really helps to add additional moisture and sweetness.

Why don't my scones rise very much?

There could be a couple of issues that may have kept the scones from rising properly.

• Old baking powder. If the baking powder you're using is pretty old, it won't be as effective as a fresh batch.
• Butter was too soft. If the butter is too soft when incorporating into the flour, you won't create the steam needed to give the scones a good rise or air pockets. Resulting in dense and greasy scones. The butter needs to be very cold or even frozen before working into the flour.
• The dough may have been over mixed. We want to mix this dough until it is JUST mxed. Touching it as little as possible. By overmixing--either by hand or keeping it in the food processor too long--the gluten begins to develop and the butter starts to soften, leading to tough and short scones.

Other Recipes You Might Like:

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

Copycat Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam

Blueberry Zucchini Bread