Homemade Vanilla Extract

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Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings teaspoons

Calories 13

Making vanilla extract at home is a cost-effective way to have superior vanilla extract for all your baked goods and desserts.

Place vanilla beans into a glass, seal-proof vessel such as a Mason jar. (For vanilla seeds within your extract, cut open 1 or 2 of the vanilla beans.) If your beans are longer than your jar, cut the beans in half or in quarters to ensure that they are fully submerged in the alcohol.
Pour alcohol over the vanilla beans, ensuring that they are completely submerged and covered by the alcohol. (Exposed portions of the beans could mold over time.)
Allow the vanilla beans to infuse into the alcohol for at least 4 months and up to 12 months. Shaking the jar once per week will decrease the amount of time needed for a flavorful extract. The extract is done when it tastes like, well, vanilla!

If you are making a recipe that calls for real vanilla beans, remove one of the beans from your extract, slice it in half, scrape out the caviar (seeds) for your recipe, and place the vanilla bean back into the jar.
Once the extract is made, you can reuse the beans for more extract by using the same beans in half the amount of alcohol. After this second use, you have extracted all you can from the beans. Allow them to dry at room temperature for a few days and then toss them in a food processor with some sugar to make vanilla sugar.
Store the jars in a dark place (in a cabinet is ideal) at room temperature.

Calories: 13kcal

Course: Dessert, Ice Cream

Cuisine: American

Keyword: extract, homemade, vanilla, vanilla bean, vanilla caviar, vanilla pod