Due to popularity, we brought this idea back from the archives!
Are you looking for an easy gift to give to neighbors and friends this Christmas? Well, this homemade vanilla extract may just be the perfect one! It’s simple to make and very delicious! However, it does take a few months to properly steep, so you might want to start now.
To make this vanilla extract, you only need a few things—vanilla beans, alcohol (such as vodka, rum, or bourbon), glass bottles, and labels. Vanilla beans can be expensive when bought locally; so to make this gift as inexpensive as possible, consider buying the beans in bulk from an online source like Amazon.com. Our 4 oz. Glass Bottles work really well for this project, and our 4 oz. Glass Bottles with Dropper Caps make it really easy to get the exact amount of vanilla you need when cooking.
The best thing about homemade vanilla is that if you leave the beans in the bottle, it just keeps getting better the longer you let it sit. When gifting this, make sure to leave 1–2 vanilla beans in every 4 oz. bottle so it not only looks authentic, but also so your friends can enjoy a richer vanilla flavor over time.
It takes about 12 weeks for the vanilla beans to infuse their flavor in the alcohol, so this is a great gift to make in advance. If you don’t have enough time to let it sit for 12 weeks, just include a date on a gift tag for when it can be used.
These cute vanilla vinyl labels really add to the charm of this gift!
Servings: Yield = Thirty-five 4 oz. bottles | Time: 15 minutes active; 3 months inactive | Difficulty: Easy
Source: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2014/09/christmas-in-october-homemade-vanilla/
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