Some of my favorite memories from growing up include baking...whether it was pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies at Halloween, birthday cupcakes, Christmas cookies,... you name it. One of the most important ingredients in baking (and one of the most comforting scents to me) is Vanilla.
I found this recipe from pennies on a platter, for homemade vanilla extract last year and saved it as a "favorite" (before the days of Pinterest!), knowing that I wanted to make a batch of it for this year's Christmas. I've used imitation extract before, but it's just *not* the same as the *real deal*! (real deal = vanilla made with real vanilla beans, rather than the imitation chemical stuff).
I ordered Premium Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla beans from her suggested amazon website - they're very reasonably priced, and have free shipping! Then, I did a search for the 4oz Amber Boston Round Glass Bottles to find the best price possible and ordered 12 of those as well.
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- 750mL bottle of vodka
- 9 vanilla bean pods
- printer sticker paper (optional, for labels)
- Amber Boston Round Glass Bottles - 4 oz size
- funnel (optional - to help pour vodka into 4 oz bottles)
Check out the easy-peasy instructions on penniseonaplatter.com. I followed her directions to a "T"!
She even has cute, printable labels you can use for your bottles!
(Though, I chose a different free printable label, that's more my style, here.)
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| vanilla beans |
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| vanilla beans, but in half vertically and horizontally |
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| Put 6 cut pieces of vanilla bean in each 4 oz bottle |
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| Fill each 4oz bottle with vodka |
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| Print labels on sticker paper, cut out them out, and stick to bottle! |
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| The whole batch...awaiting further instruction :) |
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| "Packaging" supplies: jute rope, a hole punch and printed instructions |
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| I wrapped some thin jute rope around the bottle, then knotted it and added a "ready to use" date and ingredients |
Friends: If you happen to be reading this, guess what you're getting for Christmas??!!
Happy Holiday Baking friends!!
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I love this! Is there a particular Vodka you recommend?
ReplyDeleteHi Michele! I honestly just used what we had in the freezer. Some of my vanilla bottles were made with Stoli and some were made with a "house" (cheapo) vodka. Since it's infused with vanilla, and used in baking, I don't think it really matters what vodka you use :) Good luck!
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