Shawna Shepherd is a producer at CNN.

There’s got to be a better way. That’s what I thought when I was standing in the supermarket aisle staring at pricey bottles of vanilla extract. This was around the holidays, when I typically bake a lot, and I was going through it quickly. I wanted quality vanilla at a reasonable price and since I couldn’t get that at the store, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Vanilla extract, a staple ingredient in most cookie and baking recipes, can be made inexpensively from home with just two ingredients.

Anyone who has a busy job or a family might scoff at the notion of making something from scratch because who has the time? As a young professional who travels a lot, I won’t take on anything that requires a lot of upkeep. But trust me, making vanilla extract requires very little time and maintenance. You will impress both baking novices and do-it-yourself enthusiasts.

It will taste just as good as the gourmet stuff you find in grocery stores or specialty markets, but it will last longer and cost much less. It is easy and doesn’t require much work. You can make a batch for yourself or take it one step further, like I did, and bottle up your homemade vanilla extract to give to friends and family.

All it takes is a jar of vanilla beans filled with vodka - place it in a dark cupboard, give it a good shake every once in a while and about eight weeks later, you have vanilla extract. The longer you keep the beans in the vodka, the better it gets. When you start getting low, just top off the vanilla extract with vodka and replenish with another vanilla bean (discard the soaked ones or better yet, scrape out the used vanilla pod and use it in a recipe).

Vanilla extract can be expensive because vanilla beans, which come from vanilla orchids, are expensive to produce. Mexico was the first country to grow vanilla beans from vanilla orchids, thanks only to a native bee that naturally pollinates the plant and produces the fruit, or vanilla pod. Mexico held a monopoly on producing vanilla beans until it was discovered that vanilla orchid flowers could be pollinated artificially. Madagascar is now the world’s largest producer of vanilla beans, but the pods continue to be grown throughout the tropics.

You can usually find Madagascar-Bourbon vanilla beans in the grocery store or food specialty stores; they're typically sold in packs of two vanilla beans. You are going to pay a much higher price in the store, up to 50 percent more than if you purchase them online, and that includes shipping. Shopping online has other benefits: you can try different varieties and you can save money if you buy in bulk.

Ina Garten wrote in one of her cookbooks that she has replenished the same jar of vanilla extract for over 20 years. Little did I know how simple it would be after I actually tried it.

Step-by-step DIY vanilla extract

1. Use any jar with a tight lid. If you decide to use a used jar, be sure to clean and sterilize it in boiling water or else your extract will pick up other flavors like mine did when I used an old peppercorn jar!
2. Split the vanilla beans in half using a knife. You can also use kitchen shears as long as they are clean and sterilized. Place the vanilla beans at the bottom of the jar.
3. Pour vodka into the jar. For every vanilla bean I’d add approximately two to three ounces of vodka. In this photograph I am pouring 16 ounces of vodka in a jar with six (split) vanilla beans. No need to splurge on the expensive vodka - the cheap stuff will work just fine! If you don’t want to use vodka, you can use rum instead.
4. Place the jar in a dark cupboard and shake it every once in a while, and eventually the vanilla seeds will loosen from the pod. Shake the jar once a week or every few weeks – whatever works for your schedule. Your vanilla extract will be ready in eight weeks, but the longer you keep the beans in the vodka, the stronger and better it gets.
5. You can use the vanilla extract with the split beans and seeds soaking in the vodka, but it won’t look like the store-bought extract you’re used to. If you don’t mind the seeds leave them in and they’ll simply add more flavor to your recipe! But you can also filter the seeds and pod from the extract with a coffee filter (permanent gold tone coffee filters work much better than disposable coffee filters). Each time you need vanilla extract, you can filter the needed amount so the vanilla beans continue to strengthen the extract.
6. The extract can remain in the same jar or you can transfer some extract in a smaller bottle to keep for yourself or to give to friends and family. I purchased 4-ounce bottles in bulk from an online bottling company.
7. I decided to give my vanilla extract to friends and family as gifts around the holidays, so I personalized labels I bought at a local stationery store and printed them using a laser printer.
8. This extract just keeps on giving! Once you start running low, simply top off your vanilla extract with more vodka and a vanilla bean.