Homemade flavor extracts are easy and inexpensive to make at home. They’re great to make for your own personal use to save money and ensure pure ingredients plus they’re excellent to make in bulk to give away as gifts.
Homemade Flavor Extracts
I have a total of 15 homemade flavor extracts in this article, complete with FREE printable labels for them towards the end of this post. But these 15 different flavors aren’t the limit. You can make an extract using just about any kind of fruit, nut, herb, or spice!
What You Need
- Alcohol. Just about any kind of alcohol will work, but the most common are vodka, rum, brandy, and bourbon. Aim for some that is at least 40% alcohol content (80 proof).
- Flavoring ingredients. What and how much you need will depend on the type of extract you want to make. Details in the recipes below.
- Mason jars. You will need some pint size (or larger if making double or triple batches) mason jars.
- Bottles. Once the extract has been made, you’ll need something convenient to store it in. I recommend glass amber colored bottles. These bottles are the ones I used for the article (and the size I designed the labels for).
- Extract bottle labels. These are located in the free printable below.
- Sticker paper. Sticker paper is used to make the labels. More details below.
What You Do
- Put the flavor ingredient (prepared as detailed in the recipes below) in a glass mason jar. For ingredients such as leaves, press it down towards the bottom so the alcohol covers it.
- Pour the alcohol over the ingredients. Make sure the alcohol completely covers the ingredient (add more if it doesn’t). Screw on the two piece lid.
- Place the jar in a cool, dark place (such as inside a cabinet). Once a day, pull it out and give it a good shake. Make sure the ingredients are still covered with alcohol; if they’re not, add more alcohol until they are.
- After the extract has infused for the allotted time (indicated in the recipes below), strain it through cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Discard the food bits and save the extract.
- Using a funnel, carefully pour the completed extract into an amber-colored glass bottle. Store in a cool, dry place.
Extract Recipes
Vanilla Extract
Mint Extract
Almond or Hazelnut Extract
Lemon, Lime, or Orange Extract
Cinnamon Extract
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Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, or Cherry Extract*
Banana Extract
Coffee Extract
Coconut Extract
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*On Trim Healthy Mama, homemade cherry extract is usually a Fuel Pull because such a small amount is used per recipe. However, if used in larger amounts per serving, it may make a meal an SH (S-Helper) or a light E.
Printable Labels & Recipes
Instructions
What’s in the Printable: The printable above if a PDF that contains 2 pages–the first page has just one vanilla extract label (so you can make one bottle just for yourself); the next page has the label 9 times so you can make multiples for gifts.
How to Make the Printable: You’ll need some printable sticker sheets and some 4-ounce bottles. Just print the labels onto the sticker sheet(s), cut out the labels, stick them onto the bottles (clean and dry them thoroughly first), and you’re good to go!
Want the Other Labels Too? If you’d like all the flavor extract labels, you can buy them via my store!
Printable Recipes
I tried making a variety of extracts (lime, orange, lemon, blueberry, blackberry, watermelon, mint etc.). I have left them to sit for 8 weeks and I tried them today but the flavour is really weak and almost tastes fermented. I tried adding them to sparkling water (separately) to test the flavour and it tastes… old. I also had to use about a tsp of flavour for 1oz of water, and it was still quite weak. Would you recommend I swap out the contents for fresh peels and fruit and leave it for another month or two? Thanks
Hi, Jessica. What alcohol did you use to make them? Typically, the higher the proof the better it does. They shouldn’t have an old or fermented flavor unless they’re being exposed to moisture (other than alcohol) or the air, so you may need to top off the alcohol as it sits. I would definitely start again with fresh peels. 🙂
What can we do for the peach lovers out there?? Any peach extract recipes???
Hi TJ,
I want to make the Cherry Extract, but I’m on Keto and don’t want any sugar. Do you know if the Cherry (and other fruit extracts) retain any of the sugars?
Thanks!
Erech
Hi, Erech. Great question. I’m not sure. It works as a Fuel Pull (neutral) on THM in the majority of cases since so little is used per recipe (therefore does not affect blood sugar neither does it cause weight gain), but I’m not sure how it’d react as far as maintaining ketosis. This might be a good question to ask someone more proficient in the keto diet (a Facebook keto group would work) or if you want to give it a try and check your ketones as it’s in your system to see if it affects it (but you might not want to wreck ketosis lol). I would think it’d be low enough since most recipes you’d use it in are like a teaspoon for the whole entire recipe and thus diluted enough to not cause issue, but again, I’m sure. Sorry I’m not much help!
can I use a transparent bottle?
if no, why?
Yes, you can. The negative with it is that light (from sunlight or light bulbs) can get in easier which reduces the strength of the extract over time.
Hi TJ, Thankyou for your extracts..!
I was wondering..why bother straining out the fruit after the necessary infusion time. Why not just leave it in. It seems to me, the extract should just continue to get better and stronger over time. And in the end, you would need less when using it. And the look is so rich. The Coconut and strawberry ( even mashed ) looks beautiful in the mason jars. And when using the banana extract, wouldn’t it be even nicer to have some real banana added to your baking recipe via the unfiltered extract..? Also, do you have to use amber jars for storage. Why not just leave them in the mason jars..?
Thankyou..!
Hi, Caroline. Straining the fruit, etc. out makes the extract more for flavoring and reduces unwanted texture (example, you might not want chunks of strawberry in a cookie). For banana extract, that can add extra carbs that are not conducive to weight loss. Things like that. If you have an application where the fruit works in it, go for it. Also, I recommend amber colored jars because they filter sunlight better and less sunlight means better integrity/stronger flavor when the extract is stored over time. But you can definitely keep using the mason jars or any other clear bottle or jar.
Hello! How long can these essences be kept for after they have been infused for the alloted amount of time?
They’ll last pretty much forever. Keep an eye out for mold or off smells in case impurities got/get in them, but so far I haven’t found an expiration date with them.
Hello! These recipes look amazing, I cannot wait to try make them! Do you have a recipe for apple extract?? Thank you
Hi, Hannah. I have never tried it and a Google search didn’t find much. I have a feeling apple extracts are probably made with distilling or crushing type machinery since they might have a pretty mild flavor if homemade. However, you’re more than welcome to give it a try. Throw some apples in some liquor and experiment. 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
How about a butter extract? Is that a possibility or just a fake chemical flavor?
I have not found a way to make butter extract unfortunately. You could try just adding butter to the alcohol and see what happens, might work but I have no idea lol.
Perhaps fat washing the alcohol with butter might give it a buttery taste?
Hello
Thank you for sharing your homemade flavor extracts.
Can you you please help me on how to make an Ube (purple potato) flavor extract like Mccormick ube flavor extract.
Thanks in advance
– Filipina
Hi. I have never heard of that till just now lol! I looked up the ingredients and it looks like McCormick uses a chemical to recreate the flavor of the ube (doesn’t use real ube in it). So if I were able to locate some of the potatoes necessary for it, I’d probably just chop some up (peel and all) and put in with the alcohol same as the process I do in my post here and just see how it does. It’d be a bit of experiment. Let me know if you try it please. Have a great day!
Do you have to use Mason Jars to “steep” the extracts?
your free labels are all for the same extract, vanilla nothing else
Hi, Sheila! Yes, that is correct.
This is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing!
This looks great. My family is choosing to eat low-carb foods and I miss my bananas terribly. I plan on making some banana extract so that we can have some banana muffins!
I was wondering as to shelf life is on the homemade extracts.
Hi, Kevin. They should last pretty much forever. If they ever develop a funky smell or start growing mold, obviously throw out, but since alcohol is the base of it, it should really last pretty much forever.