The Best Vanilla Extract Substitute Is Probably Hiding in Your Kitchen

By now, you’ve probably been told once or twice to make your own vanilla extract. (One of those times may or may not have been by us.) Recipes tell you how easy-breezy it is to DIY the solution, which is essentially just vanilla pods soaked in alcohol. Just buy vanilla beans, split down the center, stuff in a jar, drown in booze (most people use vodka; bourbon is fair game, too).

But what if I told you that I have an even easier method for homemade extract: You just, well, skip the vanilla.

Hear me out. American baking has its chosen ingredients: There’s cinnamon, which shows up everywhere (even when it’s not invited). And vanilla, which is so overworked and ubiquitous that many equate it with “plain”—the absence, versus the addition, of a flavor. So unfair to vanilla. Often, it shines on its own accord (these recipes will convince you!). Other times, it's there by default—a wee teaspoon, just because. That's when you should let bourbon sneak in.

Maybe you don't even notice. Maybe you like it even more!

Double Vanilla Butter Cake with Chantilly Cream

What’s more: Most vanilla extract is pricey. (Eater did a great deep dive on the beans’ price spike following a cyclone in Madagascar, the world’s leading producer of the ingredient.) You know how buying in bulk saves you money? Go into your kitchen and find the vanilla extract. Now find the bourbon. Which bottle is bigger? Seems silly, right? The price difference does, too: Most vanilla extract you’ll find in a supermarket costs between $2.50 and $6 per ounce. A mid-shelf bourbon, on the other hand, would cost less than a $1 per ounce.

Here are the rules:

• Use a dark alcohol with a distinct personality. My go-to spirits are dark rum and bourbon. You can use whichever brand you have on hand—no need to use something fancy, here. (If you have neither, you could try brandy, almond extract, or maple syrup, too.)
• Simply swap out the vanilla extract and replace with 1 to 2 times that amount in alcohol. Example: If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, replace with 1 to 2 teaspoons dark rum. (If you go the almond extract route, halve the amount of vanilla—so for 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, swap in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.)

And that's it! Now give it a whirl. Here are some recipes and the alcohols you can sub in for vanilla extract. Even better than the original? You tell me.

Alice Medrich's New Classic Coconut Macaroons

Mango-Lime Trifle with Brown Butter Cake

Padma Lakshmi's Clouds of Cardamom & Cashew Cookies

Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Citrus and Ginger

Violet’s Pineapple-Coconut Cake

Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream with Caramel

Brown Butter Blondies

Malted Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

Teddie's Apple Cake

Real Caramel Sauce

Banana Bread-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chocolate Chess Pie