Can you tell I like to bake? 
There are a lot of varying ingredients in these. Here are some examples I found:
๏ผค๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ –
Baker’sยฎ Imitation Vanilla Flavoring: Water, Propylene Glycol, Vanillin, Caramel Color, 0.1% Sodium Benzoate, Phosphoric Acid, and Ethyl Vanillin.
McCormickยฎ Premium Vanilla Flavoring: Water, Alcohol, Natural Flavoring (Including Extractives of Cocoa and Extractives of Tea), Vanillin and Other Artificial Flavoring, Corn Syrup & Caramel Color
McCormickยฎ Imitation Vanilla: Water, Carmel, Color, Vanillin, Ethyl Vanillin, and 0.1% Potassium Sorbate
Ingredients to avoid:
แดสแดแดสสแดษดแด ษขสสแดแดส: skin irritant & allergen, one of Crunchi’s banished ingredients. If I won’t put it on my body, I definitely don’t want it in my food.
๊ฑแดแด
ษชแดแด สแดษดแดขแดแดแดแด: while I’m fine with this preservative in my personal care products, I don’t want it in my baking products.
แดแดสแดแดแดส & แดแดสแดส แดสแดษช๊ฐษชแดษชแดส แดแดสแดส๊ฑ, ๊ฐสแดแด แดสษชษดษข & แดแดสษด ๊ฑสสแดแด: just a slew of processed & mystery ingredients.
แด แดษดษชสสษชษด: while this can be naturally derived from vanilla, most of the time it’s not. It’s then created from petrochemicals & wood pulp, and based on the other ingredients I’d say that’s how this one is done.
๏ผณ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ๏ฝ –
Simply Organicยฎ Extract: Water, organic Alcohol, organic Vanilla Bean Extractives (min 35% alcohol by volume)
Simply Organicยฎ Flavoring: Organic Glycerin, Organic Vanilla Bean Extractives in Water (.5% alcohol)
And yes, you can make your own! I currently have a stock pile of vanilla when I found it on sale, but I’m definitely going to try it. It’s not hard and everyone says they’ll never go back to store bought once they make their own. The beans fluctuate in price a bit online, so I need to get some when they’re low. Hereโs a link that breaks down making your own vanilla extract among a few others!
At the store look for just a couple ingredients – water, alcohol (or glycerin), vanilla bean extracted, and I have see some use a negligible amount of organic sugar that helps in the extraction process.
This is one I’d really recommend going organic. To make the extract, you’re soaking the beans and literally extracting everything from the beans. So while you’ll get the goodness from the beans, you’ll also be getting the bad if it’s not organic. I’ve actually seen Simply Organic on sale cheaper than the comparable conventional options at Woodman’s on a pretty regular basis.
