Homemade Vanilla Extract for Holiday Baking and Gift Giving

Happy Monday, Friends! For those of you who share my enjoyment of making and giving handmade gifts for the holidays, today I'm sharing my latest project--homemade vanilla extract for the holidays! You may be surprised how easy and satisfying it is to make it yourself

DIY homemade vanilla extract

Before you get started, here are some important tips to remember. First,  you'll need to allow the  vanilla to infuse in a dark place like a closed pantry, the longer the better. Although I started mine over the summer, it's not too late to make it for holiday baking or gift giving, especially for those who appreciate handmade and sustainable gifts--more to come on that later! Below you can see the progress after just 4 weeks. Ready to make it yourself? 

DIY homemade vanilla


Here's what you'll need:

6-8 Madagascar vanilla beans per 8 oz of rum (or vodka)
Bottles or jars for infusing and decanting
Optional labels and baking twine 

Start by splitting each vanilla bean lengthwise. Then, add them to a jar or bottle, fill with rum, seal and allow the extract to diffuse in a pantry or dark cabinet. 

DIY Homemade Vanilla Extract

Last, be patient! Give the bottle a gentle shake each week while the vanilla is infusing. Don't be concerned about brown flecks in the liquid or white crystals forming on the beans. It is natural for tiny pieces of the bean to float in the extract or for quality beans to crystalize--not to be confused with mold. When you are ready to decant vanilla extract into gift bottles, consider reusing containers like the maple syrup bottles I used, or keep an eye out at thrift stores. You'll notice that the extract in the gift bottles appears to be a lighter amber shade than the progress photo pictured with the beans still in the bottles. However, you may opt to leave the beans in the extract with a gift tag instructing the receiver to simply add more alcohol as needed to replenish their vanilla supply--evidently this is a popular option among baking enthusiasts and others who appreciate sustainability! Optional: Add a dated gift label or tag and baker's twine if desired. 

DIY homemade Vanilla Extract


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DIY Vanilla Extract

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Would you like to comment?

  1. That's interesting. I've never seen the process before...now I want to give it a try. Homemade everything is better than store bought anything!

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  2. WOW, what a great idea and very neat as a gift that will be used
    Saw your post at Love Your Creativity.
    My entries are 120+121
    Hope you will join SSPS https://esmesalon.com/tag/seniorsalonpitstop/

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