A recipe for Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Scones! These buttery scones are filled with a layer of cream cheese and topped with a sweet vanilla bean glaze.
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
I recently ordered vanilla beans in bulk and had a couple at risk of drying out. These scones were the perfect way to use them! There is a vanilla bean each in the dough, cream cheese, and glaze. Don’t have vanilla beans? You can also substitute with vanilla bean paste (quickly becoming my go-to with the price of the beans increasing) or vanilla extract (about 2 teaspoons).
Evan helped use the dough blender and had a lot of fun. He did really well and most of the flour stayed in the bowl. My little guy is growing up. He is turning into quite the helper in the kitchen.
After mixing the cream and egg with the flour and butter mixture, knead just until the dough comes together. Add more cream only if absolutely necessary. Overworking the dough will cause it to lose its light, flaky texture.
Thanks to the cream cheese center, this scones were still delicious the next day after storing in the refrigerator. You don’t even need any butter or jam for serving. They were wonderful paired with a cup of tea.
The glaze is completely optional, though I definitely recommend it! I tried a couple without it and the glaze just adds a little extra boost of flavor and sweetness.
Don’t toss out the remaining vanilla pods after scraping! I like to use them to make vanilla extract or vanilla sugar.
Looking for more scone recipes? Try my Irish Scones, Orange Scones, and Cardamom Vanilla Cream Scones.
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Scones Recipe
Adapted from A Turtle’s Life for Me
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Scones
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3/4 cup heavy cream plus more for brushing the tops
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter cold
- 1 large egg beaten
Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-6 tablespoons milk
- 1 vanilla bean
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or lightly grease.
- In a small bowl, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into the heavy cream. Whisk together and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes. Using a dough blender, forks, or your fingers, cut in the butter until the texture of the dough is coarse and no pieces are larger than a pea.
- Gently fold in the vanilla cream and egg just until dough comes together. Do not overwork. If it just doesn't come together, add a little more cream. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
- In a small bowl, scrape seeds from vanilla bean and combine with room temperature cream cheese.
- On a floured surface, gently press one piece of dough into a circle until it is 1/2 inch thick. Cover with 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture. Gently top with another piece of dough and pat down just enough to seal. Cut the dough into 6 equal slices and place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and cream cheese.
- Brush the tops with cream and bake in preheated oven until barely golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet about 15 minutes before removing to wire rack.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and seeds from vanilla bean. If too runny, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add a little milk.
- Once the scones have thoroughly cooled, drizzle or dunk in the glaze.
- Serve immediately.
lk529
Absolutely adore that photo of Evan.