How to Make Homemade Vanilla Powder (Using Leftover Vanilla Beans)

There’s something about pulling those vanilla beans out of a jar of homemade extract that makes me hesitate for a second.

They’ve been sitting there for months, doing their job well.  But when it’s time to strain them out, I just can’t bring myself to throw them away.

It feels like there’s still something left to use.

If you’ve ever worked with vanilla beans, you know they aren’t exactly cheap. And on the homestead, we tend to look at things a little differently—we stretch what we can, we reuse what makes sense, and we try not to waste something that still has value.

That’s where vanilla powder comes in.

Making your own vanilla powder from used beans is a simple and practical way to get more from your ingredients. It doesn’t take much extra effort, but it gives you another way to bring that warm vanilla flavour into your cooking and baking—without buying anything extra.

If you already make your own vanilla extract, this is an easy next step. And if you don’t, you can still do this with beans you have on hand.

Either way, it’s a simple way to make the most of something you already have—and that’s always worth it.

What Is Vanilla Powder?

Vanilla powder is just vanilla beans that have been dehydrated and ground up into a fine powder.   They still have that warm, aromatic vanilla flavour; it’s just less intense.  

Vanilla extract is made by soaking the vanilla beans in a base (often alcohol) in order to give the base the vanilla flavour.  The extract needs to sit for a few weeks, but at the end of the process the vanilla pods still have flavour to give.

Vanilla powder is just another way to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck when it comes to your ingredients.

Why You Should Save Your Vanilla Beans

These days vanilla doesn’t seem like a luxury item, but I assure you they are.  Those little pods are very expensive.

In order to make sure that we are getting the most from our ingredients, vanilla powder offers us a chance to use the pods again to give us a different ingredient for our pantry.

When Are Vanilla Beans Ready to Use for Powder?

There is no magic timeline for this.  You will need to use your best judgment, friend.  The vanilla beans are ready to use for the powder once they have sat in the extract long enough.  For me, I generally find that my vanilla extract is ready after 4-6 weeks.

You will know they have sat in the extract long enough by using your extract.  You can take a small spoonful and taste it straight up out of the jar (but I do not recommend this).  Alternatively, just use your extract in a recipe where its flavour will be obvious.  A warm drink, vanilla pudding, something where you can really taste the vanilla flavour.

You may doubt that there is anything left for the beans to give after sitting in the extract for 4-6 weeks, but I assure you, they still have flavour left to give.

How to Dry Vanilla Beans

The best way to dry the vanilla beans for vanilla powder is to use a dehydrator.  You could try to air dry them, but I would be worried about mould.  You could try the oven, but you might cook all the flavour out of them.

You are going to want to take the vanilla beans out of the extract and gently pat them dry.  Because they were split open to make the extract, it will be very easy to knock the little seeds out of them.  Those seeds are part of the flavour.  You don’t want to lose them.

Once you have gently patted the beans dry, lay them out in a single layer on dehydrator trays.  The more crowded they are, the longer they will take to dry.

Turn the dehydrator on to the lowest setting.  Check them after a couple of hours to see where they are at.  The dry time on the vanilla beans will vary because not all of the beans are going to be the same size.

What you are looking for is vanilla beans that are thoroughly dry, brittle but not crispy. 

How to Make Vanilla Powder

Once your vanilla beans are completely dry, you are going to get ready to grind them up into a powder.  

You can grind the beans just about any way you want.  A coffee grinder works really well, because chances are you don’t have a lot of beans that you are planning on grinding up.  

If you do use a coffee grinder, you want it to be one where the whole lid comes off, and it has a blade inside.  You DO NOT want to use the type where your coffee beans go in the top, and the ground coffee comes out the bottom.

If you don’t have a coffee grinder, feel free to use a blender.  The food processor attachment for a stick blender.  You could even go full rustic homesteader and grind those beans with a mortar and pestle. 

Before you grind the vanilla beans, cut them into smaller pieces.  Smaller pieces will just be easier to grind.

Once you are done grinding, let the powder settle for a few minutes before you open the container.  It will be potent, and you don’t want to lose any of that delicious vanilla powder.

How to Store Vanilla Powder

You are going to store your vanilla powder in an amber glass jar with an airtight lid.  Light will absolutely affect the quality of the vanilla powder.  The more light that can get in the jar, the faster it will lose its flavour.

Next, you are going to keep it in a cool, dry place, ideally out of direct sunlight.

The vanilla powder should easily keep for several months if stored properly.  You might notice some clumping, but just use a spoon to break it up.

How to Use Vanilla Powder

Vanilla powder is one of those simple ingredients that can be used in more ways than you might expect. If you are wondering how to use vanilla powder in everyday cooking, it works especially well in recipes where you want a warm, distinct vanilla flavour without adding extra liquid.

It gives a distinct but not overpowering vanilla flavour, which makes it especially nice in simple recipes like oatmeal, milk, or homemade desserts

Some of my favourite ways to use the vanilla powder are:

• In warm drinks
  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Hot chocolate 
  • Warm milk before bed
• In cold drinks.
  • Smoothies
  • Iced coffees
  • Milkshakes
• In cold & creamy recipes
  • Ice cream
  • Pudding
  • Yoghurt
  • Whipped cream
• In everyday recipes
  • Oatmeal
  • Chia pudding
  • Overnight oats
  • Pancake & waffle batter

Tips from My Kitchen

This is a project that I truly believe anyone can do that will give you an upgraded version of an ingredient in your kitchen.  There are a few things that you need to remember.

Do not rush the drying process.  We are all busy, but I promise you, keeping the dehydrator on the lowest setting is the best way to go.  Heat can destroy vanilla’s delicate flavour.  If you need to leave the house, or go to bed, simply turn off the dehydrator and turn it back on later.

When you are grinding the vanilla beans, make sure you are not going to have flavour transfer from your grinder.  This often means that you want a grinder that is stainless steel.  Plastics can hold flavour, and the last thing you want is your vanilla powder to have the flavour of whatever you last ground in your machine.

Lastly, if you can’t get the vanilla powder ground up super fine, that’s ok!  Your powder is still good.  You can still use it in recipes where the texture might be hidden, or the beans need to be strained out.  Do not let perfection stop you from trying this recipe.  Use what you have, give it a try, make notes for what you’ll do differently next time.  That is how we learn.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I use fresh beans instead?
  • You could use fresh beans instead, but you will still need to dehydrate them before you can grind them into a powder.
    
• Do I need to rinse off the alcohol?
  • No, I personally do not rinse off the vanilla beans before dehydrating them.
    
• Why is my powder clumping?
  • The vanilla powder will naturally start to clump due to residual moisture in the beans.  Just break the clumps up with a spoon and make sure that you are storing the powder in a cool, dry place.
    
• Is it as strong as extract?
  • No, vanilla powder is not as strong as vanilla extract.  Especially not if you are using beans from making extract.  But it still has enough flavour to make it a useful ingredient for when you want the vanilla flavour without adding extra liquid.
    

Homemade vanilla powder is a small form of home economy that just makes sense.  It encourages us to make the most out of our ingredients and make sure that we are reducing waste in our homes. We all work too hard to throw away ingredients.

If this recipe speaks to you but maybe you don’t have homemade vanilla extract, here is a link to a post I did on making vanilla extract.

Maybe vanilla beans aren’t currently in your budget, but you would like to try vanilla powder one day.  Go ahead and pin this post on Pinterest and wait until you find a good deal on vanilla beans.  Up in Canada, Costco is my go-to for vanilla beans.

Either way, I do hope that you will try to make homemade vanilla powder.  I think you will find it to be a surprising ingredient that you reach for more than you thought you would.