Vanilla

Vanilla is one of my favorite things. I love the taste, the smell, and everything in between. I have always used vanilla extract in my baking, which works. Vanilla extract is fantastic. But my life was changed when I was introduced to vanilla beans! They’re weird, shriveled little pods with seeds of delicious-ness inside! So you can imagine how much I love Chef Shamy Vanilla Bean Honey Butter! It’s made with real vanilla beans– one look at the butter tells you that. It has a great vanilla flavor, and it makes these Vanilla Bean Blueberry Muffins absolutely legendary!

Muffins

Vanilla Bean Honey Butter is an essential item in any baker’s pantry. Almost any sweet baked good has vanilla in it, and most things have butter. So why not combine them? It’ll only be a matter of time before you just substitute Vanilla Bean Butter in everything that comes out of your oven.

Muffins are a little bit of a mystery to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like them. I’ll have a muffin for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But sometimes, I feel like we need to own up to what they really are: cakes in a muffin tin. Especially muffins from the store– they’re so sweet! Blueberry muffins can often be the worse offender. They’re sweet, spongey, and feel more like desserts than a breakfast item.

Luckily, these muffins actually feel like muffins. They’re not overly sweet or cakey. They’re perfect. The slight sweetness of the blueberries (not an inherently sweet fruit anyway) compliments the vanilla bean and light touch of honey from the butter.

Speaking of vanilla, here’s a trick to making your own extract: Home made Vanilla Bean Extract!