86 vanilla bean recipes

Homemade Tia Maria coffee liqueur made with brandy, strong coffee, sugar, and a whole vanilla bean. Just four ingredients and 30 days of patience for a rich, smooth sip.

Excellent recipe to serve in place of a rich desert and lower in sugar for people who have to watch their sugar and calorie intake

Warm and soft pears poached in wine with vanilla and blue cheese.

Dried prunes, apricots, and pears slow-cooked with vanilla bean, lemon zest, and a touch of sugar until thick and jammy. Make it on the stovetop or set-and-forget in a crockpot.

Grilled Banana-Pineapple Kabobs basted in a vanilla bean and brown sugar glaze. A simple, low-calorie vegetarian grilling recipe that caramelizes tropical fruit in just 10 minutes on the grill.

Elegant French pastry with puff pastry, vanilla pastry cream, and glazed apricot halves resembling sunny-side eggs. A playful Michel Richard classic.

A homemade vanilla pecan liqueur: brandy slowly infused with pecans, vanilla beans, and cinnamon, then sweetened with sugar syrup. A smooth, nutty after-dinner sipper worth the weeks-long wait.

French chocolate caramels made with real vanilla bean, melted chocolate, and butter cooked to the ball stage. Old-world confection technique with rich, chewy results.

Orange and coffee bean cordial: a whole orange studded with coffee beans, sugar cubes, and vanilla, steeped in cognac for two months. Classic French-style homemade digestif, no special equipment needed.

Homemade hazelnut liqueur infused with vodka, vanilla bean, and allspice. A DIY Frangelico-style spirit that steeps for five weeks and makes a great homemade gift.

A sweet and delectable homemade liqueur made with vodka.

Vanilla buttermilk panna cotta with fresh strawberry jam on top. A make-ahead individual dessert that sets in small glasses and feeds six for dinner parties or date nights.

Stovetop popcorn popped with a real vanilla bean right in the hot oil, then tossed with melted butter, sugar, and scraped vanilla seeds. Sweet, fragrant, and wildly addictive.

Maple creme brulee sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of granulated sugar. Rich, silky custard made with 10 egg yolks and a whole vanilla bean, baked in a water bath until set.

Peaches in red wine Tuscan style with blanched peaches soaked in a hot vanilla-sugar wine syrup with roasted almonds and fresh mint. An elegant Italian summer dessert.

Honey almond parfait is a frozen mousse-style dessert with whipped cream, honey-sweetened sabayon, and toasted sliced almonds. A French-inspired semifreddo that skips the ice cream machine.