This post is dedicated to one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever made – not sure it even should count as cooking – but yet adds a fabulous extra vanilla dimension to my baking.  I love it for many reasons – first, it cuts down on waste.  When you use a vanilla bean, most recipes (such as my recent vanilla bean cupcake recipe) direct you to slice the pod in half and remove the seeds – often times, the pod itself isn’t needed, and you may be tempted to just discard it…but don’t!  With next to no effort, you can turn that would-be discarded pod into something delicious.  Use as you would use plain sugar in your favorite baked goods…and it’s also great in coffee. 

Vanilla Sugar – Alton Brown

• 1 vanilla pod, halved with seeds removed
• 2 cups sugar
• Airtight container

Place vanilla pod into container and pour sugar over top, burying the vanilla bean.  Seal container and let sit for 1-2 weeks.  Enjoy in coffee or give your favorite recipes a little something extra.

Tags: Vanilla Bean

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 1:43 pm and is filed under Baked Goods. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.