Make 11 oz of Homemade Vanilla Paste for $4.02!!

      Baking with vanilla adds a whole other dimension to making desserts. It makes them so much more decadent and enhances all the flavors. You can add it to almost anything from cakes, brownies, cookies, ice cream, tiramisu etc...  I LOVE it in my homemade vanilla ice cream,.
    And when it comes to vanilla, there are so many options: vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, beans and of course vanilla paste. 
      

          But what is vanilla paste? It's a very sweet, fragrant, and potent dark and thick syrupy consistency. Because of the vanilla bean concentration, this is definitely potent so 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp goes a long way.

           Buying vanilla paste can be pretty expensive because of the high bean concentration. On Amazon, one of the cheapest options is $10.86 for a 4 oz jar (with shipping).

          But making your own home made vanilla paste is really super easy and doesn't cost much for natural wholesome ingredients (less than $5 for 8 oz!).  And the best part??  You only need 3 ingredients!!!

           Yes, just 3: Water, sugar and vanilla beans.

           But the key to the lower cost of this paste is in the vanilla beans. Do NOT buy them at the grocery store!!!! They overcharge for just a few beans and you can end up paying $12 to 15 for just 2 or 3 of them!

           The secret is to buy online from a reputed seller (see link below).  Since I love to bake, I purchase my vanilla beans in bulk. I buy 30 Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans from a US seller for $16.87, including shipping.  That ends up costing me 56 cents for 1 Vanilla bean. A bargain, especially considering grocery store prices!

          Of course, if you don't need that many, you can also buy less, like 10 vanilla beans for $8.32 including shipping (83 cents a piece).
             
I have bought from them many times and they strive for quality, good customer service, are affordable and are in the USA. I highly recommend you check them out.

           For this vanilla paste, recipe, you will only need 6 beans and so at 56 cents each x 6 = $ 3.36

TIP:   When you scrape your vanilla pods when making ice cream or other baking, do NOT discard the beans as you can use the leftover for this paste recipe or even put them into your sugar to make vanilla sugar! :)   So yummy

            For the sugar, I always have this brand in my pantry: Sugar Florida Crystals: Organic Cane Sugar (3lb).  I buy it at Walmart for $ 3.98, which is a great deal for the quantity and quality. It is of amazing quality, is natural and goes well with baking but also hot drinks, ice cream making etc...  I HIGHLY recommend it and you can even find it in the organic section of your local grocery store but it is slighly more expensive than Walmart (about $5.99).

For this recipe, you only need 1 cup or 8 oz, which ends up costing you 66 cents (3.98/6 cups or 48 oz).

That's how this recipe ends up costing 66 cents (sugar) + 3.36 (vanilla) = $4.02
A great deal for a super simple recipe.

Here is the recipe:

    -  1 cup Organic cane sugar (described above)
    -  1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Water
    -   6 vanilla beans (chopped up)



  Combine the water + sugar into a pot. Cook on low heat and stir consistently.
        Do not leave unattended as sugar WILL burn. But this is what it will look like.

After 6-7 minutes, the color will be more of a dark amber

Chop the 6 beans into smaller pieces and grind everything up.  (I use my KRUPS coffee grinder) 

  

     For the container, I'm all about re-cycling so I am re-using my 8oz Trader Joe's Fig butter jar (delicious by the way).



                   

                   
  

       The end result will be thick and honey like. (Be careful it is scorching HOT!). Let cool until warm before pouring into jar.

Mix the grinded vanilla powder and syrup and Ta-DA!!!!!!   Result? Thick, dark (almost black), super vanilla-y fragrant and delicious!!

I really hope you enjoyed the recipe and I sincerely hope you give it a try!!

Zei

P.S:  If you end up with a light brown almost beige color like so <<<<<<<<    You probably overcooked the sugar but no worries! Just add 1 tbsp of water and reheat the glass jar in the microwave (without the lid!) for 2 minutes. While very hot (handle with care), mix everything well and let cool completely before storing.