Sunny Day Organics Vanilla Bean Powder ~~REVIEW~~

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Do you remember being younger and going to visit your grandparents?  Chances are, the minute you stepped inside their door, you made a beeline towards something, right?  But, what was it?  For me, it was my great-grandmother's jar of delicious buttermints.  In fact, every time I see or smell the scent of a buttermint, my mind goes directly back to those days, evoking warm, happy memories of my grandmother.  For my kids, the "go to" item at Grandma's house is her marshmallows.  I don't know why they are so obsessed with marshmallows... there's nothing uber phenomenal about them, if you ask me.  But ask my kids, and they'll sing the praises of marshmallows all day long!

With that said, I like to find dessert recipes that include marshmallows in the ingredients, as I know they're sure to be a hit in my home.  I recently received the opportunity to try Sunny Day Organics pure natural Vanilla Bean Powder in exchange for my honest review.  What in the world does that have to do with marshmallows, you ask?  In my household, a lot.  As I mentioned, I enjoy finding recipes that include marshmallows so that I know my kids will eat it up (in case you haven't caught on... I like for the KIDS to eat it up, instead of me.... it's "insurance" for my weight-loss plan, so to speak).  So, with "vanilla powder" and "marshmallows" being key ingredients, I set out to find the perfect recipe.  Perfect, in this case, is an understatement.  What I found, was an actual recipe for.... drumroll please.........

Vanilla Marshmallows!

Who would've thought?  Not only do these little guys taste SO much better than those that you buy from the grocery store, they are SO easy to make!!  Several of the ingredients are items that are commonly found in most kitchens, such as non-stick cooking spray, confectioners sugar, corn syrup, salt, and granulated sugar.  The recipe also calls for unflavored gelatin.  It calls for pure vanilla extract and a vanilla bean, scraped.  This is where I decided to substitute my vanilla powder.  I threw in two teaspoons of powder, which seemed to work perfectly.  The amount you want to use will really depend on the quality of the powder.  Powder that is light in color may contain more additives like sugar, instead of actual vanilla bean.  In fact, the darker the color, the higher the quality.  The powder provided by Sunny Day has a nice, deep brownish tone as a result of being a pure vanilla bean product.  The quality of this product truly revealed itself in this simple recipe. I can't wait to try it in something else.  Next up: Buttercream Frosting.  I can't wait to share the results!!