Okay, did you know you can make your own vanilla extract? Well, you can. And here’s the thing: while a 16oz bottle of the good stuff will run you around $60, you can make about a gallon of your own for about $40. Also, it’s a nifty gift. So here’s how I made mine…

In progress: Vanilla Extract
- Buy another giant bottle of cheap vodka at Costco.
- Worry yet again that Costco is judging how much booze I purchase there.
- Order more vanilla beans on eBay.
- Wish eBay sellers could beam products to my kitchen.
- Wait.
- Chop vanilla beans and throw them into bottle of vodka.
- Put bottle in pantry.
- Shake daily for a month.
- Rebottle, make pretty, and give as gifts.
What I noticed in the making:
- You don’t have to scrape your vanilla beans. It’s a waste of time. This information comes straight from the company I order my vanilla beans from, and I figure they know what they’re talking about. Plus, I’ve had great results with the horizontal chopping and it’s WAY easier than scraping the beans.
- If you want to get even easier, heck, use kitchen shears to chop your beans. That would be even faster than what I did!
- No one needs THIS much vanilla extract. Like, maybe ever. This is strictly a gift-giving exercise. If you want to make this just for yourself, then use 2-3 vanilla beans and a pint mason jar.
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound vanilla beans (around 50 beans)
- 1 quart vodka - the cheap stuff (79-90 proof)
Instructions
- Chop vanilla beans into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Throw them into the bottle of vodka.
- Shake daily for a month.
- Rebottle and distribute as gifts.
Notes
Infusion time: 30 days
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