Making Flavored Extracts

We love making vanilla extract and recently made two new extracts: lemon and maple. Why would we make our own extracts? First, it is much more affordable than purchasing them in the store. Second, we can be assured that the ingredients are clean with no fillers or unwanted chemicals.

Vanilla - We use a lot of vanilla in nearly all of our baked goods and enjoy different flavor profiles. We keep two "flavors" on hand: a vanilla infused in vodka or Everclear and a vanilla infused in bourbon. You could also do it with rum, which sounds amazing!

We keep two containers for each type of vanilla - one container for use and one container in which we  infuse the vanilla. For the first jar, we purchased a glass oil/vinegar set with the pour tops. We keep the vodka vanilla in one and the bourbon vanilla in the other. These containers make it easy to dispense and measure the vanilla without spilling. The second jar is what we use for the "mother" container (the jar in which we infuse the beans). For these, I chose some pretty liquor bottles. Whenever we refill the dispenser jars, we add more beans and alcohol to the liquor bottles to continue infusing. This ensures that we have a nice, strong vanilla infusion going at all times.

The bottles we use for infusing (our "mother" bottles).
We do not use these brands for the alcohol. I just found the bottles to be pretty and decided to use them.


We found instructions for the following extracts on Homestead Wife Life on YouTube. In this particular episode, she demonstrates making several extracts and includes a link to the typed recipes.

Lemon - We recently began a lemon extract using vodka and the zest from organic lemons. We didn't have a lot of lemon zest, so we only made a 1/2 cup of extract. We don't use a lot of lemon extract throughout the year, so we anticipate that this extract will last a long time. What does our family use lemon extract for? We mostly use it for our favorite sugar cookie recipe that a dear friend passed along to us.

The steps are simple:

1. 
Grate lemon zest

2.
Add to a clean jar with an airtight lid

3. 
Cover with an equal amount of vodka

4. Put on an airtight lid.
5. Let sit for 4 - 6 weeks. Shake occasionally.
6. Strain out the lemon, transfer to a clean container, and use!

Maple - We frequently use maple extract to make pancake syrup. Although we are a bit skeptical about how strong this particular extract will turn out, it seemed that even a softly flavored extract/liqueur could be used for flavoring cookies, cakes, frosting, and even mixed drinks. 

The maple and lemon extracts are not yet done, but when they are, we will let you know how they turned out!


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