When the temperature drops, my visits to Starbucks increase significantly for my daily dose of chai lattes. In the summertime, the southerner in me wants iced tea but since I am southerner living in Ohio – it’s cold and I need a hot drink!

So on my frequent trips to Starbucks, I stumbled upon a new obsession – petite vanilla scones. Bite size and buttery, I knew I needed to figure out a way to lighten these babies up or I would have a little extra ‘winter padding’ to work off.

Recipe:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp butter, unsalted and at room temperature

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 egg

1 whole vanilla bean, use half for scones

In a large bowl combine flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Drop in room temperature butter cut into small cubes and combine using a fork or pastry cutter. The mixture will become crumbly when the butter is incorporated.

Cut a whole vanilla bean and cut in half. Take one half of the bean and cut a slit down the center. Fold back the sides and then run a knife down the inside of the bean to scrape away the vanilla bean paste.

In a small bowl combine beaten egg, buttermilk and vanilla bean paste from half of the vanilla bean. Pour the mixture into the flour and lightly mix together. Batter will still be a little crumbly.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly a few times until a dough ball forms. Then roll out to 3/4″ thickness, creating a rectangle shape with the dough. Cut into 24 small triangles.

Place scones on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Transfer scones onto a wire rack and let cool a few minutes before topping with vanilla glaze.

For vanilla bean glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp low-fat buttermilk

other half of vanilla bean

In a small bowl, add powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste from other half of vanilla bean. Add buttermilk one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition making sure glaze doesn’t get too thin.

Dip the top of the scone in glaze and place back on wire rack to let harden. There will probably be some leftover glaze, wait until the first layer of glaze has hardened and then drizzle remaining glaze over scones.

Notes:

I always try to use some whole wheat flour when baking. It seems to be a bit drier than regular flour so a little extra liquid may be needed especially when making muffins or breads.

Curious about the calorie content of these little gems, I used the recipe builder on My Food Diary, each scone was roughly 80 calories and 2 grams of fat.