Homemade Vanilla Extract

Want to give a super low-maintenance, cost effective,
unique and super yummy Christmas gift this year?
Perfect.
How about some organic, homemade vanilla extract?
Who DOESN'T want  homemade vanilla to put in their holiday yummies?
Can't you just smell it? Mm.

Okay! You need to get started NOW, so that it's stout and ready to be bottled up come Thanksgiving or Christmas.

1. Vanilla, Ice-Ice Baby: Several of us friends ordered our vanilla beans together in one order, so that the cost was lower. The more pounds we ordered, the less each bean cost individually. We ordered from Amadeus Vanilla Beans, and the gal who headed up our order last year has ordered from Amadeus several times and loves, loves, loves them!

2. ABC, easy as 123:  Yeah right, heading to the nearest ABC store to buy pure Vodka is easier said than done, esp for those of us who don't drink alcohol and want to be careful of our Christian witness before a lost and dying world. (That's right. Pure vanilla extract is made from vodka and vanilla beans)   I had my DH buy it for me instead of me going in there with two small children. Heck, bring in your vanilla beans and show them what you're making. I have seen alcoholic beverages from Harris Teeter and other grocery stores. Or order it online. 

3. Recipe: Once your yummy-smelling vanilla beans come in, it's easy peasy from here. Combine the whole container of vodka and then drop all of your vanilla beans in a large glass container with a lid. My glass container was a gallon size container.

 You really can't mess this up. I've read some recipes that opened up the vanilla beans before adding them, and I've also read some recipes that just dropped the whole beans into the vodka. I went with the easy route and dropped about 12 or 13 vanilla beans into the Vodka. I can't tell you how easy it is. Walmart has some glass containers with lids in the kichen section for $5.

The longer the beans marinate, the stronger your vanilla extract will be. Mine sat from last March until December and it was perfect. The portion that I kept still has about five beans in it, making my vanilla stronger.
I love me some vanilla.

-Gifting vanilla: Head to TJ Maxx, Ross or look in the baking aisle of your local grocery store in for little glass bottles. Be sure to only use a glass container.

-I put at least one vanilla bean in each little jar I gave as gifts, more in the bigger jars.

Here are some of my gifts I gave away this year:



This little jar was found at Bloom in the baking aisle for around $3.




This bottle cost $3.99 I think at Ross. It already had the Christmas sticker and cork.



This bottle was at TJ Maxx and it was around $4.99 as well. It came with the cork.





This is my jar of vanilla that I had LEFTOVER after I gave away the gifts. This blue glass jar is my favorite and was found at TJ Maxx for around $5. They also had other colors as well.
Happy Baking!