Vanilla Extract

This year I decided to make home made vanilla extract to give as Christmas Presents.

I wanted something that was home made and practical.

Almost everyone needs vanilla extract at some point or another.

I found recipes and inspiration at Sprinkles of Parsley and Joy the Baker.

Check out these blogs for other great recipes!



Start with gathering your supplies.

If you don't live somewhere that has specialty shops this is where I ordered mine online.

Bottles from Specialty Bottle. I ordered 25 of the 4-oz clear round glass bottle with top.



Beans from Beanilla. I ordered 25 of the Bourbon vanilla beans to start with, then I ordered 25 more to add a little more flavor to the extract.



Next a co-worker of mine gave me this bottle of vodka for my project.



However, it only filled 13 & 1/2 bottles. So one more bottle was needed to complete the project.

Directions:

• Pour vodka, just under 2/3 cup of vodka per bottle, through a funnel into the glass bottles until it reaches almost to the top.
• Then cut your vanilla beans in half, then length wise to expose the seeds.
  
  
• Drop all 8 pieces of 2 vanilla beans into glass bottle.
  
  
• Screw on tops.
• Allow to steep for 6 to 8 weeks.
• Label as you see fit.  I just put a little bit of refilling directions and a Merry Christmas with a use after date!

Happy Christmas Eve. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!