Step 1

Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.

Step 2

Pour syrup into a heat-proof jar or container. Scrape out some of the seeds from the sliced open vanilla pod with a sharp knife* and add them and the vanilla bean into the syrup.

Step 3

Place syrup in fridge and let steep for at least 6 hours. Syrup will thicken more as it cools. If you want a more intense vanilla flavor, you can leave the bean in after 6 hours.*

Step 4

When vanilla syrup is stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it should stay good for about a month.