Homemade Vanilla Extract

Every time I go into Savory Spice Shop in Boulder I seem to walk out with a new project.  Last December my project was homemade vanilla extract.  It’s been ready for a few weeks now and I’ve been using my own version rather than store-bought stuff in baked goods.  It’s super easy to make at home.  Here’s how I did it-

I started with a 3 oz package of Madagascar “Bourbon” Vanilla Beans (Did someone say Bourbon? You’re speaking my language!).  Slice the pods, scrape out the insides, chop up the pods into inch-long pieces, and add it all to a cup or so of vodka.

Let it sit a couple months, shaking it every few days for the first few weeks.

I took a few different shots of my mason jar.

Here’s a glimpse of the vanilla extract against light so you can see there are still vanilla beans in my jar. Leave all of that in there.

Use it as you would traditional store-bought vanilla extract, and since the vanilla beans stay in the vodka mixture, replenish what you used with fresh vodka to get more bang for your vanilla buck.