I am a frugal girl to the core. If I'm going to spend money on whole vanilla beans, I'd like to get as much use of them as I can.
The flavor of vanilla beans is incredible. It's such a treat to use in homemade vanilla ice cream, pana cotta, pastry cream, vanilla custard or Chai Tea Latte, like the one I shared with you on Monday. Here's a phenomenal way to get as much use stretched out of this flavorful black string bean as you can - make Vanilla Sugar. It will be such a treat to sweeten your coffee with it, to add to cookies or any other baked goodies. It's amazing how much aroma the used vanilla beans give off to plain white sugar.
Split the vanilla bean in half with a sharp knife. Scrape the vanilla seeds off the pod with the dull edge of a knife. 
Place the used vanilla beans inside a container of sugar. The amount of sugar doesn't matter. The vanilla beans will work their magic. 
Seal and store. The vanilla will infuse the sugar with tons of flavor and aroma.
Hi Olga,
I LOVE the idea behind this recipe, but I have two quick questions. First, what would you do with the scraped out seeds if you don't have an immediate plan to use them? Second, how long would you let the vanilla beans sit in the sugar before using it? Thanks.
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
I don't use the vanilla seeds until I actually use them. I only make the vanilla sugar after I have used the vanilla seeds for another purpose. The sugar will get infused with the scent and flavor of vanilla very quickly, so you can discard the vanilla pods after a few days.
olga you might of mentioned it before, but where and what kind of vanilla beans do you recc? should i order off amazon? thanks in advance
I just buy vanilla beans at local grocery stores, although you can order it online too, Margarita.
Hi Milana
I simply LOVE your photography and recipes thank you for sharing!! which brand of camera do you use and do you personally photograph your designs?
thank you in advance
kind regards
Aneesa
Hi Aneesa,
My name is actually Olga:). Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I do take the pictures here myself, or with my husband. One or the other of us takes all the pictures on this blog.
We have a Canon Rebel T2i, and use a Canon 50 mm 1:1.8 lens.
I love the pictures!! Seriously beautiful! Also this is such a great idea to get that extra kick of flavor in coffee or tea!
Thanks, Milana. It gives a nice flavor to coffee:).
My grandmother always put vanilla beans in a jar of powdered sugar. I'd forgotten until I read your post and the good memories bubbled up.
I'm glad it brought good memories for you, Jasmina.
Do you make your own vanilla extract? I put whole and used vanilla beans in vodka and let sit for three weeks when first starting. After that I just keep adding more beans and more vodka to keep the bottle full. I buy vanilla beans in bulk-much more economical than buying a few at a time.
Where do you buy vanilla beans in bulk? I would love to buy it that way and make vanilla extract as well.
There are many vendors on Amazon. The ones I purchased were from Olive Nation and I am very happy with them.
Thanks! I'll check them out.
Love the photography in this post! Your posts always have the most creative photos
Thanks, Katy!