This isn’t so much a recipe as it is the combining of two ingredients—it’s so easy! I love to make my own because purchased vanilla extract can be full of chemicals (coal tar and anti-freeze!) and other additives. And the good stuff can be expensive. You can make this recipe with vodka instead of bourbon, but even though I am not from the south, I am more of a bourbon girl. It is so easy and inexpensive. I use vanilla beans leftover from recipes, like vanilla bean payesh, by simply rinsing them off and adding them to the bourbon. You can also use a new bean, like I did this time, in order to add the fragrant vanilla seeds. Whenever you get low, just top off the bottle with a little bourbon and add vanilla beans whenever you can.
Take a sharp knife and split in half two whole vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Put them in a sterile jar along with 1/2 cup of bourbon. Shake the jar and store sealed in a dark place (like your pantry). Every few days give it a good shake. After two weeks you will have a mild vanilla extract and the flavor will continue to get stronger the longer it sits. As I mentioned before, continue to add more vanilla beans and bourbon so that you have a never ending supply. Add it to your favorite recipes that call for vanilla extract.
