Once you’ve mastered making your own, there’s no going back to the store-bought counterfeit. While this does take time and therefore patience, this project is so easy and produces extract worthy of gifting to the most avid of bakers.
“The hands-on time is only about 10 minutes. After that, nature does the work.”
Why Make Your Own Vanilla Extract?
Store-bought pure vanilla extract can be expensive, especially if you bake often. Making your own allows you to save money over time, control the quality of the ingredients, create a richer flavor by letting it age, make beautiful homemade gifts for friends and family, and always have vanilla on hand when you need it.
What You’ll Need
Which Alcohol Works Best?
Vodka is the most popular choice because it has a neutral flavor that lets the vanilla shine. You can also experiment with bourbon, rum, or brandy if you’d like a unique flavor profile.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prepare the vanilla beans. Using a sharp knife, slice each vanilla bean lengthwise, leaving about an inch connected at one end. Splitting the beans exposes thousands of tiny vanilla seeds, or caviar, helping the flavor infuse more quickly.
Fill the jar. Place the split vanilla beans inside your clean glass jar.
Add the alcohol. Pour the vodka over the beans until they are completely submerged, and seal the jar tightly.
Store and wait. Keep the jar in a cool, dark place, and give it a gentle shake once a week to help distribute the flavors. After about eight weeks, you’ll notice the liquid becoming a rich amber color. For the richest, deepest vanilla extract, allow it to age for six months.
Strain and bottle. After six months, strain the beans from the extract and funnel the ready-to-use extract into jars. Dark amber jars are a favorite for storage and gifting.
