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I understand the appeal of homemade vanilla extract. What avid baker wouldn’t want a never-ending well of pure vanilla flavoring at their disposal? Some culinary personalities—like Ina Garten, Melissa Clark, and Zoë François—swear by homemade vanilla extract.
But working in professional kitchens, I learned that plenty of pastry pros prefer the store-bought stuff. Making your own vanilla extract can be expensive (depending on the method used, it’s not always cost effective) and some bakers just don’t think it compares to the high-quality extracts on the market.
To get to the bottom of this debate, I compared various methods and spoke to pastry chefs and recipe developers about the pros and cons of making and using homemade vanilla extract. I also made a few batches on my own and compared them against store-bought versions.
Before we get into the process of making your own vanilla extract, it’s important to understand the different varieties available. (Of course, there are plenty more vanilla products to consider, like vanilla bean paste, vanilla powder, and vanilla sugar. But for our purposes, we’ll stick to extract.)
A bit of simple math reveals that homemade vanilla extract is the more economical choice. Say you buy two 4-ounce bottles of the good vanilla extract from the grocery store every year. If each jar costs $18, that’s $180 over a five-year span.
Should you make your own vanilla extract?
Most homemade vanilla extract recipes mimic the technique typically used in large-scale production, calling for you to soak vanilla beans in a high-proof spirit—typically vodka, bourbon, or brandy. Store the jar in a dark place for 3–6 months and you’re in business. Sounds great, right? Here are just a few problems with this DIY method:
- It takes forever. Most recipes call for an initial soak of 3–6 months, meaning it’ll be a long time before you can reap the benefits of your DIY extract.
- It’s inconsistent. Unlike commercially-produced extracts, which are carefully layered and blended, at-home methods are typically far less precise, instructing you to stuff a mason jar or a glass bottle full of vanilla beans, then top the jar off with more liquor as needed. Refilling the jar with more vanilla pods or alcohol as needed will yield inconsistent results. The amount of vanilla flavor in the extract will differ from day to day, impacting the flavor of your baked goods.
- It’s expensive. Considering the steep price of whole vanilla beans, this method can actually be more expensive than buying a bottle of vanilla extract at the grocery store.
But there are other methods. Here are some of the most popular:
Types of vanilla extract:
Pure vanilla extract, imitation vanilla, vanilla essence—these are a few of the labels you might see in the baking aisle. But what’s the difference between them? According to the FDA, vanilla extract must contain at least 35% alcohol; the vanilla component can come from vanilla beans or “concentrated vanilla flavoring,” among other sources. The source of the vanilla flavoring is the most latent difference in the types of vanilla you’ll find at the store.
Pure vanilla extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol to draw out their flavor compounds. Heilala vanilla has patented its three-month cold-extraction process, meant to “ensure that vanilla’s 200+ flavor compounds are purely extracted,” according to the brand. Since pure vanilla extract is made with real vanilla beans—in Heilala’s case, beans that are cultivated and hand-selected by Tongan growers—pure vanilla extract is typically pricier than the synthetic stuff.
How can you tell which vanilla extract is the good vanilla? Look to the label. The ingredient list on a high-quality, pure vanilla extract should be short and sweet: just alcohol, vanilla bean extractives, and water. Some extracts will also specify “single-fold” vs. “double-fold” vanilla—this refers to the concentration of the extract. Per the FDA, single-fold vanilla extract is made with one unit of vanilla per gallon of alcohol, whereas double-fold vanilla is made with double the amount of vanilla; as a result, it’s doubly strong—if using double-fold extract, you can use half the amount of vanilla called for in recipes.
Imitation vanilla—sometimes labeled as “vanilla essence”—is flavored with synthetic vanillin, the primary flavor component of vanilla. It’s often dyed with caramel color, though clear imitation vanilla—popularly used by Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi—forgoes the dye. Though its flavor and aroma are less complex than pure vanilla extract, there are some cases where we prefer imitation vanilla over real vanilla; it gives desserts (like confetti cake or sugar cookies) a nostalgic vanilla flavor.
Tosi uses both brown and clear imitation vanilla extract at Milk Bar because they impart “the flavor most people relate to in their baked goods,” as noted in Milk Bar’s recipe for Vanilla Milk. “Vanilla beans and fancy vanilla paste do not taste like home to me, but commercial vanilla extract does.”
If it’s that sweet vanilla flavor you’re after, simply buy a bottle of imitation extract from the store. But if you’re looking for a more complex, balanced vanilla flavor and aroma, it’s worth reaching for pure vanilla extract. Or…it may be worth making your own.
Is it cheaper to make your own vanilla extract?
FAQ
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