Homemade Vanilla

I know I am not the first person to talk about homemade vanilla. Probably not even the 1,001! But I have made it, and I am making even more (double) as I write this. In fact, this is last years batch pictured in this post. I waited the entire year to make sure this is something I would recommend to you. This super easy project has my ringing endorsement for ease, cost, and flavor.

Let's get to it!

Supplies

Big ol' bottle of alcohol. I am using bourbon, because I like the flavor. Vodka or rum are also good choices. 1.75 liters
Vanilla beans. I chose Madagascar beans. I suggest starting with about 50 vanilla pods.
Knife and cutting board.
Something to pour a little bit of your liquor into to make room for the vanilla beans.

Instructions

Split your vanilla bean pods in half lengthwise. I didn't bother to fully split them. I left them attached by just a little at one end.
Start adding your split vanilla pods to your bottle of liquor.
Pour off liquor as needed to make room for the vanilla pods.
Tighten the cap back on.
Give it a shake.
Store somewhere you can get to it.
Shake it once per month.
Store for at least 4 months, but I recommend an entire year.

Now you have vanilla that is suitable for baking and flavoring anything you like. It may seem like a lot of money at first, but look at the price per ounce of the 'gourmet' vanilla in the stores! With a little patience, and hardly any work, you will have your own vanilla, that is just as good, if not better, for a fraction of the store price!

I gave some of my batch away as Christmas gifts last year. Not all of it, of course. I really liked how it turned out! I found the cute little bottles on Amazon.

If you're wondering what to do with all those used vanilla beans, I have some ideas!

Just leave them in your bottle. They'll add a little more flavor the longer you leave them.
Add some to granulated or brown sugar to make vanilla sugar.
Scrape the seeds out of the pods and use them in recipes calling for vanilla beans. Like ice cream!
Use them whole for recipes that call for the whole pod. I like to simmer them in things like the base for custard or vanilla pudding.
Compost them. A bit of a waste I think, but better than just throwing them in the trash.

There you have it, folks! I hope you'll give making your own vanilla a try. Little things we do for ourselves can make our lives so much better, and tastier! Thanks for being here!

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