My daughter loves Jello pudding cups. She can polish one off in no time flat. Since we are trying to avoid processed foods and make things from scratch, I went in search of a homemade vanilla pudding mix recipe. I came across this one from of my favorite food blogs, Brown Eyed Baker! It uses vanilla beans and the pods actually stay in the mixture, flavoring it more and more over time! Vanilla beans can be expensive, but I buy mine from Amazon, and they are pretty affordable! There are only five ingredients: sugar, cornstarch, nonfat dry milk powder, salt and vanilla beans. The difference is amazing. All you taste is the pure vanilla flavor and crunch from the vanilla beans. It’s wonderful served chilled, or warm right out of the sauce pot 
I think it would taste great as a warm sauce over frozen berries, if you want to serve it right away before it’s completely set.
Homemade Vanilla Bean Pudding Mix
From Brown Eyed Baker
Makes 5 batches of pudding (each batch makes four 1/2 cup servings)
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup cornstarch
¾ cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 whole vanilla beans
Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Cut open the vanilla bean pods and scrape the seeds out with the back of a knife. Cut the vanilla bean pods into thirds. Add the seeds and vanilla bean pods to your mixture. I actually think the mixture gets better over time because the vanilla bean pods have more time to flavor the sugar. Place in a jar or airtight container and store in a cool, dry place.
When you’re ready to make pudding, measure out 1/2 cup of your dry mix and whisk it into 2 cups of milk in a medium saucepan. Over medium heat, stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until mixture has thickened slightly. Pour into ramekins and chill in the refrigerator until set.
My mom recently bought Malia this tricycle and she has had a lot of fun trying to master it. Her favorite part is ringing the bell Here she is riding it around our neighborhood. It’s so crazy to me that we are teaching our daughter to ride her bike on the same street that I learned to ride my bike almost 30 years ago! I have a lot of fond memories of my brother and I riding around together
What are some of your favorite childhood memories?
And another recipe gets added to my collection. Favorite childhood memories: playing in the woods behind our house, trick-or-treating, fun events at school (we had a great principal) and going on road trips to the mountains.
I love that one of your favorite memories is trick-or-treating! You must have had a great neighborhood and school
Road trips are on my favorite memories list too. Where did you grow up?
In a suburb in the DC metro area. The area where I lived was partly rural at the time but has become more and more developed over time.
I love this! What a great idea!
Malia is sooooo cute!
I’ve made several batches and the flavor keeps getting better over time!
Haha, thanks Jill – she’s a handful, and we love it
Ooh! Fancy! You know, I’ve never baked with real vanilla beans before! Always the extract..but I hear it makes a HUGE difference! Oh wow! That must be such an incredible feeling to see Malia making her own memories in the same places where yours were formed! I spent the weekend with my family in Houston this weekend, and boy it flew by! I can’t help but long for those days when all 5 of us were living under one roof….
Yes, the flavor from vanilla beans is so much more intense and I love those little black flecks
It comes out to about 50 cents per bean if you order from Amazon, which I guess isn’t too terrible.
Aw, I’m so glad you were able to spend time with your family in Houston! They must have been so happy to see you too
Hope you have a great start to your week – great commute, easy parking, and productive classes!
I never thought to make a pudding mix! How fun! My kids would love being able to have this anytime!
It’s SO nice to have on hand…it’s ready in no time for your kids if you want to eat it warm
oh I love this idea! having pudding mix on hand for whenever the craving strikes sounds like something I really need to make happen..
PS we have found vanilla beans at costco for pretty cheap!
That’s a great tip, thanks! I love Costco and spend way too much money there
Pingback: Homemade Cashew Butter « My Healthy 'Ohana