Scrumptious Scones

True confessions: I have a weakness for lattes. In any other form, I avoid caffeine - I don't drink soda or energy drinks - but put a nice, hot vanilla latte in front of me and I can't say "No".

With that said, you can understand why I have a soft spot for (and probably from) any food designed to partner with a warm morning beverage. So, when I decided to tackle Cookies & Cream Scones this week, I knew that (regardless of my complete lack of scone experience) this would be a good recipe to add to my repertoire.

First,  heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  While the oven is warming up, combine all of the dry ingredients.

Next, cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives (which I now can manage with ease, due to my apple crisp-making experience!).

Once the criss-crossing was done, my mixture looked like this (hopefully that's the way it was supposed to look!).

Next, crunch up the cookie sandwiches (though I don't have children, I'd say this is a good step to invite kids to get involved - who doesn't like to do a little demolition?). Just put the cookies in a plastic bag that you can seal in order to keep things tidy. If you would like the cookies to be crushed more finely, use a rolling pin. Or, to leave them a little chunkier - like I did - just use the heel of your hand. When you're done, add half of the cookie crumbs to the dry mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your "wet" ingredients - whipping cream, eggs and vanilla. Once it's thoroughly combined, add it to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until the combination is moist.

Dust some flour on a cutting board and then turn your dough out of the bowl and on to the floured surface. Knead the dough 8-10 times until it's smooth.

Lightly grease your baking sheet, and then plop the dough onto it. Now, spread the dough out into an 8-inch square. Admittedly, I got a little confused at this point because I made only 8 giant scones. What you're really supposed to do is score 9 squares into the dough (like a tic-tac-toe board), then score each square diagonally to make 18 mini scones total. Press the remaining cookie crumbs into the top of the dough, and put the pan in the oven for 15-18 minutes (until scones are lightly browned).

While the scones are baking, combine your glaze ingredients - powdered sugar,  butter and LAND O LAKES® Traditional Half & Half or Fat Free Half & Half . As usual, I cut calorie corners by going with the LAND O LAKES® Fat Free Half & Half. The glaze was still fabulous!

Remove the scones from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Cut along the score lines.

For the finishing touch, drizzle  the warm glaze over each scone. Serve, and enjoy with your favorite hot beverage... of course, you'll find me cozied up with my latte!

Try these Cookies & Cream Scones for yourself and then rate and review them. Your comments are always welcome here, too!  And, join us again on Thursday when Liz will be sharing how to make a cookie that's perfect for the fall.