How to Make Homemade Barrel Aged Vanilla Extract
Mar 28, 2012, Updated Mar 21, 2015
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This homemade barrel aged vanilla extract gives your homemade vanilla extract a pop of bourbon barrel flavor. Easy to make and packed full of vanilla flavor.
If you saw my post on Monday about my tour of Tuthilltown Spirits you will love this post too! While I was on my tour I bought a little kit that includes one empty bourbon bottle and a piece of the charred honeycomb stave. It’s supposed to help bring color and flavor your favorite clear cocktail but instead I used it to make homemade vanilla.
Making homemade vanilla is simple and takes almost no time at all. A few vanilla beans and some vodka and you are set. You let it sit for a awhile and will see it turn a beautiful shade of dark brown. When it gets low you just add some more vodka. You never have to buy vanilla again! Plus you can use it to make vanilla bourbon ice cream….you know you want that in your life!
Homemade {Almost} Barrel Aged Vanilla Extract
This homemade barrel aged vanilla extract gives your homemade vanilla extract a pop of bourbon barrel flavor. Easy to make and packed full of vanilla flavor.
Yield: 1 bottle vanilla extract
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 vanilla beans – halved and sliced down the center (don’t cut all the way through just enough so the beans flavor can get out)
- 1 barrel aged infusion spiral
- 1 (16 ounce) bottle or jar with lid
- Vodka
Directions:
Cut vanilla beans in half and put into bottle. Add vodka to bottle and fill till full. Let sit in a cool, dark place for at least 1 month before using. Shake the bottle once a week to help combine the vanilla. When bottle gets half full refill with more vodka and and let sit for another month before using.
*In the first picture you will see I need to refill my vanilla. That is about the lowest level you will want your vanilla to get before refilling.
Note: Don't want to buy a barrel aged infusion spiral? You can make traditional vanilla extract by just adding the beans and vodka together in a 16 ounce bottle or jar.
That reminds me to make anothe batch of vanilla extract. I was curious about the “barrel” aged 🙂 I like your bottle, and interesting Tuthilltown Spirits Barrel Aged Spirits Kit. I gave a lot of mine away for gifts, I should try this for myself.
I love homemade vanilla extract! I could not imagine not using it. I have been making it for years.
Hello,
Does it matter at all what vodka you use?
Hi Scott,
You just want to make sure you use an unflavored vodka. No need to use expensive vodka, I generally choose a mid priced bottle.
Hope you enjoy the extract!
I think this is so awesome and interesting. I saw this somewhere and couldn’t find it again.. Thanks for the help! Please link up to Foodie Friday
Hi Brandy! I was wandering around https://thenymelrosefamily.blogspot.com and saw you are probably also a neighbor of mine in the Hudson Valley, and so stumbled on over to your blog, and this idea is so cool! My husband had 3 empty Hudson Whisky bottles and I didn’t have a single idea of what to use them for, I should now go see if he actually threw them out! It’s always nice to meet a blogger living so close by 🙂
Hi! I’m so glad to find another local blogger 🙂 I hope your hubby kept the bottles….they are perfect for vanilla!
Please don’t laugh at this comment/question!
I’ve got two Ball jars of vanilla beans+alcohol in my cabinet – one of vodka, one of rum – and I’m afraid to try them for fear of food poisoning. They’ve been soaking since March 3rd, I’ve swirled them several times, and I’ve opened them to test the odor along the way. When I started, I boiled my jars for about 10 minutes, but I didn’t have the patience to do it properly in the dishwasher. If I didn’t sufficiently sterilize my jars before adding the beans and alcohol, and there hasn’t been a perfect seal on the jar, do I risk food poisoning? Or because we’re talking about ALCOHOL, am I in the clear?
Many thanks!
Hi Christina,
No laughing here 🙂 Because of the alcohol you do not run the risk of food poisoning. Plus you only really need to worry about perfect sterilization and seals when you are canning a food product (jam, jelly, vegetables, etc.) Also, boiling your jars is just as safe as sterilizing them in the dishwasher. In fact I always just boil mine. I find it way easier when I’m canning. Hope this helps! Oh and enjoy that vanilla…it’s going to be amazing!