How to Make a Quick Vanilla Sugar Substitute

You should really try making vanilla sugar with genuine, aromatic vanilla beans, but if you're in a hurry and need some vanilla instilled sugar for a recipe, you can perform some wizardry with vanilla extract. Here how:

Vanilla Sugar Substitute Recipe

2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Sprinkle extract on sugar and stir thoroughly.

Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and air dry for an hour or more in warm, dry spot.  You can use your oven set on warm with the door slightly ajar (or a gas oven using the pilot light only).

The resulting vanilla sugar will have clumps, but you can stir them out easily.

This method of creating vanilla sugar tends to lose flavor where if you make the real deal, the flavor will become richer and deeper over time.