How To Make Homemade Vanilla, Mint, Almond and Citrus Extracts (2024)

If you do a lot of baking or homemade cooking, you will use a lot of extracts…

Your needs can range from homemade cookies, French toast, homemade coffee creamers, and so on.

Buying commercial extracts is usually okay, but you take the chance with it being full of corn syrup and artificial flavor.

Why spend the money when you can make it at home yourself? They are great as holiday gifts as well.

In this article, you will find recipes for making vanilla extract, mint extract, almond extract, and lemon extract, with and without alcohol.

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I like to save my homemade extracts in these swing-top bottles for storage and when gifting. It just adds that homesteady flair to me. But, in reality, you can just use plain old mason jars to make and store your extracts in.

But, what if you don’t want to use alcohol? Infusing sugar with flavor enhancers is a good way to make extracts without alcohol. You can get the recipe for vanilla sugar here, and mint sugar here.

You can also make homemade extracts without alcohol by using 3 parts glycerin and 1 part water in place of the alcohol in any recipe. Glycerin will give a more syrupy texture but is gluten-free and alcohol-free.

The alcohol will extract the flavor FASTER than the glycerine, but the resulting flavor will be the same in a recipe.

Read about the difference between tinctures or glycerites here.

Vanilla Extract

• 5 vanilla beans
• 2 cups alcohol. You can use vodka, rum, or bourbon for a great flavor. You just really want the uber-cheap, “rock gut” stuff because that tends to have a higher alcohol content, which helps to extract the flavoring better
• quart-sized glass jar with lid

I like to slice the vanilla beans down the middle, place in the jar, and cover with alcohol. Then, every couple of days, give it a good shake. Continue to do this for about 6 weeks, then your vanilla will be ready to use.

You can either strain off all the extract and rebottle as gifts or for yourself, or I just use the extract with the beans in it. As I need to, I continue to fill the jar back up with alcohol. After about 5-6 refills, I will replace the beans entirely.

Alcohol FREE-version of homemade vanilla extract:

• 1 cup food-grade glycerin
• 3 cups water
• 6 cut vanilla beans

For the flavor of homemade vanilla extract without alcohol or glycerin, get the recipe for vanilla sugar here.

Mint Extract

You’ll need

• a quart jar with a tight-fitting lid
• Fresh mint leaves
• Vodka-again using the cheaper stuff is awesome

Simply grab some mint leaves early in the morning. I have found the best flavor comes from leaves picked at this time. Rinse and dry off with a towel. Remove the leaves from any stems and stuff into the quart jar.

Cover with the alcohol and allow to sit in a cool, dry place for 3-4 weeks. Strain the extract and compost the leaves.

Alcohol-free version of homemade mint extract:

• 1 cup food-grade glycerin
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups fresh mint leaves

Get the recipe for mint sugar here.

Almond Extract

• 10-15 whole, skinless, raw almonds
• 1 cup of alcohol-again, you know the drill…cheap stuff
• pint-sized jar with a tight-fitting lid

Place the almonds in the jar, cover with alcohol. Shake daily for 3 weeks, then strain the nuts out. This won’t be as strong as a commercial extract, but I like the flavor myself.

Since almond extract that is commercially made contains bitter almonds, and they contain a cyanide precursor, some argue that you shouldn’t make homemade almond extract. I am personally not worried about this, as the same nuts also contain cancer-fighting compounds.

Alcohol-free version of homemade almond extract:

• 1 cup food-grade glycerin
• 3 cups water
• 15 whole, skinless, raw almonds

Try delicious homemade almond milk! Read the post here.

Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit and Orange Extracts

• 2 -3 Tablespoons zest of the fruit
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• Vodka

Adding sugar is important. Without it, citrus extracts can get very bitter. Zest your chosen fruit-lemon zest for lemon extract, orange for orange.

Place in a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid and cover with the sugar and alcohol. Shake daily for 2-3 weeks, then strain.

Alcohol- free version of Citrus Extracts

• 1 cup food-grade glycerin
• 3 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons sugar (for flavor balance)
• 2-3 Tablespoons citrus fruit zest

Wrap Up

The shelf life of these extracts is fairly long.

Alcohol and glycerin are both acting as preservatives, and I have never heard of it ever going bad, but the flavor may fade after 6-12 months.

If you don’t use a lot of the extract, considermaking it in smaller quantities or plan on giving some as gifts.

Do you make your own homemade extracts? Do you like alcohol or alcohol-free versions best?