You Won’t Believe How Easy and Delicious Homemade Vanilla Extract Can Be!

Making your own vanilla extract might sound intense, but with just a few vanilla bean pods you can easily make enough extract to last you through the years. 

Ingredients:

  • 4 plump vanilla bean pods
  • 1 cup of alcohol, such as vodka, bourbon, brandy, rum, or single malt whiskey (the alcohol does not have to have a high alcohol content)

Instructions:

  1. First, take your pods and use a paring knife or another small knife to cut them down the center so the caviar is exposed. However, you don’t want to cut them completely in half, so be careful. 
  2. Then, take a clean jar with a tight lid and place the vanilla bean pods into it. 
  3. Using the alcohol of your choice, cover the pods with it and leave it in a cool, dark place.
  4. Shake the jar once a week for 8 weeks, or leave the pods in for longer if you want a stronger extract. 
  5. Then, once the time is over, you can strain it so your extract won’t have any specks of black from the vanilla beans, or leave them in there and use it right away!
  6. Also, once your extract is up, you can make another batch using the same pods since they are quite strong and maintain flavor well.