Vanilla Bean Sugar

My students know that if it's before 10am and I do not have a mug in my hand, it is not in their best interest to talk to me. Drinking that much coffee, my coworker and I fly through flavored creamer like you would not believe. 

I have been trying to use plain old milk in my coffee, but something was missing - flavor. What so happened to be in the mail today? The vanilla beans that I ordered last week - score. As I perused the internet looking at all kinds of recipes to use my newly acquired beans, I was missing an ingredient or two for every single one I found. Flour? Don't have enough. Eggs? Nope, none. Then I happened across a recipe for vanilla sugar. Then it hit me like a mac truck - instead of the flavor coming from creamer, it could come from the sugar that I use. Sweet! 


Scraping a vanilla bean is relatively easy once you cut through the outer covering of the bean. For more intense vanilla flavor, I put the scraped vanilla bean in the bottom of the airtight container where I keep my new vanilla sugar.  
Directions
If vanilla bean is whole, slice down side of bean with back of knife and scrape seeds into airtight container with the sugar. Bury bean in sugar and seal tightly with lid. Let sit for 1 to 2 weeks. Use as regular, granulated sugar. 


Source: Alton Brown, Food Network

Ingredients
1 vanilla bean, whole or scraped
1 cup granulated sugar