Scones For Vanillaholics
In my childhood home, vanilla treats were favored. We ate vanilla pudding, vanilla ice cream, vanilla cookies and cake. I grew up thinking of chocolate as sort of exotic. To this day, it’s vanilla that makes my world spin: I’m a vanillaholic.
My husband, on the other hand, was raised in a house full of chocolate. There was a freezer full of chocolate ice cream and a chocolate cake perched on the counter at all times. He is now a confirmed chocoholic, so we have a mixed (vanilla/chocolate) marriage. (Our kids swing both ways.)
But it seems that it’s chocolate that gets all the media attention. There are myriad articles about the health benefits of dark chocolate, obsessive blogs about favorite M&M colors, food magazines pumping out brownie recipes and cocktail party banter about Obama’s favorite hand-made chocolates, blah blah blah. I’m not hearing a peep out of anyone about equally compelling vanilla-related issues..
In response to this annoying trend, I am going to use this blog to give a voice to vanilla on a more regular basis. I recently posted about Puddin’ ‘n Dab, a vanillaholic’s dream dessert, and today we’re getting into vanilla scones. (I’ve written about chocolate chip scones . Now vanilla gets equal time.)
Vanillaholics: Try out these scones on your chocoholic friends. And whenever you are in the company of such people, be sure to wear your “Vanilla Rules!” t-shirt.
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Vanilla Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
½ cup cream, plus 1 tablespoon for the glaze
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the flour, sugr, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse briefly to combine the ingredients. Add the butter and pulse a briefly until the butter in incorporated and the dough resembles small crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the cream, the egg and the vanilla and add it to the flour mixture. Pulse just until a sticky dough is formed.
3. Place the dough out on to a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a circle, about ¾” thick. Cut the dough into small triangles, (each side measuring about 1 ½ inches). Place the scones on the baking sheet and bake until they are golden and flaky, about 25-30 minutes.
4. Allow the scones to cool slightly. Meanwhile, combine the confectioner’s sugar and the tablespoon of cream in a bowl. Dip the top of each scone in the sugar mixture to coat it. Allow the scones to cool completely (the glaze will become frim) and serve.
Tags: breakfast recipe, scones recipe, Starbuck's vanilla scones, vanilla scones
April 23rd, 2011 at 6:47 am
Jessica, you are hysterical. Thanks your blog once again cheered me up , I needed that. I’m a confirmed vanillaholic myself. I have a family recipe to send you, try it out and let me know what you think. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
April 24th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Dear Jessica,
Thank you so much for this. I never realized that I came from such an orientation in my childhood but I know that I am addicted to vanilla everything.
What a revelation! I also think of chocolate as second rate but have read the history of it and found that it was quite a delicacy and extravagance on the tables of French and English aristocracy. I don’t have t-shirt but I’m with you.
thanks for the recipe to add to my ever growing vanilla collection.
Love, Diana
April 24th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
diana’s rite, mun. choclit fo gods not mortals