These are the best scones I’ve ever had. I swear they are actually some kind of soft sugar cookie / cake hybrid in disguise. I actually first had these at Starbuck’s with K a few years back, and this last year when she flew out we practically ran to the Starbuck’s we knew carried them and bought all the scones on the plate because they’re that good - and also super-tiny so one isn’t ever enough. And then we swung by later in the same day to buy more.

My only problem is that whole vanilla beans are hard to come by and are also expensive. BUT THESE ARE SO WORTH IT. And they are fantastic with my red tea I am also drinking. I’ve read that if you don’t have vanilla bean that vanilla extract will work? I can’t say for sure since I haven’t tried it.

And I am going to share the recipe I found so if anyone else wants to try making them then they can. Pictures are not mine but are from the site of the original recipe - which is here.

Petite Vanilla Bean Scones

Ingredients (Scones)

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- 2/3 cups sugar

- 5 teaspoons baking powder (not to be confused with baking soda!)

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 pound unsalted butter (the recipe calls for it being cold but I was able to do it with room temperature / soft butter)

- 1 whole large egg

- 3/4 cups heavy cream

- 2 whole vanilla beans

Ingredients (Glaze)

- 3 cups powdered sugar

- 1/2 cup whole milk

- 1 whole vanilla bean

- dash of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

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.

[ Placing the empty vanilla pods in an airtight container with white granulated sugar will give you vanilla sugar, which the author claims is great for extra flavor in baking that requires sugar, or even in creme brulee. Or you could save it and use it if you have a second go at making these scones again. ]

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into pats and using a pastry cutter or a just-plain blending machine, mix the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles small crumbs.

Mix vanilla cream with egg, them combine with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork just until it comes together. The author warns about overmixing scones and making them too dense, but I personally love the dense-ness my scones had, so depending on whether or not you want that you can either mix it just until it makes a dough or more than that.

Turn dough on floured surface and press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 in. to 3/4 in. thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. With my dough, I just rolled it without any regards as to what shape it was because I knew I was going to be trimming off edges anyways.

Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut into 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 15 - 18 minutes, or until just the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Now, the glaze. There are no photos to go with this section.

Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the “caviar” as before. Stir “caviar” into milk and let sit awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding either more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. I’d go with making it just thin enough that it’s pourable.

The author says to dunk each cooled scone into the glaze, and transferring it to a cooling rack or sheet of parchment paper. I tried this and the corners where I was holding the scones kept crumbling and I had a really hard time with successfully picking the scones back up once I’d dropped them. I dribbled the glaze over the scones as they were sitting on parchment paper - but be careful if you go that route! Most of the glaze winds up sliding off onto whatever surface is under the scone, and forms a big puddle. 

However you apply the glaze, let it sit for about an hour or more, or however long it takes for the glaze to solidify. 

And then you have your scones! The glaze should help them keep for several days, and keeping them in an airtight container softens them a bit in my experience, if you want that.

The author says that rose petal jam is amazing on these scones. So if you want to experiment with any kind of jam, I say go for it.

Doesn’t that just look amazing.