Last year when I threw my sisters baby shower( you can view the awesome-ness here ), I didn’t want to give away a favor that was a cheap-y piece of plastic or something that someone was just going to throw away. I was going to make homemade jam to send home with the guests, but I just didn’t feel like all of that work, so I decided on Vanilla Sugar.
Vanilla Sugar is something I ALWAYS have on hand. I have a continual container of sugar that I just throw my used vanilla beans in, so I always have vanilla sugar to use in my baked goods, coffee, oatmeal…etc.
Vanilla Beans can be SUPER CRAZY expensive if you buy them at the store. I purchase mine in bulk on ebay for a considerably lower price.
I also gave homemade sugar to my kids teachers at the beginning of the year. Homemade gifts are always the best.

I made this batch pretty big because I had to make like 50 Mason pint jars of it, but the ratio of sugar to vanilla bean I used was
2 cups sugar to 1 vanilla bean.

* You can keep vanilla sugar on hand indefinitely. Anytime you use a vanilla bean, just toss it into your sealed sugar container and give it a shake.

*If you are making vanilla sugar for the first time and plan to keep it on hand, allow the vanilla bean to do its magic for about 2 weeks in a sealed container w/ the sugar. Give it a shake every so often.

Get you some beautiful PLUMP and MOIST vanilla Beans

Cut the bean in half

Slice it down the middle…..

But leave one end intact

See the shiny black inside..Those are the vanilla Seeds

With your finger or with the back of a knife, scrape out the seeds

Plop the seeds in your bowl with the sugar.

Heres the fun part, take your fingers and distribute the vanilla seeds into the sugar.

Keep mixing…it takes a bit. And soon you will have vanilla sugar.

To package it all nice and pretty, see below….

Get some pint mason jars, fabric and ribbon.

Put one vanilla bean in the mason jar.

Pour the vanilla sugar into the mason jar.

Pop the lid thing-y on it.

Cut a circle out of fabric, slightly larger than the jar top.

Place the fabric circle on top of the lid.

Screw the ring do-hicky over the fabric.

Finish off with a simple ribbon and a tag if you wish.