Kitchen Projects: Homemade Vanilla Extract

While Blake was away climbing for a weekend, I spent time doing all my favorite activities. Not to say that most of favorite activities don't involve my husband, most of them do, but a few I reserve for myself. Like reading for hours with a glass of wine. And cooking and baking. And making vanilla extract. Alright, making vanilla extract might not be a typical activity I enjoy while husband is out climbing, if it were we would have lifetime supply, but it is something exciting I endeavored on this particular weekend. I also made sweet potato hummus and bananas foster bread, both of which will be making their way to the blog soon.

 Anyway, back to the excitement and thrill of making your own vanilla extract. Yes, thrilling, like skydiving, but without jumping out of a plane (silly people jumping out of planes). Vanilla extract takes about ten minutes of hands on time to make and a couple of months of wait time to be ready. It's less expensive then buying it at the store and you can tailor the extract to your preference. Vanilla extract is made up of vanilla beans and alcohol. Typically the alcohol is vodka but you can have fun and experiment with others. I purchased my beans from Beanilla, which can be found here. Each vanilla bean has its own flavor profile. I purchased Madagascar Bourbon and Tonga vanilla beans and did one round with vodka and one round with bourbon. I look forward to the results and think you too should partake in this new thrilling project.

Homemade Vanilla Extract 
Makes 8 ounces of extract

5 vanilla beans
8 ounces of alcohol, typically vodka but have fun and experiment
8 ounce jar

Split the vanilla beans down the center with a knife. Place in the jar and cover with alcohol. Shake once a week for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, your extract will be ready. Remove the beans and get baking.