It seems almost criminal that as a serial baker, I haven’t bought a bottle of vanilla extract in YEARS. How can that be? For the past few years I have been making my own extract and have never gone without since it's so quick and easy.
Now, I know vanilla beans seem like a fancy ingredient to have on hand, but they are actually really accessible and affordable. We usually buy a pack of 5 grade A or B beans from Costco or Amazon; both are absolutely fine for making extract. I bought a pack of 10 beans from Costco the other day for under $20. As I use a bottle throughout the year and get close to finishing it, I buy a pack of beans and get a fresh batch going. I always have a few bottles in various stages of readiness in the pantry, so I never run out in the middle of a baking session. Also, anytime a recipe calls for vanilla seeds, like these petite vanilla bean scones, I simply fish out a bean from one of my oldest batches of extract and scrape out the seeds. It’s a nice perk of having homemade extract handy.
It’s also so easy to make, you’ll wonder why everyone doesn’t just do it. All you do is slit the vanilla beans lengthwise down the middle, leaving them still intact, throw them into a sealable glass jar, then cover them with vodka. After sealing the lid, you give the bottle a little shake then store it in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks, giving it another shake once a week for the first 2-3 weeks. Through the weeks, you’ll see the vodka begin to take on a beautiful new color as the vanilla flavor infuses into it. It’ll be ready to use by 6 weeks, but the flavor will continue to deepen the longer it sits. The two bottles I currently have are 20 months and 10 months old. I’ve also used both grade A and B beans and both yield a great quality extract. The grade B beans are a bit smaller, thinner, and maybe tougher/drier. They came with instructions not to split them, but I did and they were fine. A sharp paring knife did the trick nicely.
It’s amazing that literally only two ingredients go into something that adds so much beautiful and highly important flavor into almost every single thing that comes out of the oven. We still had tons of bottles of vodka leftover from our wedding, and since we’re not drinkers, I was so delighted to finally find the perfect use for them. Ever since I’ve been making it myself, I’ve become a bit frivolous with how I use it in recipes, always adding an extra teaspoon or splashing in a bit more. Every time I make a new bottle, I’m still in awe at seeing those raw beans floating in clear alcohol turn into a rich, mahogany liquid that is the elixir to all baked goods.
