Vanilla Simple Syrup – Get More Out of Those Beans

Do you make your own vanilla extract? I do, too.  Have some brewing right now.  (This is how I made it.)

Making vanilla extract is easy, cost effective, and I know for sure what's in it.  Even though I let the vanilla steep for weeks, even months, the used bean pods are still so fragrant when I remove them from the extract.  I hate to even throw those "scraps" away!

So I don't.  I put them to work for me again.

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of putting spent vanilla bean pods in sugar.  Sounds like a good idea, though I've never tried it.  I thought about it, but then decided to take a different route.  Instead, I made vanilla syrup.

It was so simple.  As in, simple syrup.  Gather equal parts of water and sugar.  (I used a cup of each.) Mix them together in a pot on the stove.  Throw in your spent vanilla bean pods.  Bring it all to a boil, and let it roll until the sugar is dissolved.  It won't take long.  Remove from heat, and let it all steep for a while.  I basically just let mine cool completely.  Maybe an hour.

Remove bean pods from your newly made vanilla syrup.  (I guess you can dispose of them now, unless you have a way to use them further.) Store syrup in a jar in the fridge.  Not sure how long it will last; been using mine for weeks.

My favorite way to use the vanilla syrup is over fruit.  Oh, is it good.  Makes humble fruit taste delectable.  I usually spoon it over sliced strawberries.  (And maybe, if I have it, add a dollop or two of whipped cream.) Just the other day, I poured lightly drizzled some sweet vanilla syrup over a bowl full of blueberries and diced apple. Mmmm…I could drool right now.

I have also used it in place of vanilla extract.  I'm sort of "in between" brews right now.  My new batch could be used, but it would be better if I waited.  The vanilla syrup worked great.  Certainly not as strong as the real stuff, but was just fine in a pinch.

Let me share this with you, too.  This is an image of the underside of the lid I use to cap the jar of vanilla syrup.  I usually give the jar a shake before drizzling or taking a teaspoon.  Can you see all the vanilla? I was really surprised at how much still came out after those beans had been steeping for months,  making extract.  So glad I didn't waste it!

Do you extend the life of your "spent" vanilla beans? How so? I'd love to hear your ideas and experiences.

Shared at Freedom Fridays, Simple & Sweet Fridays, Happiness is Homemade, Tuesdays with a Twist, Coffee and Conversation, Monday of Many Blessings, and Tasty Tuesdays.

From my mountaintop to yours!

5 Ways to Use Ready to Eat (Now!) Bananas

Ever find yourself with more bananas than you can eat before they start to brown? Ever wanted to take advantage of a good sale on bananas, but weren't sure how you'd use them all? Here are 5+ ideas for those ready-to-eat (now!) bananas.

1. Banana Bread

The recipe I used combined all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I didn't think it was sweet enough (for me) at first, but the more I munched the more I liked what I was munching.  It was a good platform for blueberry-lemon-honey fruit spread, too.  Here's the super easy recipe:

• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, at room temp.
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 cup whole wheat flour*
  
• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
  
• 1 tsp vanilla (how I make it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 9x5x3" bread pan.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (I used a KitchenAid Classic stand mixer).  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and whole wheat flour to cream mixture, mixing a bit after each addition.  Mix well.  Fold in bananas and vanilla.  Pour mixture into pan, bake 50 to 60 min. or until cake tester comes out clean - cool in pan 10 minutes, on rack.  Makes one loaf.

*I mill my wheat flour using a WonderMill.  In this recipe I used what I had on hand, which was flour from organic hard white wheat berries.

 

2.  Banana Jam

I had never heard of banana jam before reading this post at Confessions of an Overworked Mom.  It sounded delicious, and it's something that may be preserved with water bath canning.  I gave it a go and was not disappointed.  It's swe-eet, though.  I might lower the sugar amount next time, cuz there will be a next time.  Here's the recipe (adapted from Ellen's, linked above):

• 2 cups mashed bananas (about 4-5)
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a pan (I used a 12-inch nonstick skillet) and simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until bananas are broken down to your liking. I like some texture, but still want it to spread easily.  Know what I mean?

Now let the jam roll at a full boil 5-6 minutes.  Everything will reduce and thicken.  Ladle jam into jar or jars.  I got a bit over 12 oz.

3.  Chocolate, Peanut Butter, & Banana Smoothie

I've been making this off and on for more than a year.  It's got enough good for you stuff to be a nice breakfast or snack.  Yet it's got enough chocolate flavor that I had it for dessert just last night!

Click here for the Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie recipe!

4.  Blueberry Banana Cake Donuts

These came about when I planned to make some blueberry donuts and at the last minute decided to throw in an overripe banana.  Good stuff happened there – moist, tender, blueberry freshness, with a hint of banana.

Click here for the Blueberry Banana Cake Donuts recipe!

5.  Strawberry Banana Soup

Ok.  I know "soup" is a poor choice for this often made traditional dessert.  You could think of it as a sauce.  If you want to make an angel food cake a little more special, add this strawberry banana mixture.  It wouldn't hurt to top your ice cream with it, either.

All you do is slice up a bunch of strawberries and bananas.  Toss them in a bowl with some sugar and fruit juice.  Just enough of each to bring out the natural juice of the strawberries.  It really is yummy all by itself.

There you have it! 5 ways to use some ready-to-eat (now!) bananas…But I did type 5 plus in the opening paragraph, didn't I? Well, don't forget banana pudding.  The best way is to go all out and make the custard from scratch, of course, but I was short on time the first night we procured the bananas.  So semi-homemade it was.

Get some banana (or vanilla) pudding mix and whip it up.  Get a bowl and layer the following:  vanilla wafers, pudding, and sliced bananas.  Then repeat until the bowl is full or your ingredients are gone.  You have a pretty nice trifle style dessert.

And last, but by no means least, I really enjoy sliced bananas in my breakfast cereal.  Sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many times I forget to take this simple step to enrich my morning when I'm in a hurry.

Now the next time you see those marked down several pounds bag of bananas in the produce department, have no fear.  You have at least 5 (or 7) ways to use them!

Shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Simple & Sweet Fridays, Freedom Fridays, The Homemaking Party, Tuesdays Rubies, Happiness is Homemade, and Tuesdays with a Twist.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click a link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! Thanks for reading, following, and supporting Stephlin's Mountain.

From my mountaintop to yours!

Tonight's dinner is corn and poblano lasagna. Zucchini is a required ingredient, so before B got in the kitchen to tackle the prep for our evening meal, I snuck in and used what he didn't need to make some bread!

Before I share the recipe for this yumminess, may I ask you a question? Is the term "batter bread" redundant in the instance of the title of this post?

Maybe it's because I bake for a living, or maybe it's because I'm weird (I'll cop to either), but I always differentiate between a batter bread -- or quick bread, if you prefer -- and a traditional dough bread (with yeast).

B comes in the kitchen to ask what I'm making. My reply is, "Zucchini batter bread." He proceeds to tell me saying batter bread is unnecessary. Everyone knows zucchini bread is made with a batter. "Like banana nut bread," he says. I'm quite sure I responded with a you-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about look. But I simply stated, "Well, OK. But don't expect me to change how I say it based on this conversation." -- Thoughts?

The base recipe I used comes from Paula Deen. I did add one ingredient. (I just adore vanilla!) And since I make my own extract, I have the pure stuff right at my fingertips. It smells divine, and I love to see the brown vanilla bean flecks in the mixture.

Doesn't that look delicious? The loaf isn't overly sweet, in my opinion. A slice of this zucchini (batter!) bread would make a nice breakfast, snack, or dessert.  Just don't forget: everything's better with a pat of butter!

Vanilla Spiced Zucchini Batter Bread

Based on Paula Deen's recipe here, scaled down to make a single loaf.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 + 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (or, 1 5/8 cups)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (make your own!)
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, combine vanilla, vegetable oil, eggs, water, zucchini, and lemon juice.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry. Fold in pecans. Pour batter into a greased standard loaf pan (I used an 8" x 3" pan).
5. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, using the toothpick test to check for doneness. (Mine was done in 54 minutes.)

Yield: 1 standard loaf

Shared at All Things Thursday, Fabulously Frugal Thursday, The HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Thriving Thursday, and some of these fine hops.

Make Your Own Cake Mix in a Box

Mine ended up being cake mix in a freezer bag, but I digress.

All I wanted to do was make a Dump Cake. In my ever constant (never ending?) attempt to eat more real food and less chemicals, I was a bit frustrated with the "dump a box of cake mix over the top" step in the recipe. Of course, that's not the only recipe like that. There are plenty that include "1 box yellow cake mix" as a single ingredient.

So off to Google I go. While I eventually found the recipe that follows on several blogs, I will credit the first place I saw it -- Brown Eyed Baker. Thankfully, I can now add boxed cake mix to my no-need-to-buy list!

Per the instructions, I used my trusty food processor to easily whip the mix together.

Mixed dry ingredients.

Cubed butter tossed in flour mixture, and pure vanilla extract added.

DONE!

Here's the recipe. I'll be back later tomorrow with that Dump Cake!

Make Your Own Cake Mix

First seen on Brown Eyed Baker.

For a cake recipe using this mix, visit Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 in. cubes, chilled
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Add all dry ingredients to bowl of food processor. Mix for about 15 seconds.
2. Add butter cubes and slightly toss in flour mixture, making sure all are coated. Add vanilla.
3. Process with 10-15 one-second pulses, until mixture is fine and crumbly -- like boxed cake mix!
4. Store in freezer bag or container in freezer for up to 2 months. No need to "thaw". Simply use straight from freezer in any recipe calling for cake mix.

Yield: 5+ cups

Shared at Life Lately Link Up, Homemaking Party, Wake Up Wednesday, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Lovely Ladies Linky, Mountain Woman Rendezvous, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, and some of these fine hops.

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click the link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! :-) Thanks for reading and following Stephlin's Mountain.

Make Your Own Pure Vanilla Extract Without the Alcohol

I'm almost embarrassed to put this out there, though I'm sure I'm not alone: I've only used pure vanilla extract a handful of times in my life. It's rarely been in my pantry simply due to the high cost. There. I said it.

Since I'm slowly (very slowly it seems, at times) trying to transform my eating habits for the better as well as become more of a make-my-own and do-it-myself kinda girl, I looked into the process of making pure vanilla extract.

Let me back up a bit. Have you ever looked at the ingredients label of a bottle of "pure" vanilla extract in the grocery store? You might be surprised to find water and corn syrup in addition to the expected extracted vanilla and alcohol. Not exactly my idea of pure.

Anyway, back to my story. I quickly was able to note that simply mixing vanilla beans and alcohol (often vodka) would generate pure vanilla extract. But I'm a bit meticulous. Sometimes I over analyze and maybe even over research. I read every comment on every article I read on homemade vanilla extract. All it took was one (literally) person to comment stating they could taste the alcohol to make me think twice.  I'm not a drinker and honestly don't like the taste of most alcoholic beverages.

So I looked for an alternative. And, thankfully, I found it in vegetable glycerin.  After that, making the vanilla was a breeze.  I promise, waiting was the hardest part.

Finally, the "Recipe"

I ordered 10 Madagascar vanilla beans from OliveNation and a 16 oz. bottle of vegetable glycerin from iHerb. Since this was my first time, I used those online retailers simply because they were highly recommended. I was not disappointed and now am paying it forward with my own recommendations for them. (It also helps that first-time buyers at iHerb get a $5.00 discount!)

I cut open the vanilla beans, but did not scrape out the yummy goodness. Then I put them in a quart mason jar with the full bottle of vegetable glycerin. I put it in the back of my pantry and took it out only to give it a shake every few days. That was six weeks ago today. The vanilla extract is definitely ready. I know this because I used it earlier in the week. :-)

Some say to strain it and pour the extract into another, dark colored bottle. I have yet to bother with that. I'm not planning to give it away, nor do I have a problem with vanilla bean bits being in whatever I'm using the extract for.

I've also read that those beans could go at least another round, but haven't dealt with that as of yet.

Cost Breakdown

If you find true pure vanilla extract in a store, you are likely to pay between $1.00 and $2.00 per ounce (at minimum). I now have 16+ ounces for an ingredient cost of about $10. That does include the discount of $5.00 at iHerb since I was a first time buyer. If those beans can go another round, you can conceivably get 32+ ounces for just over $22. And that's paying full price for 10 beans and 2 bottles of vegetable glycerin!

No unnecessary additives and costs less than what you buy in the store. Another win for the make-it-yourself team!

Have you tried making your own pure vanilla extract? Were you happy with the results?

Shared at the Homestead Barn Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop, and Tuesdays with a Twist.

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click the link and buy something. The price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through another link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! :-) Thanks for reading and following Stephlin's Mountain.