My daughter was a baking phenom last holiday season.
She made Meringue Cookies, Chocolate Cake, Cupcakes, Breads, Sugar-Free Cookies for a family friend, you name it, she baked it. 
So I was running to the store to restock Vanilla Extract every week! And do you know how much they cost??? I never really looked at the price tag before because I’d go through may be one little bottle a year.
But now that she is in the kitchen getting awfully friendly with our Kitchen Aid mixer practically every week, I’m noticing how many bottles of Vanilla Extract she’s going through. So I researched and found out that it’s really easy to make vanilla extract and that it costs a fraction of what the store bought ones cost.
This is how you make vanilla extract.
*Note – plan ahead because it can take up to two months or more before you can use the extract.
Take two or three whole vanilla bean pods. This organic beans came in a glass tube. When you take it out of the tube, it’s sticky and very aromatic. That’s how you know that it’s fresh and not old because it’s not dried up.
Split the pods down the middle with a sharp knife and kinda loosen up the beans inside.
In one cup of Vodka, add the Vanilla Beans and even the pods in a glass jar with a tight lid.
Leave the jar in a cool dark place for about two months. But every two weeks or so, shake it gently. I placed it in a cupboard that I don’t use that often, all the way in the back. This is the color after about one month.
After about two months…
How simple is that? I made Vanilla Extract! If I used organic vodka, I’d have organic Vanilla Extract. And guess how much this would cost in a store? Exactly!
Guess what my DD made with the homemade vanilla extract tonight? Yum. She’s going to kill me.
