DIY Vanilla Sugar

Making your own vanilla sugar is so easy! And it tastes wonderful!                              

You can adapt this tutorial by using cinnamon or citrus zest and make other flavored sugars.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-citrus-flavored-sugar/

Step 1: What You'll Need

Materials

• Cutting board
• Knife
• Jar

Ingredients

• Sugar
• Vanilla beans

It doesn't matter which type of sugar you buy, I always use extra fine sugar because I think it looks better and more luxurious.

I purchased my vanilla beans on ebay, much cheaper, larger and fresher than store bought vanilla.
Good vanilla should be a bit sticky, have a great smell and should contain a lot of seeds.

This instructable describes how you start with your first batch of vanilla sugar. When you used all of your vanilla sugar or when you have used vanilla in a recipy, don't throw away the beans because you can reuse them. Just put them in your sugar jar and enjoy :)

Step 2: Remove the Seeds

Cut the vanilla beans in half and scrape out the seeds with your knife.

Step 3: Mix It All Up

Put the sugar and vanilla in a jar and shake it until it's mixed.

If you have some vanilla sugar leftovers you can easily use it for new sugar like I did. It'll only enhance the flavors, yey!

Step 4: Wait and Enjoy

The longer you wait, the more flavor your sugar will get.
If you are really impatient (like me) just add some extra beans ;)

When you shake the jar once in a while you can prevent the sugar from sticking to each other.

You could use this sugar in pastries, on desserts, on bread with butter, on fruit salads and in drinks like tea and hot chocolate :)

Extra tips:
Put it in a blender to make your own powdered sugar. Use it to make flavored frosting or butter cream :)
(thanks to -RoyaleWithCheese- and chazortiz)


Enjoy!

Love, Sanne

Comments

[Queenbagel]

is the ratio something like 1 tablespoon of vanilla powder to 1 cup of white sugar?

[Indonesia Gourmet VanillaB]

Thank you for the information. Beside vanilla beans, we can make vanilla sugar by ground vanilla powder also, whole beans grinding without any additive.

[SanneLaurenssen]

Oh thanks! I'm going to try that. Should you use 'new' or 'used' beans?

[SparkySolar]

Thank you for the nice instructable

Rima

[xie]

Hey -- what is a rough ratio of how much vanilla beans to sugar? I want to make sure that I'm not using too little vanilla to try to flavor too much sugar. Thanks!

[SanneLaurenssen]

Hi xie
I used 3 beans plus seeds to a jar full of sugar, my jar held less than 500g of sugar, I would guess 350-400g.
Also: my vanilla beans are very large (see pictures - around 20-25cm).
A rough ratio for fast flavored sugar could be 1 bean to 100g sugar.
Enjoy making it :)

[pyrotheblazehog]

THANK YOU!!!!
i <3 vannila and i <3 sugar so this is heaven

[SanneLaurenssen]

You're very welcome! Enjoy! :D

[smokey2299]

Which side of the knife should I use?

[SanneLaurenssen]

I use the sharp side to cut the beans open, but not to scrape the seeds out. This because every knive in my house is very very sharp, due to my knive sharpening boyfriend, and otherwise I'll destroy the beans. :)

[Hestia Athena]

Been looking for a recipe, since no stores in my area have vanilla sugar to sell. Thank you!

[SanneLaurenssen]

You are very welcome! Good luck with making your own :)

[-RoyaleWithCheese-]

This tip is awesome! I always prefer my own homemade vanilla sugar to the artificial one. Vanilla beans are very expensive though, but it really tastes much better and it's a lot healthier. You can also make your own powdered vanilla sugar (icing/confectioners sugar/...) by simply putting the mixture in the blender. It tastes great in vanilla frosting for cupcakes etc ;)

[SanneLaurenssen]

Thanks for the nice tip, I haven't thought of making powdered vanilla sugar.
I just checked, I payed US $11,50 for 30 A grade bourbon vanilla beans on ebay. A lot cheaper than the €1,25 my local supermarket is asking for two little lousy beans :)