Vanilla Glazed Gingerbread Scones

Most people think of cookies when they hear the word gingerbread, however, gingerbread is a flavor that works fantastically with all sorts of delicious holiday baked goods, like these flavorful gingerbread scones. After being drizzled with a vanilla glaze, and then garnished with finely chopped crystallized ginger, these scones become quite the festive Christmas breakfast or dessert treat.

Am I the only one who grew up, never actually knowing what gingerbread tasted like? Probably. That’s what happens when you have a mother named “Ginger,” who hates anything and everything made using the actual spice ginger. Unfortunately, it would take me several years to learn what the mom-dreaded spice really tasted like, and quite a few more years, to eventually develop an appreciation for it.

Lucky for me, I did eventually come to love ginger’s unique spicy flavor, because this month’s gingerbread-themed Fantastical Food Fight, gave me the perfect excuse to use this ingredient to make a sweet holiday treat. These scones are crumbly, flavorful, and perfect for breakfast on a cold winter’s day, especially after being drizzled with a sweet vanilla glaze and then garnished with finely diced crystallized ginger. I guarantee my mom would hate them. That just means more for me.

Ingredients:

Scones:

• 3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1/4 Cup Molasses
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1 Egg
• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Cut into Small Pieces

Vanilla Glaze:

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar, Sifted
• 3 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• Pinch of Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Cup Crystallized Ginger, Finely Chopped

Directions:

Scones:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream, molasses, maple syrup, and egg; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork for approximately 3 minutes.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a silicone spatula until just combined.
5. Dust both hands and countertop with flour. Gently form the dough into a ball and flatten it on the countertop into a 1-inch disk. Carefully place the dough onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
6. Cut the dough evenly into 8 equal pie-shaped pieces with a flour-dusted sharp knife.
7. Bake for 12 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for an additional 8 to 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
8. Allow the scones to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a baking rack to finish cooling.

Vanilla Glaze:

1. When the scones are cooled, whisk the powdered sugar, cream, vanilla, and salt together in a small bowl.
2. Drizzle the scones with the vanilla glaze and then garnish with the finely chopped crystallized ginger.

Suggestions:

• When you place the disk of scone dough onto the Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet, use your flour-dusted hands to mold it into a perfect circle.
• Dusting your knife with flour before cutting the dough into 8 equal pie-shaped pieces prevents it from sticking to the dough.
• Baking the scones without foil for 12 minutes and with foil for 8 to 10 minutes will help prevent them from burning while they are baking.
• To easily glaze the scones, place the glaze in a small plastic baggie, snip off the corner, and then pipe the glaze onto the scones.
• You can glaze the scones while they are still warm, however, the glaze will be runny.

Improvements:

• Add a pinch of ground cloves to the scone dough.
• Replace the vanilla in the glaze with maple extract.
• Add miniature chocolate chips to the scone dough.
• In addition to crystallized ginger, garnish the scones with finely chopped almonds.

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MORE GREAT GINGERBREAD RECIPES

Crystallized Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lemon Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Crystallized Ginger Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies

TASTE OF HOME FEATURED RECIPE

This “Vanilla-Glazed Gingerbread Scones” recipe has been featured in Taste of Home. CLICK HERE to see the recipe. This recipe was a Runner-Up in the Taste of Home “Best-Ever Baking” Contest.