An above view of all the classic cheesecake ingredients laid out. Unwrapped cream cheese, butter, sugar, cinnamon, salt, a whole vanilla bean, milk, eggs, and graham crackers
  1. Place a vanilla bean on a cutting board and use a paring knife to slice open the vanilla bean lengthwise.
  2. Use your knife to scrape the seeds from inside of the vanilla bean pod.
  3. Use them immediately to avoid losing any precious vanilla beans.
  4. Don’t discard the pods! Use them to make your own vanilla extract or vanilla sugar.