Vanilla Sugar

Here is just one of many recipes in which you use Vanilla Sugar.

Vanilla Kipferln - Vanilla Crescents - Viennese Crescents

l cup blanched and finely ground almonds

l stick unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups flour

Vanilla sugar for flavoring

Cream butter with sugar until nice and fluffy. Add the ground almonds, then slowly mix in the flour. Knead the dough until everything is well combined and smooth. If the dough is too soft, you may need a little more flour.

Take walnut sized pieces of dough, roll them between the palms of your hands and form into small rolls. Bend rolls into crescent shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet. If the dough crumbles, add a small amount of raw egg yolk.

Bake in cool, 325 degree oven and watch carefully. The cookies are not suppose to brown and are done when firm to the touch, but still almost white.

Dip each crescent into vanilla sugar while still hot. You can make your own vanilla sugar by putting either granulated or confectioner's sugar into an airtight jar and adding a vanilla bean which has been broken into small pieces. You can also buy vanilla sugar from Penzey's or find it in specialty shops made by Dr. Oetker's.

Don't tell anybody, but if you are out of vanilla sugar, just add a drop of fine vanilla extract to the dough while you are mixing it and then dip the hot cookies into plain sugar. I have done it and nobody noticed the difference. Just make sure it is just a drop or so, 1/4 of a teaspoon if the extract is strong and fresh. Since it makes me feel guilty when I do it, I still use vanilla sugar whenever possible.

Use it anywhere you'd use sugar and vanilla in a recipe for an extra flavor boost...sugar cookies, for instance. My daughter likes it for cinnamon-sugar toast. My husband likes it in coffee, and so did I before I had to switch to Splenda! Use it in cakes, pastries, custards, ice cream, etc.

kimberly

Halve some peaches, apricots and plums and remove the stones. Put 'em on a baking tray and sprinkle them liberally with vanilla sugar. Put in 400F oven for a few minutes until done and enjoy with cream or custard. Graham

Vanilla sugar sounds good I have never seen it in stores or heard of it

You can make your own by putting vanilla pods into a container that has sugar in it.

Better still, use the Jamie Oliver method. Put 3 or 4 nice moist beans with a couple of pounds of sugar in the food processor. Blitz. Sieve. Put back the bean fragments with some of the sugar and blitz again. Repeat several times. Store in a jar with a good seal. Looks grotty but the taste........:-) Graham