Gluten-Free Vanilla Scones

My youngest son does not have much of a sweet tooth, but when he does want sweets he usually wants something with a strong vanilla flavor to it. When we were grocery shopping last week, a salesperson offered us a sample of vanilla bean scones. My son really wanted to try one, but since they contained gluten I told him that we could make scones when we got home. He asked if I could leave out the bean and just make vanilla scones. I was happy to oblige since vanilla beans are quite expensive.

I do not know of any rule that says scones must be dry and crumbly, so I created these scones to be tender and moist. I also made them dairy-free so my oldest son could enjoy them too.

Gluten-Free Vanilla Scones

Yield: 16 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour, plus extra for rolling dough out
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon xathan gum
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter or df margarine, cut up
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
4 teaspoons gf vanilla

Topping:

2 tablespoons milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 cross cutting forks.

In a small bowl, blend the egg, milk, and vanilla together with a whisk.

Add the liquid to the dry mixture and stir until the liquids are completely incorporated.

Divide the batter in half and form two 1/2″ thick circles on ungreased baking sheet. The dough is very sticky, so you will want to use some rice flour as you roll it out. Then use a pizza cutter to cut each circle into 8 wedges, but do not seperate the dough.

Use a basting brush to brush the tops with milk and then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the scones begin to brown. Cool on a wire rack.

I was planning on serving the Vanilla Scones with jam, but my family decided that was not necessary and ate them plain.