If you bake — even just a batch of your famous holiday cookies once a year — you probably have a red-capped bottle of McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract in your pantry. The extract, which is made by extracting flavor from vanilla beans using alcohol and water, is a foundational ingredient in most of our favorite sweets, like fluffy pancakes, banana bread, and, of course, chocolate chip cookies. Even if you can’t detect a strong blast of vanilla flavor in a brownie or cupcake, the extract plays a quiet but essential supporting role. It helps round out other flavors, including chocolate and spices, adds a touch of natural sweetness, and brings a signature, warming aroma to the table. For most bakers, it’s second-nature to measure out the prescribed dose of vanilla for a cookie dough or cake batter using a measuring spoon, but it turns out that the iconic McCormick bottle has a feature that will save you that step. The red cap on the 4-ounce bottle of McCormick vanilla holds ¾ of a teaspoon of liquid — perfect for recipes that call for a multiple of ¾ (the caps on the 2-ounce bottles hold about ½ teaspoon). So now you can just use the bottle instead of dragging out your measuring spoons.
