Vanilla powder is made from dried vanilla beans that have been ground into a fine powder. Unlike vanilla extract, which is liquid, vanilla powder has a more concentrated flavor because it’s made directly from the bean. It’s usually used in baking, cooking, and even in drinks to give that rich, sweet, and warm vanilla flavor without adding any extra liquid.
 
vanilla, (genus Vanilla), any member of a group of tropical climbing orchids (family Orchidaceae) and the flavouring agent extracted from their pods. The vanilla beans of commerce are the cured unripe fruit of Mexican or Bourbon vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), Tahiti vanilla (V. tahitensis), and occasionally West Indian vanilla (V. pompona); all three species are thought to be derived from a single species native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Vanilla had been used to flavour xocoatl, the chocolate beverage of the Aztecs, centuries before the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés drank it at Montezuma’s court, and soon afterward vanilla became popular in Europe. Today it is used in a variety of sweet foods and beverages, particularly chocolate, confections, ice cream, and bakery goods, and in perfumery.