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How to Make Homemade Almond Extract

November 19, 2015 by Tiffany Davis 46 Comments

How to Make Homemade Almond Extract | by ImperfectlyHappy.com

How to make homemade almond extract – it is easier than you think! I love to make my own extracts. Not only do they taste better, I know what’s in that bottle (how about 2 ingredients!). Making extracts aren’t difficult and once you start making them, you’ll be hooked. I also love to give them away to friends who cook and bake; they love them.

How to Make Homemade Almond Extract

Ingredients to make one pint of Homemade Almond Extract

15 raw almonds, blanched (directions following)

2 cups of 80 proof vodka

1 pint sized mason jar

Jar/s for long term storage of your extract

Directions to make one pint of Homemade Almond Extract

  1. Blanch your raw almonds
    Take your 15 almonds and put them into a pot of boiling for for EXACTLY one minute.  Drain quickly and rinse with cold water. Lay almonds out on a paper towel to cool.  The skins should look shriveled.  Once come cool enough to touch you should be able to just squeeze the almonds from the skins (discard skins). Then put them on another paper towel and allow them to finish drying.
  2. Rough chop your blanched almonds and place those in the pint jar.
  3. Pour your vodka over the chopped almonds and put on the lid securely.
  4. Now give it a shake and place it in a cool dark place (under a cabinet or in a closet).
  5. Allow your extract mixture to sit for at least 6 weeks (8 weeks for max flavor). But be sure to give the bottle a shake every other day while it sits.
  6. Strain your finished homemade almond extract through a coffee filter or cheese cloth and bottle it for future use. You can keep the entire extract in a mason jar or put into small amber bottles for gifts. Make sure to label them so you don’t get them mixed up with your other homemade extracts.

Now you can use your homemade almond extract to make my yummy Gluten Free Almond Poppy Seed Bread!

Want to make more extracts? Check out my recipe for Vanilla Extract!

 

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Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Frugality, Homemade, Kitchen Stories, Recipes, Vintage Skills

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Comments

  1. Laura says

    May 12, 2016 at 10:46 am

    Mine has been sitting now for 8 weeks and I opened the jar (finally!) to strain it today, but it SMELLS TERRIBLE! It smells like rubbing alcohol and NOTHING like the sweet cherry smell of the store bought almond extract. I tried troubleshooting (on-line searching), and am finding this is not an uncommon problem. Does yours actually smell good after 8 weeks? Help please and thank you!!!

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      May 12, 2016 at 10:50 am

      Did you blanch your almonds?

      Reply
      • Laura says

        May 13, 2016 at 8:24 am

        I bought them blanched 🙂 – saved a step! 🙂

        Reply
        • Laura says

          May 17, 2016 at 11:28 am

          Any ideas?? Thanks! 🙂

          Reply
          • Tiffany Davis says

            May 17, 2016 at 11:36 am

            Well it is going to smell like alcohol, more than store-bought. You can try giving it a little more time but then I’d say try it in a recipe and see if it gives you the results you want. Let me know!

          • Laura says

            May 17, 2016 at 6:48 pm

            Thank you! I went ahead and added fresh almonds. I have made homemade Vanilla Extract and that doesn’t smell like alcohol, so that is why I was hoping for the same with this. Thanks for the tip; I will try it in a few weeks!

      • Kat says

        February 15, 2019 at 10:13 am

        I have seen other Almond extract recipes that did not blanch the almonds so I was wondering what the purpose of blanching is?

        Reply
        • Tiffany Davis says

          February 15, 2019 at 12:48 pm

          You know I was taught it that way, so that’s all I know.

          Reply
        • Nancy A Evans says

          February 26, 2019 at 8:50 am

          Takes the skins off the almonds , u can buy them already blanched online

          Reply
      • Jamie says

        December 12, 2020 at 3:55 pm

        I believe your recipe is totally inaccurate. All other recipes I have seen for diy almond extract use equal parts vodka and blanched almonds. If you want ant to make 2 cups use 2 cups vodka and 2 cups almonds. Follow all other recipe instructions.

        Reply
        • Tiffany Davis says

          December 12, 2020 at 9:03 pm

          I haven’t made this one in a long time but always had good results with the recipe as is.

          Reply
    • Parris says

      December 2, 2018 at 9:06 am

      The answer could be to use raw almonds instead of some already processed. I have never tried to make any kind of extract before so I may not know what I’m talking about. I hate to try something just to have wasted time & money on something that doesn’t work…

      Reply
    • Parris says

      December 2, 2018 at 9:07 am

      Sorry, I just re-read the recipe & it does say raw almonds. My bad!

      Reply
      • Tiffany Davis says

        December 2, 2018 at 3:00 pm

        Ok 😀

        Reply
    • Nancy A Evans says

      February 26, 2019 at 8:48 am

      I’ve done the same and it’s been 8 weeks it smells like vodka and tastes like it too!!
      I read the ingredients on the bottle of a store-bought almond extract says they use some kind of sweet almond oil in it, I need to explore that!!

      Reply
  2. Julian says

    August 20, 2017 at 7:40 am

    Can you answer this question? I picked bitter almonds from my garden and forgot to blanch and remove skins before placing in the vodka – will my extract still work or should I start again?????

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      August 20, 2017 at 7:43 am

      Anyway you can take them out and slice the almonds and put them back in? I don’t think you’ll get enough almond flavor with the skins on.

      Reply
      • Julian says

        August 22, 2017 at 12:10 am

        Thanks

        Reply
  3. Stephanie says

    September 23, 2018 at 10:46 am

    My extract is cloudy. I followed your directions. I am wondering if I should be concerned?

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      September 24, 2018 at 9:19 am

      Usually if it is cloudy it has gone bad. How long has it been since you made it?

      Reply
  4. heidi says

    September 30, 2018 at 12:39 am

    Is there anything that i can use instead of vodka…. i have no access to alcoholics….

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      September 30, 2018 at 5:31 am

      I have no recipes for extracts without alcohol, I’m sorry.

      Reply
      • Jane says

        November 19, 2021 at 8:34 am

        You can use a food grade glycerin most likely available on Amazon look on Pinterest for non alcoholic extract recipes.

        Reply
        • Tiffany Davis says

          November 19, 2021 at 10:56 am

          Great tip! I have to try that.

          Reply
  5. Greg says

    November 17, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    It’s been eight weeks and I tasted it and it just tastes like vodka. Anything I can do? Looking to make amaretto with it!

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      November 18, 2018 at 4:04 am

      Did you blanch the almonds?

      Reply
    • ridan says

      April 22, 2019 at 1:44 pm

      Try to use far more almonds! Break the almonds, fill the recipient and covers the broken almonds with vodka.

      Keep in mind that natural almonds have a very mild flavor, so do not expect it to be the same as the artificially manufactured “extracts” on the market.

      Reply
  6. Shelli says

    December 11, 2018 at 11:31 am

    I followed directions exactly and after 2 months my extract smells and tastes like Vodka, nothing like my store-bought extract. Has anyone had success success in making their own who can help me figure out why it’s not working? My mint extract came out great. Grew my own mint, easy-peasy.

    can give us some ideas on why it works sometimes and why it doesn’t?

    Reply
  7. Lee says

    December 19, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    in other extracts I’ve made I warmed it over a very low heat, to burn off the alcohol – although I haven’t tried it for almond extract, it may be worth trying a small amount to see if the almond flavour is stronger as a result

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      December 19, 2018 at 3:18 pm

      Good tip!

      Reply
  8. Bernadine Langer says

    December 31, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    would it help to use more than 15 almonds and why that amount?( to get more of the store bought flavor). Also a good brand of vodka, I used both cheap and SKY vodka when I made my vanilla extract, threw out the cheap stuff and now always use SKY vodka. I am going to make almond now as I need it for my oh so yummy keto almond cookies.

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      December 31, 2018 at 3:07 pm

      It might help.

      Reply
  9. Curtis says

    January 15, 2019 at 12:18 pm

    You will have much better results using peach or plum seeds yes peach or plum for almond flavor… They are richer in flavor and that results in stronger flavor if you are stuck on almonds, that’s ok too but you have to use bitter almonds or bitter almonds oil. Don’t change the recipe just you different seeds

    Reply
    • Ridan says

      April 22, 2019 at 1:39 pm

      Apples, peaches, cherrys, plums, bitter almonsds and others of Rosaceae family may contain cyanide in the seeds, just DON’T use it!

      Reply
      • Ridan says

        April 22, 2019 at 1:40 pm

        Ooops! I mean cherries (not “cherrys”).

        Reply
      • Cindy says

        April 9, 2020 at 6:58 am

        Almonds have cyanide also.

        Reply
  10. Shirley gold says

    August 12, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    What is peach or plum seed or is it the pit

    Reply
    • Michelle Birrell says

      June 14, 2020 at 7:14 am

      The seed inside the pit. Dry the pit and pry it open to reveal the seed.

      Reply
  11. Megan Durham says

    March 3, 2020 at 2:58 pm

    Dont buy blanched almonds. When you blanch them yourself it brings some of the oils out. Buying blanched almonds can affect the extract. As they are dried completely with air dryers. This loosing the necessary oils Ned to develop the extract.

    Reply
  12. Alan Freedman says

    May 2, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    So I didn’t think to look for a recipe, but just chopped up almonds with their skins still on and put then in some whiskey to sit. I know it won’t come out the same but it is dangerous or Will it ruin this to have the skins on?

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      May 8, 2020 at 11:39 am

      Yeah, the skins need to be off for the right flavor.

      Reply
  13. Maryam says

    June 4, 2020 at 2:24 am

    Hello dear tnx for sharing the reciepe I need to ask u what can I use instead of vodka tnx

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      June 13, 2020 at 9:06 am

      Not with the same results.

      Reply
  14. Barbara says

    December 12, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    I made this recipe 11 months ago and have recently bottled it. It looks and smells nice, but I was wondering if I left it in the chopped almonds too long and if that is an issue? Are there any health risks? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Tiffany Davis says

      December 13, 2020 at 5:14 am

      I wouldn’t think it would be a problem with the alcohol in there as a preserver.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Organic DIY Lemon Extract - Imperfectly Happy says:
    January 19, 2016 at 8:34 am

    […] to make other extracts?  Check out my Almond Extract and Vanilla Extract […]

    Reply

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