How To make Vanilla Extract and many more 4.

67 from 65 votes

Easily make Homemade Extracts including my pure vanilla extract recipe & many
more!Easily make Homemade Extracts including my pure vanilla extract recipe &
many more!

Course: Ingredient
Author: Recipe from 'Just Putzing around The Kitchen'

Ingredients
Vanilla Extract
3 whole vanilla beans
Vodka (You can also use bourbon)
Mint Extract
½ cup mint leaves
Vodka
Orange Extract
1 large navel orange
Vodka
Lemon Extract
1 large lemon
Vodka
Almond Extract
10 raw almonds , chopped (unsalted, untoasted)

Instructions
1. Cut your vanilla beans in half, then split open each half to expose the vanilla seeds on the inside of the
pod.
2. Place cut vanilla beans inside your glass bottle.
3. Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle.
4. Seal tightly and store bottle in a cool, dry place.
5. Every few days, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside.
6. After 5-6 weeks, you have extract! (If you leave in your vanilla beans, when you start running low, just
add more vodka and wait a little.)
7. To make Mint Extract:
8. Stuff mint leaves into your glass bottle.
9. Using a chopstick, skewer, or other poking device, lightly bruise/crush the leaves inside the bottle.
10. Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle.
11. Every few days, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside.
12. After 5-6 weeks, you have extract! (I’m not sure if, like vanilla extract, you can just leave the mint leaves
inside. Since it’s leafy plant matter which disintegrates more easily, it may be a good idea to take it out.
My leaves went from a vibrant green in the beginning to kind of a dull brown by the end so I took them out
just to be safe – I poured my mint extract into another container through a sieve and discarded the mint
leaves, then poured the filtered extract back into the bottle.)
13. To make Orange Extract:
14. Peel thin strips of zest from ½ of your orange.
15. Place zest into your glass bottle.
16. Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle.
17. Every few days, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside.
18. After 5-6 weeks, you have extract! (I think with citrus peels the acid (and alcohol bath), it’s probably safe
to leave the peels inside the bottle like a vanilla bean for re-fill purposes. If you don’t feel comfortable
doing this, take it out!)
19. To make Lemon Extract:
20. Peel thin strips of zest from your lemon.
21. Place zest into your glass bottle.
22. Add vodka, filling up to the neck of the bottle.
23. Every few days, tilt your bottle upside down to gently mix the liquid inside.
24. After 5-6 weeks, you have extract!
25. To make Almond Extract:
26. Chop your raw, unsalted almonds small enough to fit in your jar.
27. Place chopped almonds into your jar.
28. Note: For the almond extract, it is probably best to use, or re-use, a larger jar. Then as few as 8 almonds,
which have been skinned, chopped and covered with the alcohol or glycerin in a small jar if using. I would
 use a larger jar and a handful of almonds, as many as you like. Cover the chopped almonds to about one
inch over the ingredients and proceed. Then, when it is ready, you can strain it into smaller bottles and
proceed to use the same almonds for a second batch.
To skin the almonds you first blanch them. This means plunging them into <strong>boiling</strong>
water for one minute exactly. Wash under cold running water until they are quite cold, then squeeze the
nut out of the skin, or rub it off in a clean tea cloth.

Recipe Notes
Replacing Vodka: just substitute the alcohol called for in any extract recipe with three parts liquid vegetable
glycerin and one part water.
You can also replace Vodka with Bourbon.