Homemade Vanilla Sugar

1. Find a nice glass airtight container (plastic is fine too) that is 2 cup capacity or larger. I bought mine from le Target. Also known as … Target. I got all fancy-smancy and painted some chalkboard paint on each container so I could label what each container was (seriously helps when you have three flours and 3+ types of sugar).

2. Fill said container half way with your sugar.

3. Cut vanilla beans open down the center (length-wise) and scrape out the delicious seeds that are inside.

4. Add vanilla pod and seeds into the glass jar of sugar.

5. Fill jar with remaining sugar. Put the lid on tightly.

6. Shake well.

7. Let it sit at least 24 hours.

8. Use as needed. Refill as you go. Add more beans every so often.

* The thing about vanilla sugar is there are no real amounts … You add as many pods as you want to whatever size container you have. The more bean pods equal stronger vanilla sugar, less pods equals less strong sugar. For my 4 cup jar I have about 10-ish pods and the seeds from them (some brand new pods, some used in previous recipes, washed and dried). You’ll be good to go if you stick to one pod and it’s beans scraped out and added to 12 ounces (1.5 cups) of granulated sugar.

Here’s the other awesome thing: this is a “continue refilling as you use” type of product. So say you use a cup or two in a recipe. DON’T FRET! Just refill your container with more granulated sugar! Can’t really smell the vanilla anymore when you open your container? Add another bean or two, and so on. This stuff will last you for-eva-eva.

What I typically do is fill up my container with granulated sugar, after each use. This is only because I like to have a full stocked vanilla sugar container at all times. I also use a lot of this stuff. Whenever I use a vanilla bean for a recipe (say ice cream, jam, or such) I just rinse off that bean, dry it well and add to my container of sugar. You’ll be surprised at how fragrant a used vanilla bean still is. Every so often I’ll give the whole thing a good shake, and every few months I’ll “refresh” the whole thing by adding a fresh bean and its scraped out insides.