Christmas in July – Homemade Vanilla Extract

Monday, July 26, 2010

Christmas in July – Homemade Vanilla Extract

With just under 5 months until Christmas, it might be time to start thinking about gifts for your friends and family. That’s what I was doing about a year ago. I am definitely a big planner and had decided early in 2009 to make as many Christmas gifts as I could. Some of these gifts required quite a bit of time and some were easy to throw together. This week I’ll be sharing the gifts that I gave our family and friends last year.

The first gift came about due to a sale on Amazon. There was a great deal on 1/2 lb of vanilla beans. I started with two bottles of vodka and the vanilla beans. Once the beans were split (but not scraped) and placed in the vodka, the bottles just had to sit in a cool dark place. Every couple of weeks Hubby would pull the vodka out of the closet and shake the crap out of it. A couple months later the vanilla extract was ready to go!

I ordered some bottles online and made some labels for the bottles to finish off the look. I also placed two vanilla beans into each bottle.

I love that the vanilla extract tastes so good, has the specks of fresh vanilla beans, and will essentially never run out. If the vanilla starts running low, you can just top it off with some more vodka. As you use vanilla beans, just throw the pods in the bottle to replenish the vanilla flavor.

One Year Ago: Goat Cheese Potato Salad and Salmon with Yellow Pepper and Cilantro Pesto
Two Years Ago: Champagne Cupcakes

Better than Store Bought, Family Favorites, Gift Ideas, How-To

13 comments »

20 Responses to “Snickerdoodle Blondies”

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oneordinaryday — December 9, 2009 at 5:29 pm

Yum. I bet your kitchen smelled amazing while these were baking!
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nutmegnanny — December 10, 2009 at 1:13 am

Awesome! These are sooooo something I would love. I’m also totally with you on the whole bar cookie thing. It’s so easy to just do one thing and then lounge until they done.
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Memória — December 10, 2009 at 2:27 am

So many bloggers are making cookie bars and blondies these days. I’ve tried the snickerdoodle blondies, and they are so good!!! YUM! Lovely photos!
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Nancy @ Live love laugh — December 10, 2009 at 5:21 am

We do love Snickerdoodles! I have never made a good blondie and have not made many bar cookes…so it is time to start! Thanks!
~Nancy
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Nancy @ Live love laugh — December 10, 2009 at 5:21 am

We do love Snickerdoodles! I have never made a good blondie and have not made many bar cookes…so it is time to start! Thanks!
~Nancy
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6

stephchows — December 10, 2009 at 4:03 pm

mmmm I don’t mind your bar kick one bit! yum!
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Shauna — December 10, 2009 at 5:12 pm

Yum! What a great idea.
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Ingrid — December 10, 2009 at 6:10 pm

I’ve made been making these for a couple of years. My family and I LOVE them. I was making them so often I pretty much had the recipe memorized! Yours look great! I hope your sister gets a chance to try them sometime.
~ingrid

Btw, anything in the bar form rocks over regular cookies! 🙂
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JackieA31509 — December 10, 2009 at 7:49 pm

I’m pretty sure I want to leave work immediately and make these!
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themilkmanswife — December 10, 2009 at 11:24 pm

When I saw these pop up in my google reader yesterday, I made them right away! Mostly because we were snowed in and I had everything on hand. They are so simple, but so wonderful. We loved them! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Julia from Dozen Flours — December 11, 2009 at 7:24 pm

Glad you like my recipe! 🙂 Gorgeous photos!
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Kat — December 12, 2009 at 2:35 pm

I am going to have to try these as I love snickerdoodles and blondies!
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Mollie — December 15, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Great recipe!
I used it (don’t worry – gave you credit!), and added to it. Check out my More is More Bars (aka Sinckerdoodle Cranberry Chocolate Cheesecake Blondie Bars).

http://eatrunread.blogspot.com/
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Kasey — March 3, 2010 at 1:42 am

I made these for my boss’ family (they are having a rough few weeks) and as far as I know they were a hit with the kids! Unfortunately I did not get to try one myself, but they looked delish! Thanks for the recipe!
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Ashley — March 6, 2010 at 12:46 pm

Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie, so cannot wait to try this recipe!
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Ashley — March 31, 2010 at 12:56 am

I made these this weekend and they were so good. So moist and thick and cinnamon sugary!! I posted them on my blog! 🙂

http://ashleyscookingadventures.blogspot.com/2010/03/snickerdoodle-blondies.html

Thanks so much for sharing!
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Audrey — April 1, 2011 at 10:48 pm

I made these with a slight variation to the size and crust. My roommates and I nearly died when they were in the oven, the smell was incredible. I took a pan to class and they were devoured. I was slightly happy about this because I would have finished them myself!

http://mysceneandherd.blogspot.com/2011/03/snickerdoodle-blondies.html
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beantownbaker — April 2, 2011 at 2:54 pm

So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
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Tara — April 19, 2014 at 6:49 pm
Pinned this. Made it. LOVED it! Recommended it and have shared the recipe to others! Blogged about how great they are: http://spotofteadesigns.com/2014/04/pinned-recipes-tested-with-reviews/
- beantownbaker — April 21st, 2014 @ 5:13 pm
  
  So glad you enjoyed them (and pinned them, and blogged about them!)