{Petite Treats}

Yes, the evil empire that is Starbucks is my arch nemesis. I don't even want to know how much money we spend a month there. I think i'd have a heart attack. Between me and the hubby we have been known to visit TWICE in one day. (Well, a coffee in the morning, then one in the afternoon for a pick me up...) Horrible, I know. Even more costly is the urge to add a pastry or scone to your drink order, and Oh, I often do. Especially those Petite Vanilla Scones. Those are my favvvvv. Well, I searched the web for a copycat version, and got a few different ones.

Going by picture, texture, and ingredients, I modified one recipe a little, and came out with a VERY good replica. These vanilla scones are spot on in flavor, and appearance, however the texture is a tad (I mean very minimally) lighter. The Starbuck's ones are dense while light (does that make sense???), and these ones are on the lighter side, a tad less dense. Perhaps I'll reduce the amount of baking powder next time, that might do it. Overall these are amazing! Make them and you'll be pleasantly surprised, and so will your wallet.

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup of full fat sour cream

1 large egg yolk

1/2 vanilla bean (pod split, seeds removed)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze

1/2 Vanilla Bean (pod split, seeds removed. other half of bean used in dough)

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Heavy cream as needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Whisk together dry ingredients

3. Using any method you prefer, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until flour resembles coarse meal.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg yolk, vanilla bean insides, and vanilla extract until blended. Add this to the flour-butter mixture and mix on low until dough forms a cohesive ball. Use a spatula to get the dry bits fully incorporated. (It may seem a bit sticky, but this is the texture you want.)

5. Pat dough on a floured surface into a disk about 1-inch in height. Cut into 1.5 inch triangles. Place the pieces on silpat or ungreased baking sheets.

6. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top.

7. Prepare glaze while scones are baking

8. Place powdered sugar and the other half of the scraped vanilla bean seeds in a medium bowl, and add water/heavy cream one teaspoon at a time, mixing vigorously until smooth and runny.

9. Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer of glaze over the cooled scones. Brushing rather than drizzling gives a smoother appearance and requires less glaze. Reapply glaze once the first coat had dried to the touch.

10. Serve immediately. Store cooled scones in an airtight container. Or freeze unglazed scones for future use.