Homemade Amaretto
from http://www.chowhound.com/

A simpler way to make Amaretto:
from https://www.thespruceeats.com/

1 cup water
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups vodka
2 tablespoons almond extract
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Gather the ingredients.

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil and add the sugars. Reduce the heat, simmer, and stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.

Remove the syrup from the heat and allow it to cool completely.

Add the vodka and flavoring extracts and stir until it's well mixed.

Pour the amaretto liqueur through a funnel into a bottle and seal. The vodka will add to the shelf life of your homemade amaretto liqueur. It should keep well for at least a month and can be stored just like any other liqueur. Refrigeration is not required.

Serve the amaretto on its own over ice or mix it into your favorite cocktails and enjoy.

Makes 3 cups

Amaretto is a liqueur that tastes like almonds, though it's made from apricot kernels. It's a happy marriage of bitter and sweet, equally at home in a brandy cocktail as it is in biscotti. Amaretto is easy to find in most liquor stores. For about $20, Disaronno Originale and Lazzaroni both have a delicate bittersweet taste. The usual suspects that make a variety of liqueurs also make amaretto—Bols, DeKuyper, Hiram Walker—for about half the price. These are great as a supporting player in a cocktail or for cooking, but they're not exactly sipping quality.

The beauty of making your own amaretto lies in controlling the sugar content of this almond liqueur. In a side-by-side tasting of our homemade amaretto and popular commercial brands, ours was less sweet and had a true almond flavor. For the sweet tooths out there, just add more sugar.

What to buy: Apricot kernels are the dried seeds of fresh apricots. They have an almond-like yet bitter flavor and can be found oniline.

Game plan: After the soaking and combining the macerating ingredients, there is a 4-week waiting period, so if you're planning on giving your homemade amaretto as a gift, be sure to factor in the month of infusing time.

This is a good sipping liqueur or addition to Champagne, club soda, and even hot chocolate and egg nog. It's also a good companion for whiskey or brandy. If you like Amaretto Sours, you can mix your homemade amaretto with some DIY sour mix or lemon juice. I think adding a bit of bourbon into the mix makes for a much better version of an Amaretto Sour.

For the macerating mixture:
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
3/4 cup bottled or purified water
2 cups vodka
1 3/4 cups whole, skin-on, coarsely chopped almonds
1 cup brandy
1/4 cup coarsely chopped apricot kernels
1/4 cup coarsely chopped unsweetened, dried cherries

To finish the liqueur:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup bottled or purified water
1 cup vodka
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the macerating mixture:
In a 2-quart jar with a tightfitting lid, soak the apricots in the bottled or purified water until they're rehydrated and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 3 hours.

Add the remaining ingredients to the jar, cover, and shake.

Place in a cool, dark place to macerate for 4 weeks, shaking once per week.

After 4 weeks, line a medium fine-mesh strainer with two 13-by-15-inch pieces of ultrafine cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Drain the contents of the jar through the cheesecloth and into the bowl.

Press on the solids, then gather the corners of the cheesecloth and squeeze the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. (Be careful not to let any solids drop into the strained liquid.)

Discard the cheesecloth and solids; reserve the liquid.

Rinse and dry the strainer and place it over a second large bowl. Set a flat-bottomed paper coffee filter inside the strainer and pour the reserved liquid into the filter. (Be careful not to spill into the bowl.)

Let the liquid filter undisturbed until all of it has passed through and only a sludgelike beige film is left in the filter, about 5 hours.

Remove the strainer, discarding the filter. Measure the liquid in the bowl—you should have about 1 3/4 to 2 cups. (The amount of liquid will determine how much sugar syrup you'll add later.) Return the liquid to the bowl.

To finish the liqueur:

While the macerating mixture is filtering, make the sugar syrup. Place both sugars and the bottled or purified water in a small saucepan set over medium heat, stirring until the sugars have dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Add the vodka, almond extract, and vanilla extract to the reserved filtered liquid and stir to combine. Add about half of the sugar syrup and taste the liqueur.

Depending on how much filtered liquid you have and how sweet you like your amaretto, you may want to add more or all of the syrup. Stir to combine. Transfer to a 1-quart container with a tightfitting lid or small individual containers and store in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.

Makes: About 4 cups