Vanilla Bean Scones

I’ve been wanted to bake vanilla bean scones since I tried some last year at a Washington, DC Starbucks. Mini vanilla bean triangle scones that were just the perfect breakfast/cookie on the go. I searched for many recipes, including the classic one we have here at TFK. I remembered that I read that Ree Drummond from Pioneer Woman had the same experience, so I decided to try out her recipe!

Her recipe was such a success that after baking the scones on a Saturday, there were 3 left by Tuesday. Since I used a small biscuit cutter, I was able to get about 25 scones from this recipe. Since we were going away on a Holiday to the gorgeous Lake Atitlán, my mom asked me to whip up another recipe to take with us. Since I was tight on time, I woke up early Wednesday morning (we were leaving just after noon) and baked both recipes. Since I was able to double test the recipe, I decided to try the food processor the second time around to save some time. The scones came delicious as well, but I have to say they came out extra flaky when I used the pasty cutter.

Ree’s original recipe suggests that you dunk the scones in the glaze. For me, just dipping the top was enough for my sweet tooth – the recipe for the glaze is reduced from its original quantities. All around, this became a family approved recipe in just a few hours!

Kitty

Vanilla Bean Scones

About 25 1-inch scones
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Scone Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cups Sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces of unsalted butter, chilled
1 egg
¾ cups of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients
2 ½ cups of confectioners sugar
⅓ cup of whole milk, more if needed for thinning
½ teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Dash of salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350º degrees.
If you’re using vanilla beans, stir into cream and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
Sift together flour, ⅔ 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 roll about ½ inch to ¾ inch thick. Cut the cookies with a biscuit cutter. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary with the last few crumbs.
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 Bean Glaze:

To make the icing, stir vanilla beans into milk; allow to sit for a while.
Sift the confectioners sugar along with the salt, and then add the vanilla bean milk to the sifted ingredients, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Whisk until completely smooth.
One at a time, carefully dip the top of each cooled scone in the glaze.
Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

Our Third recipe from the Cassalingo and The Foodies’ Kitchen is one from the Martha Stewart kitchens: Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies. We made a tiny variation, instead of adding Vanilla Extract we added Vanilla Beans. The cookies take a new level of yumminess with the vanilla beans. This recipe makes enough for 50 medium sized star cookies.

Kitty

Basic Vanilla Cookies

Recipe By Martha Stewart
Yield:About 50 medium sized cookies

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla beans

Directions:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low.
Add flour mixture, and beat until combined.
6. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350º and line up baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/2 an inch thick, at least. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter.
Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart.
Bake at 350 degrees until firm, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool completely.

Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles. The name is funny. How can you go wrong with Snickerdoodles? As all cookies, Snickerdoodles start with butter, sugar and flour, but by the end you toss them with cinnamon sugar. Snickerdoodles are characterized by a cracked surface and can be crisp or soft depending on preference. Baked in an oven, these cookies are crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside.

With different origin stories, this is what we could piece together: snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln, some kind of pastry. Or that comes from the german word Schnecke ”snicker” comes from the German word Schnecke, which describes a snail shape. But the best one so far, is that the name has no particular meaning or purpose and is simply a whimsically named cookie that originated from a New England tradition of fanciful cookie names. Honestly, the last one is the one I like to believe. The name is funny and brings back warm and fuzzy memories… so why not go with that name origin? What do you think?

Now, on to some recipe notes. Since my Joy Cookbook is still on its way, I got this recipe from the Shugary Sweets site. I made a few annotations from the original post. The most important, is that you need to leave enough space between the cookies to spread. This recipe is very much like chocolate chip cookies. You get the idea, they spread out to bake. I ended up placing three cookies per sheet and baking two sheets at the time. All of the cookies came out delicious! Definitely looking forward to my Joy cookbook to arrive.

Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodles

Recipe from Joy the Baker, seen at Shugary Sweets

Yields: 5 dozen small cookies or 2½ regular sized cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla beans
2 ¾ cup flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the Topping:
⅓ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

In mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until thoroughly combined about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute between additions. Beat in vanilla beans.
Scrape down sides of bowl and add in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix until just combined. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Scoop dough by large tablespoons and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheets, several inches apart. If possible, just have three or four cookies per sheet.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until edges are slightly browned. For smaller cookies, bake 12-14 minutes.
Allow cookies to set on cookie sheet about ten minutes before removing to wire rack to cool. Enjoy!