I love DIY everything, and extracts are surprisingly easy. At the store, extracts for baking and flavoring foods can be surprisingly expensive, especially if you’d like organic or natural extracts of any kind. Almond extract is great to have for baking of all kind as the subtly sweet flavor of almonds makes for delicious cakes and cookies.
The process for making your own is very simple. Since it only requires 15 raw almonds, it shouldn’t be too expensive to make this organic and natural, with some decent-quality vodka as well. You could make this large batch and put into smaller bottles for gifts or even to add to your farmer’s market stand if you have one.
Ingredients
15 raw almonds
2 cups of 80 proof vodka
1 pint sized mason jar
Jar or bottle for long term storage
Directions to make one pint of Homemade Almond Extract
- First, blanch your almonds, if you don’t already have them blanched. Boil one pot of water and put your 15 almonds for 1 minute-be precise, set a timer. When the minute is up, drain quickly and run under cold water. Lay out on a tea towel to cool. The skin should look shriveled, and once they’re cooled you should be able to easily remove the skin from all the almonds.
- Roughly chop the blanched almonds and put them in your pint jar.
- Pour the vodka over the chopped almonds and secure the lid.
- Shake vigorously and place in a cool, dark place.
- Let sit for at least 6 weeks, or more if you’d like a bolder flavor. As it sits, make sure to shake every other day or so.
- Once the desired sitting time is up, you can strain through a cheesecloth or coffee filter and pour into the bottle you’d like to use for storage. You can reuse the mason jar, or pour into smaller amber bottles for gifts or even sale.
Enjoy!
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