My best friend Sara made homemade vanilla extract as Christmas presents last year, and I have been savoring every drop of the bottle she gave me. It is oh-so-delicious and really makes all the difference in my recipes. I asked her to do a guest blog spot to show everyone how to make your own vanilla extract. Thanks Sara!!

From Sara:

Making your own vanilla extract is easier and cheaper than you would expect, and above all, it leads to a product that is vastly superior to anything you can get in the store! After I made my first batch, I did a side-by-side taste test with my old ‘favorite’ vanilla and my new homemade vanilla, and it was unbelievable. The homemade extract made the store-bought stuff seem watered-down and flat. I gave away most of the extract as Christmas presents, and almost all of the recipients agree that the homemade vanilla is just delicious! So, here are the instructions on how to make your own homemade vanilla extract. I promise that once you do it, you’ll never go back!

The ingredients: Basically, all that’s needed to make your own vanilla extract is one liter of alcohol – either Bourbon Whiskey or Vodka – and 10 to 12 vanilla beans. Don’t feel obligated to buy the most expensive liquor at the store. I don’t buy the cheapest, but I certainly don’t buy the most expensive. I personally like the flavor that the bourbon whiskey gives, but if you’re a purist, vodka is a good choice.

Vanilla beans generally aren’t as easy to find as liquor. In my local grocery store, a vanilla bean can go for $10!  Just for one bean! That’s just crazy-talk. So, for my vanilla beans, I go to beanilla.com, where you can buy vanilla beans for roughly $1 to $1.50 per bean. Beanilla has many different varieties of beans. I would suggest buying the type that sounds the best to you. I have no real preference.

Here are the beans that I bought. They are nice and juicy and plump!

Begin by pouring roughly ¼ cup of liquor out of the one liter container. You need to make room for the beans and for shaking the extract.

Cut the vanilla beans length-wise.

Splay open the bean and scrape out the inner granules. Place the granules in the liquor.

After the bean has been fairly well scraped, cut the bean into thirds or fourths. Place these pieces into the liquor. Repeat this process with the other nine beans.

When finished, shake the bottle vigorously to mix!

Now comes the hard part:  you have to let the extract sit and percolate for six months (minimum). For the first week, shake the extract every day. After the first week, shake it once weekly.

After six months, you can start to use the extract in your cooking and baking. If you decide you want to give it away, you can strain out the granules using a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth. I found cute bottles to house the vanilla on specialtybottle.com.

Just follow these quick easy steps, and you’ll be on the way to having the best vanilla extract you’ve ever experienced!! It’s well worth the wait!