A friend of mine (Hi Sarah!) recently told me that she makes yogurt once a week for her family. Ummmm…yes please! I would love to make my own yogurt!! So last week I gave it a try and it came out pretty good. I am making a few tweaks on it and am trying my second batch right now. I will share it with you tomorrow if it turns out. Sarah also mentioned that she sprinkles homemade vanilla sugar on her yogurt. Wow! She’s brilliant! Here you have it, from Sarah to me to you…VANILLA SUGAR.
Purchase 1 vanilla bean at your local health food store. (Mine cost $2.93. Just saw it today for $1 at the other natural food store in town!) Split that bean down one side and scrape out all the seeds into your container. Add 3 cups of sugar and shake it up. See the little black seeds in the picture? Let your jar sit and infuse. Some say to let it sit for 2 weeks to infuse…others say they eat it right away…I’m probably on the use it right away side. Wa-la! Vanilla sugar! Don’t you just feel so gourmet?!
You can substitute one Tablespoon of sugar for one Tablespoon of vanilla sugar in any recipe you might like a touch of vanilla in.
Here are a couple of other ideas for vanilla sugar. Sprinkled on oatmeal or fruit. On pies or muffins. How about on French toast? Use it on Cinnamon sugar toast–takes you right back to childhood… Anyone else have any ideas?
Yum! Love sugar & vanilla! I think it would be nice in my coffee! or on my Special K in the morning! Would love to hear more about the yogurt making. I was looking on King Arthur at the yogurt machine thingy a year or so ago. I have yogurt every day! The only drawback is that I love the greek yogurt and that would add another step to the process. I’m not very patient!