Homemade Vanilla Extract

Years ago my mother gave me a bottle of homemade vanilla extract that I think she made at church (Relief Society Activity) it was amazing and so much better then the store bought stuff. I have always wanted to try making my own and thought it would make a great gift for neighbors during the holidays. Since completing gradschool and having the nesting bug set it I finally got my act together and gave it a try.

 If you are interested in making your own bottle or bottles of vanilla here is what I did/used.

What you need:
- Glass Bottle or bottles: for my gift bottles I used 8 oz Wheaton Boston Round Bottles  that I bought on Amazon. If you only want to make a single bottle for yourself I would find a larger bottle (16oz) since the longer the vanilla sits the better the flavor.
-Vanilla Beans: I bought a 1/2 pound of Grade B Madagascar Vanilla Beans on Amazon which gave me enough beans to make 12, 8oz bottles of extract replenish my own 16oz bottle that just ran out. I put 6 beans in each of my 8oz bottles which is more then most vanilla recipes call for but I wanted a strong vanilla flavor.
- Vodka: I bought regular Smirnoff which from what I understand is a good middle of the road vodka, it was about $20 for the largest bottle and I used 1.5 bottles. After reading several other vanilla recipes I was never able to find an answer as to if it was okay to use the cheap vodka but I did not want to risk it and have my gifts come out poorly. For those that don't drink (like me) save your extra vodka so that you can top off your vanilla once only a 1/3 is left, the vodka will not go bad.
-Funnel : I picked one up from World Market for $2 that barely fit in my bottles, I would buy something like these if I had it to do over again.

Directions:
-Wash bottles in dishwasher and make sure they are completely dry
- Take beans and starting about 1/4 of inch from the top split beans down middle with a paring knife (to get the beans in my 8oz bottles I also had to cut them in half).
- Put beans in bottles: I chose to use 6 beans per bottle
- Top beans with vodka but don't over fill and put on lids
- Shake up the bottles and let sit for at least 3 months shaking at least once a week
- Store in a cool dark area

Labels: I bought the Avery 22830 Labels and used an online template to create my own. This was the most difficult and frustrating part of the project (I wasted 5 sheets!!) so if you would like a PDF of my labels send me and email and I will pass them along.

I am really proud of the way these turned out, even though it cost more then I thought it was going to. However, after looking at how much a good 8 oz bottle of real vanilla extract cost I was suddenly okay with the expense!!

Good luck and let me know if you have questions!!!