Time to make Vanilla for the Holidays! {Beanilla Giveaway}
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Can you believe the holiday season is just a few short months away?! Thanksgiving is just 77 days away! What the what?!!!!
Many of us do some amount of baking for the holidays, whether it’s just a batch of your favorite cookies, fudge wreath, or baking for a holiday party or gift giving. Chances are your recipes are going to call for vanilla. Vanilla extract and vanilla beans are such essential items in a holiday baking spice cabinet.
Last year I shared how easy and much more economical it is to make your own vanilla. It’s so simple to make but needs to sit at least 6-8 weeks before you can use it, so get started now to have plenty of vanilla extract on hand for your holiday baking. Download and Print the free homemade vanilla labels Kelly made and you’ll have a fantastic gift ready to pass out to friends and family in December.
You’ll notice vanilla beans can be pretty pricy at the grocery store, so if you plan to make more than one bottle of extract I highly suggest purchasing your beans online, from places such as at Beanilla.com. right now they have 25 Madagascar Vanilla Beans for $25 + FREE shipping! that’s a fantastic price!
Now is the time to make vanilla for the holidays
- recipe and step-by step instructions to make homemade vanilla extract
- download and print free Homemade Vanilla label
- shop beanilla.com for vanilla beans and bottles
WIN IT! GIVEAWAY ENDED
My friends at Beanilla would like to help two lucky TidyMom readers get their vanilla going this year with an awesome $150 prize pack of vanilla making supplies!
Each winner will receive:
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 5 Madagascar Vanilla Beans
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 5 Tonga Vanilla Beans
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 5 Indonesian Vanilla Beans
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 5 Mexican Vanilla Beans
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 5 Ugandan Vanilla Beans
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 5 Indian Vanilla Beans
- 1 Package (vacuum sealed) of 3 Tahitian Vanilla Beans (Tahiti)
- 7 Clear Glass Bottles, 8.5 oz w/ Swingtop
- 1 Vanilla Bean Sampler (7 glass vials containing 3 beans of each variety)
How to enter:
- leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite recipe with vanilla!
- Then simply complete the steps in the giveaway widget below. Personal information will not be shared or used for any kind of mailing list, it’s simply used by me to select and contact the winner.
If you don’t see the widget, be patient because it might take a minute to load (especially with Internet Explorer 9). Or you can click here to for the entry form if you have any questions, you can contact me via email
Disclaimer: this post is a collaboration with Beanilla. All opinions, views and love of vanilla are all my own.
Tidymom is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Please respect my work, recipes and photographs. If you do use a recipe in your own writing, please give proper credit and link back to the original post.
I use homemade vanilla in banana bread and sugar cookies!
I Love vanilla. I love homemade vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing
I would love to make homemade vanilla extract! Vanilla Bean ice cream and vanilla bean frosting are our favorites!
I love love love vanilla! Vanilla bean frozen yogurt is my fav!
Vanilla bean scones!
I use vanilla extract for everything, but lately I’ve been doing tons of sweet crepes so vanilla goes in the filling and the actual crepes.
I do quite a bit of baking so it’s hard to choose…however I make a weekly batch of grapenut yogurt muffins for my daughter. She says they are her favorite!
Thank you
Apple Pancakes! My grandmother used to make these when I was little and the pancake was alwys bigger than the plate. Now-I make these for my daughter on her birthday every year-they are worth waiting a year for!
I love vanilla and always add a little extra to all my recipes. My favorite though is homemade waffles. Yummy!
Homemade vanilla ice cream!
My favorite recipes that use vanilla are Sugar Cookies, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. I love the smell of vanilla as much as the flavor!
I love making homemade vanilla! I made it as a present for family members a couple years ago. I should probably give them new beans to replenish theirs. My favorite recipe using vanilla is cookies with peanut butter, white and semisweet chips.
I love the cutout sugar cookies with vanilla frosting at Christmas.
Everything is better with vanilla, but the thing that comes to mind is the chocolate chip cookies we made Sunday.
Homemade waffles!
Just made my favorite brownies with vanilla, so yummo!
Seriously Vanilla Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Ingredients
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
Directions
Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan. (see note below) Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour mixture into lidded container and refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture.
Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to unit’s instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 times, and reached a soft serve consistency, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.
Oh, wow, too many good recipes to choose from! I would probably choose old fashioned sugar cookies or Congo squares
I love to make a coconut cake and I always use extra vanilla in it 🙂
I use a lot of vanilla in my French Toast. It makes the house smell good and my family loves it. 🙂
Cookies! And Bread! And ice cream!
Strawberries and cream oatmeal for the family or any of the cakes I make!
Too many yummy things to choose from!!! Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pancakes, Waffles, Ice Cream!!
My favorite recipe with vanilla is my Vanilla Dream Cake recipe. It’s a light vanilla angel food cake covered with vanilla buttercream. So good. It really showcase the wonderful vanilla flavor. 🙂 This is such a wonderful giveaway and it’ll be a dream come true to win this prize pack!
amy [at] utry [dot] it
I love vanilla in chocolate chip cookies and in homemade whipped cream.
My favorite recipe using vanilla would be my chocolate chip cookie recipe, but that could be because I’m craving them!
Vanilla Ice Cream
Sugar cookies with thick vanilla buttercream frosting!
I love vanilla in everything, but I guess my favorite recipe is ice cream. Yum!
I just discovered how amazing beanilla.com is!! I would loooovve get some for my husbands favorite cookies – linzer cookies! Also love some for pies! 🙂
Vanilla milkshakes
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream!
Definitely homemade ice cream! But also good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies. Yum. 🙂
I love homemade vanilla ice cream!
I would have to say that I love vanilla in french toast. And chocolate chip cookies. And Pioneer Woman’s Slice and Bake cookies. And anything baked!
Cookies!
I love using vanilla in homemade whipped cream. My favorite is bourbon vanilla extract that I got in New Orleans on my honeymoon, but I have really been wanting to try to make my own version.
Creme Brulee always highlights the vanilla bean best – especially when you see the flecks of vanilla!
Many recipes online, I like this one from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/339077/creme-brulee
I love to make hot chocolate with homemade vanilla !
My favorite recipe to use vanilla in is vanilla bean icecream.
This may be a duplicate, but I love this recipe due to the rich flavor they have, but almost eery recipe is improved with good quality vanilla!
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
I love vanilla cupcakes 🙂
Delicious cookies that use a full Tablespoon of vanilla – called Raisin Cookies – but oh they are so much more than just a cookie with raisins.
Seared Scallops with Champagne Vanilla Sauce (Emeril Lagasse)
Homemade ANYTHING! I love vanilla! I love it in cookies, cupcakes, icings, cakes, pancakes, anything! I go through SO much of it! I’ve always wanted to make my own, but never really knew how, and didn’t know where to buy reasonably priced and good quality beans.
I’d LOVE to win this package. 🙂
I love to add vanilla to my homemade raw milk yogurt
Homemade Vainilla Ice Cream or Marshmellow Fondant 🙂
Love to make peach jam & add vanilla at finish for vanilla peach jam.
I, too, love vanilla in my french toast!
I love my sugar cookies with both crushed vanilla bean and vanilla extract, it creates layers of flavor. One of my new favorite things with vanilla is my Peach vanilla jam also with both crush bean and extract. Heavenly!