How to Make Vanilla Extract

Making your own vanilla extract requires patience, but it is much more affordable than store bought. It’s also more flavourful. Added bonus: you get to control the ingredients.

Making your own vanilla extract is probably the single easiest thing you can do to both save money and elevate your recipes. It also makes a wonderful gift.

Click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top if you just want to get to vanilla extract making. However, if you’re interested in the experiment I performed to find the best preparation method, type and amount of vanilla beans, and type of liquor, keep reading.

You get to control the ingredients- no added sugars, artificial flavors, or water

When I set out to make vanilla extract for the first time, I was intrigued by the differences in recipes I saw online. 

Most called for vodka, but a few mentioned bourbon as an alternative. Some called for slicing beans. Others called for splitting them. They all required different amounts. Some of them mentioned different types of vanilla beans. Others just broadly listed “vanilla beans” in the ingredients.

I like to experiment with recipes, especially when baking. What happens if I add this, or don’t do this, or substitute this? But with a project like vanilla extract, you don’t have immediate feedback like you do with cookies. Ideally, you should wait a year before trying your creation. 

At that rate, it would take years to test out different recipes. So, I decided to perform an experiment. I tried out multiple different methods at once so that in a year, I could compare the results and determine the best recipe. Now, I share my results with you.

Homemade Vanilla Extract, an Experiment:

I prepared extracts using various liquors, beans and bean preparation methods, then performed a blind taste test of the extracts 10 months later.

The Results:

• Liquor: I was pleasantly shocked by the added depth of flavor from the bourbons. I’m not a huge bourbon fan, but when used to extract vanilla the results are delicious. For a complex, flavourful extract, try bourbon. It is unique; something you don’t commonly find in stores. It has a wonderful depth of flavor that shines in simple desserts like whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or panna cotta. (It’s delicious in other desserts too, like brown butter chocolate chip cookies.) For a vanilla extract that tastes more like what you’re used to, use vodka. I found that a higher quality vodka like Absolut didn’t result in a higher quality extract. So, feel free to stick to an affordable vodka like Tito’s.
• Bean: I purchased a few varieties of Tahitian and Madagascar beans from Amazon and really liked both. The Tahitian are definitely fruitier. I personally loved the flavour of Madagascar beans with bourbon and Tahitian beans with vodka. However, this is entirely personal preference.
• Preparation Method: Whether you slice the beans into 1″ pieces or cut them in half and split them open, the flavour doesn’t change noticeably. If your beans aren’t juicy enough to split them, just cut them into pieces. Both methods yield strong, flavourful vanilla, though halving and splitting looks prettier if you’re making these as gifts.
• Quantity: The quantity of beans made the single biggest impact on the resulting vanilla extract. Per 8oz of liquor, I found the ideal amount of beans to be 6, or 1oz. Anything less resulted in a weak vanilla.

As You Use Your Extract:

As you use your extract, you can refill it with vodka (or whatever liquor you used) until you start to notice a weaker flavor. Alternatively, you can reuse the beans for vanilla sugar, or use them in panna cotta or arroz con leche. 
Some people also create a “mother jar”, which is a frankenstein of all the vanilla extracts they’ve ever made. Use a larger jar and vodka (Or buy a handle of Tito’s and drop the beans directly in the bottle). Add a few fresh beans. Then, as you use your other homemade extracts, add the used beans and last drops of extract to your mother jar. It makes for a complex, unique vanilla and reduces waste.

If you make vanilla extract, leave a review below to let me know what you think! Share your customizations and tips, I’d love to hear them.

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