Baking

9 Ways to Give Vanilla Bean Scraps A New Life

April 24, 2023 by Sylvia Rose 25 Comments

There are no two ways around it: vanilla bean pods are expensive. Instead of tossing those precious pods in the compost after scraping out that black gold, get everything you possibly can out of them!

Maybe you finished up a pastry project that has left you with vanilla pod fragments. Perhaps you have spent vanilla beans from making homemade vanilla extract. Either way, one of these ideas is bound to inspire you to turn something from what’s often considered nothing.

If your pods are coming from a near-empty jar of extract, then yes, the alcohol has extracted everything good from those fragrant orchid beans. However, they’ve been marinating in their own extract which makes them fair game. Don’t let them go to waste!

WATCH THE VIDEO

If you’re more of a visual learner, here is the accompanying video for this post. I’m more active on YouTube these days than I am on here, so be sure to subscribe to my channel if you consider yourself old-fashioned at heart and would like to follow along.

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Maple Bourbon Pumpkin Pie (so good, you won’t want to share)

November 15, 2021 by Sylvia Rose 14 Comments

This maple bourbon pumpkin pie is naturally sweetened and lightly spiked. It makes for a fun twist on this holiday favourite!

maple bourbon pumpkin pie slice with whipped cream

If you’re a sucker for a good old-fashioned pumpkin pie, then you’re going to love this punched-up version. It’s rich, maple sweet and has just enough spice.

The bourbon takes it to a whole new level; a slight twist of orange livens things up. If the orange sounds weird to you, don’t worry, I was skeptical, too. It works, though, and it helps make this holiday classic top-notch.

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Easy Sauerkraut & Bacon Quiche Recipe

October 18, 2021 by Sylvia Rose 54 Comments

This sauerkraut and bacon quiche recipe will tickle your tastebuds in the best possible way. It’s super easy to make, too!

Quiche is a versatile dish that can be served at practically any meal. Leftover quiche makes a quick and easy breakfast, and no one is going to complain if there’s a fresh quiche at the brunch table. In the winter, eat it warm, just barely out of the oven. In summer, serve it cold to help beat the heat.

If you don’t welcome gluten in your life, turn it into a frittata, eliminating the crust to make it keto-friendly. And the flavour! Oh my gosh, it’s superb. Raw sauerkraut is tamed with smoky bacon, sauteed onions, and a hint of dry white wine.

I think you’re going to love this unique quiche recipe, but try it out and see for yourself…

RELATED: Homemade Raw Sauerkraut Recipe

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Dark Chocolate-Drizzled Almond Biscotti Recipe & Video

September 20, 2021 by Sylvia Rose 8 Comments

These crispy dark chocolate-drizzled almond biscotti are studded with almonds and are seriously addictive. Will you be able to stop at one?

dark chocolate almond biscotti with almonds and dark chocolate

It probably goes without saying, but biscotti are cookies. Italian cookies.

Biscotti also means twice baked, which is the secret behind their crispiness. They are baked not once, but twice.

Biscotti are also lower in sugar than most cookies, and I made this recipe just a tad bit healthier by cutting half of the flour with whole wheat.

But then I threw away its whole wheat virtues and had it mingle with dark chocolate.

I don’t normally drizzle or dip my biscotti in chocolate and I quickly discovered why.

Regular almond biscotti, without the chocolate treatment, last three times as long as their decorated brethren in my house.

If you’re not careful, yours will disappear, too.

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Kaiser Rolls Recipe for Burgers and Sandwiches

July 24, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 4 Comments

Soft and crusty bakery-style kaiser rolls are everything you could ask for when making a deli sandwich or fixing hamburger.

MAKING KAISER ROLLS FROM SCRATCH

We don’t need very much when making kaiser rolls from scratch because the ingredients are simple and the tools are minimal.

For one, we will need a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients.

As convenient as cup measurements are, they aren’t precise, and precision is key for bakery-style kaiser rolls.

The other tool you might want, apart from a couple of baking sheets, is a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.

While you could work this dough by hand, it is quite sticky, so a stand mixer is ideal if you want to keep everything as neat and tidy as possible.

If you plan on baking these rolls a lot, you might want to consider investing in a kaiser roll stamp, or you can do as I do and knot the buns.

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Sourdough Bourbon Banana Bread Recipe (it’s so moist!)

July 10, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 2 Comments

Sourdough banana bread with bourbon-soaked bananas takes this beloved classic up a notch along. Plus, it’s topped with a slightly caramelized cinnamon sugar crust. Scrumptious!

sourdough bourbon banana bread loaf and slices

Banana bread couldn’t be easier to make, but here’s a video tutorial in case you want to see how it’s done! If you’re new to the Kitchen, you’ll see that I do things a little different around here when it comes to my videos… Like what you see? Subscribe to my YouTube channel!

SOURDOUGH BOURBON BANANA BREAD VIDEO

This recipe may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to purchase something after clicking on one of the links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

If you're brand new to sourdough, be sure to check out my post on 
how to make and maintain a sourdough starter!

GET THE KITCHEN SCALE READY

When it comes to baking, scaling ingredients keeps things precise.

A kitchen scale is a practical tool to have on hand and will save you from fussing over the age-old question: to pack the brown sugar, or not to pack it?

Here’s what we’ll need.

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