Bump-to-Table: Week 4 | Vanilla Bean Scones

In case you haven't read my announcement blog, I am pregnant!! We are so excited to be expecting our second baby. By the time this is being published, I will probably be around 12 weeks, but when we found out we were expecting baby #2, I started thinking about ways to help Aubrey, my daughter, understand what was happening and feel included in this journey from the very beginning. Pregnancy can feel like a long wait for little ones, so I decided to create a fun tradition we could share together. Each week, we'll make a recipe inspired by the baby's size that week, starting with vanilla bean scones since at about 4 weeks, the baby is about the size of a vanilla bean! My hope is that cooking together will give Aubrey a tangible way to see just how much her little sibling is growing while creating sweet memories along the way. I encourage you to follow along during your own pregnancy, whether it's your first baby or you already have a whole crew of little helpers eager to be involved.

4 Weeks Pregnant:

At 4 weeks pregnant your sweet baby has likely completed the implantation process and is getting quite comfortable in your uterine lining. Pregnancy hormones are starting to rise and should be doubling roughly every 48 hours. This means all the common first-trimester symptoms may be starting to pop up. But don't worry if they haven't, everyone experiences these early weeks a little differently. If you are already starting to feel symptoms, they may or may not include nausea, fatigue, tender or sore breasts, mild cramping or spotting, a heightened sense of smell, and increased urination.

Right now baby is very small, but the groundwork for every major organ and body system is already being laid this week. This week your sweet little one is only about 1-2 mm long, or about the size of a vanilla bean seed. Hence why we are making vanilla bean scones this week!

The Scones:

There were so many good options to choose from this week, but then again, I love vanilla bean, so there was no going wrong. I felt like scones were a classic choice, and they were easier than I thought they would be! I used a food processor too, which helps speed up the process, but you can hand-combine the ingredients if you don't have a food processor.

My daughter is 2 and a half, so she mostly helped with dumping the ingredients into the food processor and pressing the button to mix it all up. If you have older kids, they could help measure out the ingredients or roll out the dough.

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of Flour

• 2 tablespoons White Sugar

• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of Salt

• 4 tablespoons of cold Unsalted Butter cubed

• 1 large Egg

• 1/3 cup of Heavy Cream

• 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Bean Paste

  For Glaze

• 1 cup Powdered Sugar

• 3 tablespoons Heavy Cream (or more depending on desired consistency)

• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Bean Paste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to just mix everything up.

3. Ensure your butter is cubed into about 1 inch cubes and cold. Then add to food processor with dry ingredients. Pulse until combined and mixture looks sandy.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, heavy cream, vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste.

5. Add wet mixture to the food processor and pulse until combined and a dough ball has formed.

6. On a floured surface roll out the dough ball into a rectangle shape that is about 3/4 and inch thick. The cut into 8 triangle pieces.

7. Place on the parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes. The scones should be starting to crack on the top and the bottoms should just barley be brown.

8. While the scones cool, mix together all the ingredients for the glaze. It should be thick but still able to pour.

9. Once the scones are completely cooled pour the glaze over each scone and allow to set.

10. Enjoy your delish vanilla bean scones. Now go relax, you're growing a baby after all!