Comments on: Organic Vanilla Bean Pudding

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:05:00 +0000

I buy mine at my local co-op by the bean they cost ~1.55 each

By: Lia Huber

Lia Huber — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 21:19:52 +0000

Good for you, Anita!

By: Anita Strauss

Anita Strauss — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:04:00 +0000

I really like that you make a point to eat GMO-free. I have two little ones and I am trying so hard to keep genetically altered food out of their diets. I had no idea they sold GMO-free cornstarch though! I have to get some of that!

By: Alison Ashton

Alison Ashton — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:36:05 +0000

So glad you liked it, Mandy! Thanks for lettin’ us know!

By: Mandy

Mandy — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:21:34 +0000

I just made this this evening, and it’s delicious! I dug two vanilla beans out from the back of the cupboard that were pretty old and hard, but used the scrapings from them anyway & it was super vanilla-beany and delicious! Also used skim milk and it worked well.

Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I’m sure I’ll use it very often!

By: Alison Ashton

Alison Ashton — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:27:17 +0000

Glad I could help. Between you ‘n’ me, if I had a yen for vanilla pudding and some decent vanilla extract in the cupboard, I’d go for it. Not as fancy-schmancy as vanilla bean, but yummy nonetheless.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:24:33 +0000

Thank you very much for the suggestions Alison! I will try a couple out and see how it goes!

By: Alison Ashton

Alison Ashton — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:53:19 +0000

Hi, Andrea!

Vanilla beans are a premium ingredient, to be sure, and hard to find as a bargain. But here’s an online outlet that sells the beans individually: http://www.beanilla.com/indonesian-vanilla-bean-organic-p-114.html. (If there’s a spice store in your area, you might also try there to purchase beans individually.) This same site also offers a concentrated vanilla bean paste: http://www.beanilla.com/bourbonmadagascar-vanilla-paste-3fold-p-131.html. A little goes a long way, so the jar would last quite awhile.

You also can get a bit more mileage out of your investment by using the seeds in the recipe, but reserving the pod to flavor sugar or beverages. Or you could use just half a bean, which will give the pudding more subtle vanilla flavor but still be delicious.

And when all else fails, substitute a high-quality vanilla extract (no imitation stuff!). Start by stirring in 1 tablespoon at the end of cooking; taste, and stir in more if you want more intense vanilla flavor.

Hope this helps!

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:34:02 +0000

This looks delicious! Do you know of any stores that you can buy vanilla beans that don’t cost one million dollars? Everywhere I look they are super expensive, which I suppose is expected. But is there anywhere that I can find them at a reasonable price?