Time to make Vanilla for the Holidays! {Beanilla Giveaway}
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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.
Hi there, I'm Cheryl!
As a wife, mom, and caffeine enthusiast, my journey has taken me from bustling mornings with my family to sharing delicious recipes, home care tips, and heartfelt decorating insights with wonderful readers like you. My love for baking, photography, and tidiness shines through every post I craft. Dive into my world and discover the art of homemaking, one tidy moment at a time. Read more...
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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.
Vanilla ice cream or corn bread cake!!!
Favorite recipe? Just one?
*homemade sugar cookies
*homemade french toast
*homemade vanilla ice cream
Mmmmmm…. vanilla.
We’ve been using Beanilla’s vanilla salt on tons of stuff… But my favorite is corn on the cob grilled with coconut oil and vanilla salt!
I love creme brûlée!
I’m a purist. Plain GOOD Vanilla Ice Cream!
Cookies. It always comes back to cookies with me. 🙂
Homemade hot chocolate with homemade vanilla
Vanilla is my favorite flavor so it is so hard to pick but I think it would be vanilla bean ice cream
This would be amazing! I have been wanting to make my own extract. We put vanilla in EVERYTHING! Our family goes through a Costco size about once a month. No joke!
Shannon
Homemade vanilla pudding!
My grandson is addicted to my vanilla milk. He doesn’t like any but mine (don’t I love that) lol. Never tried homemade but fully intend to make some for Christmas gifts this year.
my favorite recipe using vanilla is Buttercream frosting
Triple Vanilla Cupcakes
One of my favorite vanilla recipes is a gooey vanilla bread pudding with real vanilla beans and extract! Yum to the nth degree!
The best thing I make using vanilla is french toast stuffed with vanilla cream cheese and chopped almonds. Soooo good!
I use it in everything! One of my favorites would have to be the energy boys I make for my boys 🙂
ONE favorite recipe?! Weeeellll, other than vanilla bean ice cream, and cookies, and cake and buttercream frosting and and and…
I love to put it in my coffee before it brews, so the whole pot is flavored naturally with a bit of vanilla it smells so delicious!
There are so many!! I’ll go with pumpkin pie.
My Rice Pudding:
Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding
Ingredients:
2/3 cup short grain rice (I used Arborio)
2 1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 vanilla beans, split in half lengthwise (I use Madagascar or Ugandan)
Instructions:
1-In a medium sauce pan, add milk and cream. Using the blunt side of a knife, scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the milk and cream. Mix and add the remaining vanilla pods into the mixture.
2-Turn the stove to medium heat.When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce to simmer and add the rice (rinse rice for about a minute until almost clear before adding to milk mixture).
3-Stir often to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan for about 20 minutes. Add sugar. Cook until the rice becomes thick and creamy (approximately 30-45 minutes). Serve warm or cold and topped with fresh berries. Makes 4-6 servings.
Thanks to my hubby I would have to say french toast with vanilla bourbon and caramalized bananas. Yummy!
Primal Egg Coffee with a splash of vanilla!!!!
I enjoy preparing vanilla ice cream … and looking at smiling young faces eating it…
Have a beautiful day
My favorite would be vanilla in baked french toast.
My fave recipe that calls for a bit of vanilla is classic creme brulee!
Vanilla sugar cookies!
I love using vanilla in lots of my cooking! But my favorite would have to be pound cake!
Cherry Cream Cheese Pie
Ingredients
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 or 9-inch) prepared graham cracker or baked pie crust
1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling, chilled
Instructions
BEAT cream cheese until fluffy in large bowl. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
POUR into crust; chill 4 hours or until set. Top with desired amount of cherry pie filling before serving.
Favorite recipe with vanilla? Too many to choose from … right now, I’m on a caramel buttercream kick.
I have a very large garden and do an ample amount of canning and food preservation. I love the idea of being self-sustainable and try to make little steps regularly to attain some sense of that within my home. I found this recipe and LOVE it!
Rhubarb, Mint, and Vanilla Jam
Adapted from The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves
Makes 6 8-oz jars
Gather:
2 pounds rhubarb, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups sugar, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup packed mint leaves
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Prepare:
Toss the rhubarb with 2 1/2 cups of the sugar, reserving the remaining 1/2 cup for later, in a medium bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let macerate at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
Make the mint simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with mint leaves and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and boil for 1 minute, or until the sugar is dissolved completely. Remove simple syrup from heat, stir, and let stand for 30 minutes to infuse the simple syrup with mint. Discard mint leaves and set aside.
Transfer the rhubarb/sugar mixture to a medium saucepan, and add mint simple syrup and vanilla extract to saucepan. Cook for 12 minutes, or until the jam begins to thicken. Remove from heat, and transfer to a food processor bowl. Process in pulses until the jam meets your preferred consistency. Let jam sit 5 minutes before ladling into hot canning jars. Process for 15 minutes (don’t forget to adjust for altitude).
I’m in love with anything salted caramel right now and you have to have a great vanilla for that caramel!
I’m a sucker for a basic oatmeal cookie, always with a little extra vanilla and loaded with goodies like raisins, cranberries, pecans and white chocolate chips.
One of my favorite recipes that uses vanilla is Crème brûlée.
I love making homemade vanilla icing to cover my homemade chocolate cake.
I have to make chocolate chip meringues every year for Christmas – we call them snowballs. It’s a tradition picked up from my MIL and it’s one that my kids and husband love. It’s the only time of the year I make them. They require vanilla 😉
Homemade vanilla bean icecream! Yum! Good luck to all! 🙂
I love to make Banana Muffins with lots of vanilla in them. I would love to be able to experiment with different vanilla extracts!
My favorite would be vanilla scones. Yum!
It would have to be vanilla sugar that is then added to my hot chocolate mix.
I make “super shakes” for my husband every morning. I made my own vanilla using Beanilla Ugandan Beans on December 12, 2012 and let me tell you the flavor now, this many months later, is out-of-this-world. To make, you’ll need an immersion blender. 1 banana, 2 raw eggs, 1 TBSP peanut butter, 1 TBSP raw cocao powder, 1 TBSP raw hemp powder, 1/4 tsp ugandan vanilla, 1 cup raw milk – blend and drink!
I have a heirloom cake recipe from my grandmother called the “Lazy Daisy Cake” that is my favorote
I always use vanilla in all my holiday baking – I love vanilla. My signature recipe is for whoopie pies.
Homemade vanilla ice cream…that’s when quality vanilla really gets to shine.
Crema Pasticcera ala Fernanda Gosetti (author of Il Docissimo)
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I like to use vanilla in my sugar cookie bars!
Vanilla is one of those ingrediants that you can’t live without. I recently made Strawberry Vanilla Jelly and its amazing!
My favorite recipe using vanilla is for caramel sauce!
I love Vanilla in everything! Vanilla Ice Cream would probably be my favorite right now!
Wow that’s tough! I will say brownies because that’s the first thing that came to my mind.
Ice Cream!
I absolutely LOVE vanilla. Homemade sugar cookies have to have lots of good vanilla in them!