Vanilla Scones

See the little black flecks in the scones? (I know it's hard, the uploaded photo quality isn't great.) They are from the vanilla bean paste. Yum!

These wonderful, sweet scones are from the Alice's Tea Cup Cookbook. Ironically, I bought the cookbook because I wanted to make the scones I love from the restaurant, but I haven't made the pumpkin or turtle scones or any of the other that I love getting there. Instead I made these, which I've never eaten (or even seen) at the restaurant.  Well, it was a great choice!  These are sweet, potently vanilla-y, and so moist and tender.  FYI, the recipe calls for a real vanilla bean...I find they're a little too pricy, so instead I use Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste (the same brand as the vanilla extract I use and love). That way, you get the taste and appearance of having used a vanilla bean, but at a much more reasonable price. Yes, I'm sure a real vanilla bean is better, but really, this stuff is great and affordable!

I made them smaller than the recipe said. I did this because I like being able to have two but not feel like a pig, plus I want to bring some to the office and still have leftover for myself and smaller scones means more scones.  I'm glad I decided to make them small because I think they may not have been as moist if I'd made them bigger. You see they cooked through faster since they were small, if they'd been bigger, I think the edges might have dried out a bit while the center was still getting cooked.  I could be wrong...but I've noticed that problem with the scones I've eaten at Alice's, so I think I'm right.