Who doesn’t love the taste of blueberry?
Think of blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie – the list goes on and on! It’s one of those flavors that’s loved by many, but buying and using blueberries isn’t always the most budget-friendly or convenient…
And that’s where blueberry extract comes in! It’s a delicious and extremely easy way to add that amazing blueberry flavor to virtually anything you want! Add a couple drops to your bakes, mix it into your greek yogurt, use it to make delicious popsicles – your imagination is the limit.
That being said, there are a lot of not-so-great blueberry extracts out there, and you don’t want to be stuck using one of those. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and reviewed a bunch of them, ranking them in this article so you can make the best choice for you!
Let’s take a look!
What is blueberry extract?
Blueberry extract is simply a liquid that has a very concentrated and powerful blueberry flavor. It’s made by putting blueberries (usually crushed up a bit) into alcohol, and leaving the two together for a couple of weeks.
This alcohol, which is usually unflavored vodka, works to extract all the delicious flavors of the blueberries. After a period of time, it’s strained to get rid of all the big blueberry chunks, leaving us with a delicious blueberry extract!
Now, this stuff is powerful. You can add the tasty blueberry flavor to anything with just a couple of drops – any more and you might find the flavor to become overpowering! Since it’s alcohol based, the flavor bakes out a bit, making it easier to avoid overpowering other ingredients.
There’s also blueberry emulsions, which are the same thing but water based. This mainly means that the flavor doesn’t bake out as much, leaving you with a more powerful blueberry taste in your bakes – this can be good or bad depending on your preferences!
How to use blueberry extract in recipes
Blueberry extract can be used anytime you want to add the blueberry flavor to anything.
It’s a great way to give your dish the blueberry taste without altering the texture of the overall dish, but you can also use it in addition with blueberries in a recipe to enhance the flavor! For example, add 1-2 teaspoons of blueberry extract to recipes such as blueberry muffins, blueberry pie, blueberry pancakes, etc., and you’ll get a flavor boost!
You can also use it in your smoothies or beverages, giving them a delicious twist! If your recipe calls for blueberry emulsion, you can substitute it with blueberry extract at a 1:1 ratio.
I generally recommend using it in addition to blueberries in recipes that call for them rather than replacing them, as that would alter the dish too much.
And, like I mentioned, add 1-2 teaspoons in standard baking batches, but stick to adding ½ to 1 teaspoon of blueberry extract for general flavoring, and add more as desired – you can always add more flavor, but you can’t take any away!
2 great recipes to use your blueberry extract
Blueberry extract is the perfect flavor booster, and can really add a lot to your dishes. Try out these two recipes to see your blueberry extract shine:
- Homemade fruit popsicles: The perfect summer snack, these homemade fruit popsicles are a healthy delight! You can make them with any fruit you want, but you definitely need to try using blueberries with ½ to 1 teaspoon of blueberry extract for an extra pop of flavor!
- Homemade flavored milk: You’ll enjoy this delicious beverage at any time of the day! Just take the measurements of milk that the recipe calls for, add 1 teaspoon of blueberry extract, mix it all together, and you have yourself a tasty refreshment!
How to choose the best blueberry extract
Finding the best blueberry extracts requires a bit of detective work, which is exactly what we’ve gone ahead and done for you! We’ve also created a list of criteria that ensures only the best blueberry extracts make it through:
- Ingredients: The best ingredients are natural and high-quality, so we avoid any artificial flavoring and coloring!
- Consumer feedback: Listening to people’s experience with a product is a key factor in deciding whether a product is worth it or not – everyone’s opinion matters!
- Track record: We look for brands that treat their customers right, are transparent about their practices and ingredients, and stay out of scandals!
- Price: Life is expensive, so we’ve included budget-friendly options along with more pricey blueberry extracts.
Now, let’s jump into the rankings!
#1 Best Overall: OliveNation
Being no stranger to the top spot, the best overall blueberry extract is from OliveNation!
These guys consistently bring their A-game when making flavoring agents, as is evident in their blueberry extract. It has an amazing flavor that’s balanced and powerful, and offers a blueberry flavor for your dishes that you can’t go wrong with!
It comes in at the great price of $2.46, and there are nearly 1000 reviews talking about how awesome this stuff is!
You definitely can’t go wrong with OliveNation blueberry extract!
Ingredients: Alcohol, water, natural blueberry flavors. Free of Propylene glycol.
#2 Best Value: Happy Home
Our best value blueberry extract goes to Happy Home!
You’ll enjoy a blueberry extract from a company that’s been in the game for over 90 years – and they’ve only been improving since then! Happy Home is a small business that’s based in Virginia, USA. They’re family-owned, and obviously care a lot about making the best products. Their blueberry extract is wonderful, with a delicious flavor that’ll have you reaching for it over and over again!
It comes in at $2.72, giving it one of the best prices for this kind of quality! The 4 fluid ounce option is perfect, as that’ll give you enough extract to properly experiment with – and you’ll definitely want to!
Ingredients: Natural Flavors, Water, Propylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Benyl Alcohol.
#3 Honorable Mention: Native Vanilla
At number 3 we have Native Vanilla!
We want to give a special shout-out to these guys, as their blueberry extract is absolutely amazing. On top of that, Native Vanilla is a small business that really cares about the Earth – they only use natural and sustainable products, and fight for the environment!
We love to support that sort of thing, but we also love to support a blueberry extract that has such a balanced flavor – it really adds a delicious dimension to whatever you add it to!
Give this one a try!
Ingredients: Water, alcohol, glycerin, blueberry juice concentrate and natural flavors.
#4 Best Keto/Best Paleo: Dolce Foglia
The best keto AND best paleo blueberry extract comes from Dolce Foglia.
This is a solid product overall, with a great taste that provides a strong and delicious blueberry flavor. It also fits right into your keto or paleo diet, making it an attractive option for anyone participating in those!
It is a bit on the pricier side, coming in at $7.48 per fluid ounce, and has artificial flavoring – which we’re not fans of. However, if you need a decent blueberry extract that fits your keto or paleo diet, you won’t find better than Dolce Foglia here.
Ingredients: Natural and Artificial Flavoring.
Others we reviewed
We reviewed a lot of blueberry extracts, and not all of them make it to the list. Two of those blueberry extracts that didn’t make the cut are from Amoretti and LorAnn.
Amoretti blueberry extract isn’t bad, per se, and it’s keto-friendly. However, it costs $21.06 per fluid ounce, which is absolutely too much for a blueberry extract. The ones on the list above are amazing options, and they’re all a LOT more affordable than this, so we can’t recommend Amoretti blueberry extract here.
LorAnn is a very popular company for flavoring agents, but their product is a blueberry emulsion, not an extract. Now, that’s not a bad thing, and really just depends on your preferences, but the reason we don’t recommend LorAnn’s product here is because they include a lot of chemicals in their blueberry emulsion. We look for natural ingredients, as those are the best for taste and for our bodies, and added chemicals in foods are not something we support at Coconut Mama.
Regardless, there are great options in the list above, so make sure to check those out!
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