Simple Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe

All you need are vanilla beans, bottles and vodka!

One thing I love about baking is that if you have the basic ingredients – flour, sugar, butter, baking soda, salt, vanilla – you can make most any cookie or cake by just add one or two extra ingredients!

As a whole, most of those ingredients are fairly inexpensive… the kicker is the vanilla! Holy cow… can you believe how expensive that stuff has gotten? I got tired of paying $8 for a small bottle and went on a mission to figure out how to make my own and you know what? It was actually REALLY simple!

I only really needed three items; vanilla beans, vodka and jars. I found two of the three on Amazon and had them at my door in 48 hours! The other I was able to pick up at Costco!

This post contains affiliate links. (This means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.)

Here are the links to the items on Amazon

Vanilla Beans – $10.99 (I purchased 2 packs of 10)

8oz Bottles – $20.99

Lable Maker for vanilla sticker

Lastly, the Vodka I was able to find at Costco for $12.99.

The How To

The steps of putting them all together were fairly quick!

I cut slits in each of the vanilla beans to help the flavor steep better. Next I added three beans to the jars then poured the vodka in saving a little space at the top.

Now we wait three months to let the vanilla mature. I shake them once a week to mix up the vanilla for a more even flavor. Give it a try!

It lasts forever and as your jar empties from use, add a little more vodka and another bean or two to keep using it!

Until next time,

Megan

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Print Recipe

Simple Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe

All you need are vanilla beans, bottles and vodka!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Course: Ingredient

Keyword: Baking, Easy, Simple

Servings: 7 bottles

Cost: $47

Equipment

• 7 Glass bottles
• Funnel

Ingredients

• 10 count package of vanilla beans
• 1.75 L bottle of vodka

Instructions

• Slice open the vanilla beans with a knife.
• Add 3 beans to an 8 ounce jar.
• Fill with vodka.
• Makes 7 (8oz) jars.
• Wait for 3 months to let the vanilla mature, shake them once a week to mix up the vanilla for a more even flavor.
• As you use up the vanilla you can pour in more vodka to replenish the bottle and add another vanilla bean or two. Let sit and start using another bottle!