Vanilla Bean Ideas

Sarah MickeyAll Recipes, General 101 Comments

Joanna M was selected to receive the quarter pound of bourbon vanilla beans and can now enter the upcoming Ridiculously Delicious challenge!  Congratulations!

Joanna mentioned that her favorite vanilla dish was simple but delicious vanilla ice cream.  Just let us know when your churn’s almost done Joanna, and we’ll be by…spoons in hand.

To everyone else, thank you for entering, and stay tuned to the blog.

Read the submitted suggestions for using vanilla beans in the comments below.

Related Posts:
How to Use a Vanilla Bean
How to Make Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Recipes

Comments 101

  1. Well, since I am cheap and only buy one or two vanilla beans, I usually bury them in sugar, and make vanilla sugar. That way I can spread the vanilla love around!

  8. Wow, what a fantastic prize! I HEART vanilla!!!!
    I add it to my greek yogurt, toss with cinammin, brown sugar and apples and add it to my morning coffee!

  10. ooh, homemade vanilla extract is amazing, but i’ve also loved the pairing of fresh vanilla with sweet potatoes or butternut squash 🙂

  11. I don’t have a special vanilla bean recipe, but I’d love to develop one! I once had a vanilla bean vinaigrette on a salad and thought it was delicious. Have been meaning to do it ever since. Off to tweet.

  12. I love to bake cakes and cookies and use a lot of vanilla for those and for frosting recipes. It’s also yummy to add a little vanilla bean to plain coffee for a little sweetness. 🙂

  13. Vanilla, for me, will always mean vanilla milk. I didn’t like milk, so my grandma would put just a touch of sweetness in it with vanilla bean sugar. So simple, but so perfectly delicious.

  15. I always have a bottle of vanilla rum on hand, which I use as extract but also for drinks. Split 2 or 3 beans and place in a clean bottle, cover with rum, and let it steep for at least two weeks. It makes the best vanilla, ever!

  17. I don’t have a particular recipe; I just put the vanilla beans into a jar of sugar, so that the flavor finds its way into baked goods, into my morning coffee, whatever I use sugar for ….

  19. One of my favorites is using vanilla and a bit of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon when making homemade tortillas. They’re great to use as a base for making cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.

  21. Mmmmm . . . vanilla beans are the best! I love using them in desserts, such as pots de creme. I also use them to make a lime-vanilla syrup that is DELICIOUS when poured over a freshly sliced mango.

  22. I’ve retweeted the contest!
    Would love to win. I’m actually still using the vanilla beans I got from you: some are in the home made vanilla extract, others live in my sugar bowl.

  23. I love the flavor that comes from the vanilla beans when I make my own vanilla ice cream. It also adds a nice touch to a strawberry and dumpling dish I make. The real vanilla beans just taste better than the extract.

  29. I would definitely use those vanilla beans to make a pan seared scallop with a vanilla bean infused whiskey sauce. I like using traditionally sweet ingredients to make savory dishes. I use the scraped out bean in either my sugar or straight into a bag of coffee beans for vanilla coffee.

  31. Vanilla pumpkin pie!!! I just recently mastered my pumpkin pie and think its time to add more flavor 🙂

  38. I would make homemade vanilla extract. A little vodka … a little bean … voila. I use it in baking all the time so I can never get enough of the stuff.

    Wouldn’t mind trying some other recipes too!

    -Rachelle
    aka @TravelBlggr

  40. Ahhh. I would use some of the vanilla to make vanilla sugar which I would then use in a delicious authentic belgian liege waffle and top it off with french vanilla ice cream and vanilla whipped cream!

  42. Fresh orange sections topped with Vanilla Bean Creme – mix 1 pint sour cream with 1/4 cup sugar, 1 vanilla bean, scraped, 1 tablespoon honey and mix well. Let sit for a few hours. Tastes like an orange Creamsicle. Great on granola and fresh berries too.

  43. It may be boring but I don’t think you can beat a classic vanilla bean ice cream with much of anything!

  44. I love flavoring loose black tea with vanilla beans to create my own special blends…same with using them to flavor sugar…it also smells wonderful…I could probably also put some of the beans in soy candles, or in my homemade bath salts…lots of uses…I’d probably give a few away as gifts to my sister and two girlfriends who are all wonderful cooks and bakers….yummy….bring them on, please!

    Terry
    Oct. 26, 2010

  45. I love to homebrew and my favorite way to use vanilla beans is in a vanilla bean porter. The vanilla adds a sweet, bourbon note which pairs perfectly with the dark chocolate notes in the beer. Yum!

  46. What a wonderful giveaway. My favorite vanilla flavored food is vanilla ice cream. This might sound nuts, but sprinkle some roasted corn flake cereal over a bowl and it’s delicious!

  47. pork loin or roast…bourbon vanilla cracked black pepper cream sauce. Shallots….a splash of bourbon…a healthy dose of cracked black pepper…and some dairy goodness….maybe tarragon.

  51. I use vanilla beans every Christmas season to gift my friends with my homemade coffee liqueur. Seems that I have a lot of friends around that time!

  52. My favorite vanilla thing has got to be a basic vanilla milk shake, cold, thick & frosty. Sometimes I’ll have one for lunch & think life couldn’t get any better.

  61. I’m a sucker for really good vanilla ice cream! Plain and simple, but absolutely delicious and a window to endless combinations 🙂

  63. What is more wonderful than some vanilla ice cream made from scratch in a home ice cream maker? Love it.

  64. I’ve never used real vanilla beans, but I would love to make vanilla sugar or my own vanilla extract, maybe vanilla vodka. There would be so many options.

  70. I love vanilla beans…I use them in cakes in lieu of vanilla extract because I find the flavor more subtle and more delicious. My favorite vanilla bean cake is this one made in a 9X13 pan with cream cheese vanilla bean frosting. I will totally use these beans in that way!

  78. I love creme brulee! It’s a simple and elegant dish and really delicious, especially when using real vanilla beans like I prefer! And when I’m finished, I make vanilla sugar using the leftover bean casings.

  79. I love this Vanilla Apple Crisp. Not sure where I obtained this recipe from because I have had it for so long. I think it was a co-worker from way back when. It has become a fall staple in my home.

    Vanilla-Apple Crisp
    1/3 cup sugar
    1/2 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise
    2 1/4 pounds granny smith apples
    1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
    1 tablespoon lemon juice

    Peel, core, and slice apples. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil. Place sugar in bow; scrape seeds from vanilla bean into sugar and rub with finger to distribute. Add apples, flour, and lemon juice. Place apple mixture in dish, place dish on baking pan lined with foil. Bake until apples are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and stir apples.

    Topping: Blend 1 cup all purpose flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, and pinch salt in a food processor. Add 1/2 cup chilled butter which has been cut into pieces; pulse until coarse. Sprinkle over apples. Bake until brown, about 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving

  84. In a small mason jar, add three vanilla beans and fill with bourbon, brandy, or vodka (I prefer brandy). Soak for a few weeks. After that, use the liquid in any recipe calling for vanilla extract and top off jar with brandy, etc as needed.

  88. I love vanilla bean cheesecake: it’s something simple and comforting that’s just the perfect finish to any holiday meal!

  91. I enjoy baking and use vanilla all the time. I especially enjoy the richness of using vanilla bean instead of liquid or paste vanilla. I also like to put the empty pod in sugar to make vanilla sugar. Vanilla especially enhances chocolate and whipped cream. 25 vanilla beans would be put to great use in my kitchen!

  92. I love vanilla ice cream, actually anything vanilla. I have a recipe for vanilla bean cake that I’ve been wanting to try, so I’m hoping I win and bake up a storm with vanilla beans!

  96. In the mid-1990s, I was the baker for a season at the Kantishna Roadhouse, more than 90 miles inside Denali National Park at the end of the road. Because of the logistics of food delivery, most of our groceries came in under the buses filled with tourists, in the baggage compartments. I brought my own recipes and had a secret weapon that transcended the 25 dozen chocolate cookies (brown sugar, toasted pecan bits coated with real butter), pies, cakes, etc. I made each night into gourmet fare. It was hard to hide from the chefs, who managed to find my stash several times and drank it. A friend who grew up in Tahiti had given me a baggie stuffed with vanilla beans before I left. I bought brandy at my own expense on occasional weekend outings to the main road, and soaked the beans in it in a (carefully hidden) jar, doling it out in place of vanilla extract. Those *#%$%& chefs would find it occasionally, and I would have to start over. But my cookies, cakes and pies were definitely special as a result of keeping it carefully hidden.

  98. Cut some fresh apples put in a pan with some cider. Put on the stove at a low temp. Add some butter with a vanilla bean. Makes the house smell good. Makes your tummy happy too.

  99. Homemade vanilla bean ice cream, hands down. I would teacher my daughters how easy it is to make fresh ice cream instead of buying them from the store. I would also use the beans to make vanilla choux/cream puff. Yum!

  100. I think one of the best things to do with them is to just put several in a pound or two of sugar for a couple weeks… then the “vanilla sugar” can be used in anything appropriate, from coffee and cocktails to desserts. Of course, some vanilla bean ice cream is excellent too!

  101. I have created a cake which I use the burbon vanilla bean
    it give it such great flavor and the specks of vanilla bean.
    It become a favorite of my customers.

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