Making your own vanilla extract from vanilla beans is one of the best ways to make your desserts extra delicious. And the best part? It’s incredibly simple to do! All you need is vanilla beans, alcohol (and a few months of waiting) to make vanilla extract that is perfect for baking or gifting.

Vanilla extract is a pantry staple both here in France and in the U.S. (and many other places around the world). It adds a sweet depth of flavor to so many dishes, from cookies and brownies to cakes and tarts.

And while the vanilla extract you can buy at the store works perfectly fine, learning how to make your own vanilla extract is a simple way to elevate your baking.

Why Make Homemade Vanilla Extract?

There’s two primary reasons I love to make homemade vanilla extract: the flavor and the cost. Store-bought vanilla extract is pricey – especially if you want to get the good stuff! 

When you make vanilla extract at home, you can make a lot more extract for your money. Yes, you’ll have some upfront costs of bottles/jars, alcohol and vanilla beans, but there’s a good chance you already have some of that in your home. And once you do purchase it, you can make many batches of extract with the same materials.

Making Vanilla Extract At Home: Common Questions & Tips

Making your own vanilla extract is so simple, but it often comes with lots of questions. Keep reading for my best advice for making your first batch of vanilla.

Best Vanilla Beans to Make Extract

When choosing vanilla beans for extract, opt for high-quality, Grade A beans that are plump, oily, and flexible. These are all good signs that the beans will have a lot of flavor, which is key for making great extract!

The type of vanilla bean for extract depends on the flavor profile you want (and the beans you’re able to find in your area). 

If you want a classic vanilla extract, I recommend using Madagascar vanilla beans. These have a rich, creamy, and sweet flavor and are the most common beans for making vanilla extract.

Two other types of vanilla that can be used are:

Tahitian Vanilla Beans: Tahitian vanilla beans are larger and plumper than Madagascar beans and have a more delicate, floral, and fruity flavor profile. They can be a great choice for light desserts like custards and ice creams.

Mexican Vanilla Beans: Mexican vanilla beans are known for their deep, bold, and spicy flavor with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. They have a rich, dark aroma that adds complexity to your extract.

How Many Ounces of Vanilla Beans to Make Extract

There are a lot of recipes for vanilla extract out there and many of them recommend different ratios of vanilla beans to alcohol. Personally, I like to get as many vanilla beans as possible into my jar with the alcohol. 

The more beans you use, the stronger your flavor will be and the faster that flavor will infuse.I recommend using at least 10-12 vanilla beans per two cups of alcohol for the best vanilla extract at home.

Best Alcohol to Make Vanilla Extract

You can really use any kind of alcohol to make vanilla extract! Vodka is the most common spirit used, but you could also try bourbon, rum, cognac, brandy or any other spirit you like! 

I do recommend avoiding flavored alcohol (like flavored vodka) because those typically include additives that can alter the extract’s flavor.

How Long Does It Take to Make Vanilla Extract?

This is probably the only downside to DIY vanilla extract – you have to wait months before you get to enjoy it! Most folks say your extract should infuse for up to 4 months, but I would say even longer is better. 

The longer the flavors infuse, the better the extract will be!

Can You Make Vanilla Extract Without Alcohol?

I’ve never tried this, but there are many tutorials online about making non-alcoholic vanilla extract.

The reason the extract is made with alcohol is because the alcohol extracts the vanilla flavor from the beans. To replicate that process without alcohol, you’ll usually see recommendations to use glycerin, a plant-based product that is sweet and syrupy. 

Recipe To Make Vanilla Extract

DIY Vanilla Extract Ingredients

• 10-12 vanilla beans
• 2 cups vodka (or rum, bourbon, cognac or brandy for different flavors)
• 1 glass bottle or jar with a tight-fitting lid (16 oz or larger)
• 1 funnel (optional, but makes pouring the alcohol into the bottle a lot easier!)

Making Vanilla Extract: Step-by-Step

Step One: Prepare the vanilla beans.

I like to use a combination of whole vanilla beans and beans that have been split in half to explore the seeds (or caviar) inside. If I leave some whole, I can actually reuse those beans later for other dishes that call for the seeds inside.

Step Two: Place the ingredients in the bottle.

This is pretty self-explanatory. Add your vanilla beans (as many as you can!) to your bottle and then pour the vodka (or other spirit) over the beans, ensuring they are fully submerged.

Step Three: Seal and shake.

Seal your bottle or jar tightly with its lid. Shake well to start the infusion process.

Step Four: Store and wait.

Store the bottle in a cool, dark place. Shake it gently once a week. The vanilla extract will develop flavor over time. For best results, wait at least 4 months before using it. Waiting even longer will develop a stronger flavor.

Can You Reuse Vanilla Beans to Make Extract?

Yes, you can! You can constantly replace the spirits you have in your jar (and your vanilla beans, as needed) with the “perpetual extract” method. Simply “top off” the bottle with more alcohol as you use the extract. 

Keep in mind that the flavor of the vanilla beans will diminish with each reuse, so your extract may weaken over time. To maintain the strength of your extract you may need to occasionally add a few fresh beans along with the reused ones.

Things to Make with Vanilla Extract

Once you have your homemade vanilla extract, there are so many ways to use this in your kitchen! Add vanilla extract to cookies, brownies, cakes and more for a sweet infusion of flavor that enhances all the other ingredients. 

DIY vanilla extract is also great for gifting! Whip up a large batch and bottle in smaller jars once infused to give out at the holidays.

If you plan on keeping your extract and using it in your own kitchen, here are just a few of my favorite recipes you could try:

• Egg Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Egg Yolk Chocolate Cookie Bar
• Souffle Au Chocolat
• Almond Fruit Tarts
• Carrot Cake Cinnamon Cheesecake
• Mini Bespoke Charlottes
• Financiers