The McCormick Vanilla Extract Bottle Baking Trick You'll Never Stop Using

For many of us brought up in cooking households, vanilla is something you measure with your heart, not with a spoon. That said, baking is a science and often needs precise measurements, so finding a happy medium between these two tenets is difficult. Luckily, McCormick and other high-quality, store-bought vanilla extract brands have made things easier for you. If you want to measure out just the right amount of vanilla, you can often do so without dirtying a single utensil — simply use the cap instead.

If you have a 4-ounce bottle of vanilla extract from McCormick, you'll be pleased to know that the cap holds precisely ¾ teaspoon of vanilla. If you have a 2-ounce bottle, the cap should hold ½ teaspoon. Throwing in a little extra splash will get you to 1 teaspoon, allowing your whimsy and soul to add something to the measurement. (Other brands or bottle sizes may measure close to a tablespoon.) Many cake and cookie recipes ask for about this much vanilla extract, and you can make store-bought cookie dough taste homemade by adding a splash of flavor. Just make sure you rinse the cap with a little cold water if you see any buildup on it, and wipe the bottle of any errant drips before putting it away.

I heard this trick from my grandmother as a child, and have used it all my life with great results. Even professional chefs suggest using a capful, so you can bank on that little red cap to help you out. Well, with a few important exceptions.

When you use a cap to measure vanilla, there are a few things you should do to ensure a good outcome. For one, make sure the cap is clean before pouring and that there are no air bubbles in the liquid so you get an accurate measurement. Also, don't measure near an open flame, as real vanilla extract contains alcohol.

Because imitation vanilla is cheaper, it often won't give your cooking the same decadent vanilla flavor. So, even if a capful is the right amount by measurement, you may need more than the recipe dictates to get a good taste. The flavor can also start to dilute or change considerably faster than the good stuff (in only a few years compared to five or more for the expensive real vanilla extract), meaning a cap measurement may not be enough to get the rich flavor you desire.

You should also note that some budget extracts in plastic bottles have thinner caps with different sizes than you'd get with McCormick glass bottles. When in doubt, measure out the contents of one cap into a measuring spoon to see if it matches up. Lastly, double-check your recipe if you're making a very large batch of something like icing to see whether it says a capful or a cupful. It may sound unusual, but some people have made the mistake of mixing up the two with amusing, but disastrous results.