Vanilla extract

One US cup of vanilla extract weighs between 208 and 224 grams, depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Also called pure vanilla extract, vanilla essence, extract of vanilla.

Two sources 7.4% apart, over the 5% tolerance for the liquid category, so this entry publishes a range rather than a figure. The disagreement is real and reflects a genuine physical difference in how commercial vanilla extract is formulated. USDA FDC 173471 (Vanilla extract) gives 1 cup at 208 g (0.8792 g/ml).

King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart lists vanilla extract at 14 g per tablespoon, implying 224 g per cup or 0.9468 g/ml. Vanilla extract is a solution of vanillin and other flavour compounds extracted from cured vanilla beans, dissolved in a water-ethanol mixture. FDA identity standards under 21 CFR 169.175 require pure vanilla extract to contain a minimum of 35 percent ethanol by volume and a minimum of one unit of vanilla constituent (13.35 ounces of vanilla beans per gallon of finished extract).

This is a floor, not a ceiling: commercial pure vanilla extracts commonly contain 40 to 50 percent ethanol by volume, and the higher-alcohol products are noticeably less dense because ethanol is significantly lighter than water (0.789 g/ml versus 1.0 g/ml at 20 Celsius). A 35 percent ethanol solution weighs approximately 0.947 g/ml, matching King Arthur's figure closely. A 45 to 50 percent ethanol solution weighs approximately 0.88 to 0.92 g/ml, bracketing USDA's figure.

Both sources are therefore physically consistent with FDA-compliant vanilla extract, and neither can be rejected on physics grounds. They describe different product formulations rather than measurement errors on the same product. The practical implication for a home baker is that vanilla extract weight varies by brand.

Nielsen-Massey, McCormick and Watkins pure vanilla extracts all publish nutrition labels declaring different serving weights per teaspoon (typically 4 to 4.5 grams), and the difference across brands is real and consistent with alcohol content variation. For teaspoon quantities, which is how most recipes use vanilla extract, the practical difference is at most 0.5 grams per teaspoon and does not affect finished baked goods. For larger quantities (a full tablespoon in a batch of ice cream base, or 2 tablespoons in a large batch of frosting), the difference can reach 2 to 3 grams and become detectable.

Imitation vanilla extract (vanillin dissolved in propylene glycol, water and sometimes ethanol, without vanilla beans) is a distinct product with different density and is covered by USDA FDC 172235 at approximately 208 g per cup. Vanilla bean paste (thickened vanilla extract with vanilla seeds suspended in it) is denser again, typically 250 to 280 g per cup depending on brand, and is a separate product. Vanilla powder (dried vanilla bean, no alcohol) is a solid and outside the scope of a liquid extract entry.

No standards body publishes a bulk density for vanilla extract. FDA 21 CFR 169.175 specifies ethanol minimum and vanilla constituent content but not density directly, though density can be estimated from ethanol content via ICUMSA-style alcohol-water density tables. Two sources only, both physically valid within FDA identity standards, and the range is published because no third source arbitrates between formulations at different ethanol levels.