Update: this project has done very well on pinterest and as such a ton of folks are putting it to good use! If you are worried about mold, please read through the comments in addition to this post. Mold is scary but is very possible in a project like this if the herbs are wet, the full bottles are exposed to air as well as a variety of other factors. I recommend choosing a bottle with a solid seal (like this one), refrigeration and using the oil as soon as possible. A few other infusions you may enjoy: sweet kahlua, cranberry & lavender simple syrup (for holiday cocktails!), lavender & lemon sea salt, homemade vanilla extract. xo
This weekend I finished my first batch of handmade Christmas presents. Warning friends and family – you may or may not be gifted one of the several projects that I’m planning to feature over the next two weeks. If you are, pinky swear you’ll act surprised.
This first gift is inspired by our love of cooking. Kevin and I are the type that really dig those unusual (and sometimes a little crazy) gifts of thyme-infused syrup, lemon sea salt, curry pistachio paste, pickled potatoes… you know, the weird stuff that you can experiment with in the kitchen. This actually happens to be my favorite find of all time, I keep containers of it in our pantry and add it to almost every finished dish. Especially raw avocados. Mmmm.
My goal was to make something unique – and not too crazy – for kitchen use for friends and family. Actually, many of my homemade ideas this year stem from some sort of favorite cooking or bartending technique.
Pretty, inexpensive and not too time consuming! The trifecta of handmade gifting. I really enjoyed spending this past Saturday morning decorating for Christmas with this delicious fragrance roaming through the house in the background. A homemade gift that I highly recommend.
The infusion will now sit in the fridge until Christmas, soaking up all of that wonderful rosemary goodness while the oil becomes the perfect base for salad dressings and marinades, or drizzled alone over sliced heirloom tomatoes or crusty bread.
Rosemary Infused Olive Oil
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Materials for six 8oz bottles: 15-20 fresh rosemary sprigs, one half gallon of olive oil, small glass bottles with a sealable lid
A quick note on materials. You really could swap out any fresh herb in exchange for rosemary (or even lemon, garlic or roasted veggies, for that matter – though you’ll want to read up on how to prep these to avoid bacterial growth). Olive oil is completely subjective to taste but I’ve read that original (and not extra virgin) is ideal for taking on infused flavors. I imagine EVOO would work great as a substitute in a pinch. I considered ordering a fancy gallon of olive oil online and then I read the rave reviews and blind taste testing results for Costco’s very own and was sold. It’s supposedly one of the best! Finally, any glass bottle will do (even canning jars) and I’ve heard that Ikea carries a nice selection as well.
One big secret here is to use fresh herbs, preferably those that you grow just under your window sill (or in your front yard, we have waaay too much rosemary in our front yard, but it does smell fresh and yummy year round).
I found my little glass bottles at Save-On-Crafts after searching and searching (my kind sister noticed my dilemma over Thanksgiving and a day later she pointed me to a pinterest link for these adorable bottles! Thanks sis. UPDATE: if I were to do this project over again, I’d choose a bottle with a screw top lid such as these.) and was pleasantly surprised at the quality, price ($1.29 each!) and adorable little corks. When the bottles arrived, they received a thorough dishwasher washing and were allowed to completely dry.
The rosemary, mind you it’s straight from the garden where bugs live and children play, was cut down to sprig size and thoroughly rinsed. The whole bunch was left to soak in a water bath for about an hour. This is a sure fire way to uncling any unnecessary flavoring, if you know what I mean, from the sprigs. Followed by a few more rinses.
Once the rosemary is thoroughly washed, allow it to thoroughly dry (either out on the counter or by speeding up the process on a low temp in the oven). This is especially important for the rosemary sprigs that will go straight into the bottles (rather than the infusion) – any type of moisture allows for the possibility of mold. Update: my very first batch began showing mold at the very top of the rosemary in several jars after two weeks. I did a bit of research and realized that by soaking the rosemary I had allowed too much moisture into the bottle. For my second round, I let my rosemary dry out for several days so that no water was present during bottling.
To prep my infusion, I poured half of the olive oil and half of my clean rosemary into a large pot on low heat. To keep the olive oil from frying the herbs, ensure all goes in at the same time and that the oil is not spattering when you dust a little water over its surface, the oil should be luke warm. Let the mixture sit and infuse for 5-10 minutes, there’s no science to this process but you’ll know that much of the flavor has been steeped out of the herbs when they begin to wilt and turn a different shade of green. Turn heat off and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, use the other half batch of fresh rosemary to fill your glass bottles. You don’t want to reuse the same rosemary in the above process, this rosemary is now a sad shade of green and will droop in your bottles.
I used a small liquid measuring cup to scoop out the rosemary infused olive oil from the pot to pour slowly into each bottle. It’s okay if some rosemary leaves and even sprigs are transferred with the oil. Fill each bottle half way with warm, infused olive oil and half with your remaining fresh olive oil.
Pouring over a foil lined cookie sheet makes clean up a breeze. Simply scrunch up the mess when you’re done, no gooey oil to sop up.
Oh it smells sooo good.
Cork well and let sit for 1-2 weeks for a full infusion. If you’re planning on gifting right away, the oil will still be deliciously infused after just a few days, but mention to the giftee that if they let it sit in the cupboard for a full two weeks the olive oil will reach its peak. If they plan on using the olive oil slowly over time rather than immediately, the fridge is the best place to keep it to prevent it from spoiling.
I made these labels on my computer at home and printed on brown card stock. A little stamp in the background adds a subtle handmade touch. Fonts include: Pea Shally, SkinnyNess and Century Gothic.
Update: So thrilled there are so many of you who would like to try this out! I’ve made a generic pdf template without the ‘Love, Morgan & Kevin’ that you can download here, you could always leave it blank or write in your own name on the printed version. I apologize but I’m not able to individually email out tags anymore! The response has been overwhelming but awesome. Hopefully the downloadable pdf is just what you’re looking for though :).
A couple of snips, a grommet and some twine later, and my rosemary infused olive oil project is finished.
Did I mention it’s delicious with just plain bread and salt? Oh man.
Happy cooking!
Bianca says
Hi love the post can you please email me the template
Thank you
Morgan says
Hi Bianca! There’s a downloadable version in the post.
Jackie says
Love this idea! I would like to have the template for the tags. Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Morgan says
Hi! The template is now embedded in the post itself. Thanks!
Jenna says
How far in advance can I make these for a wedding? And how do I store them after I make them? Does it go bad if I make it two months in advance?
Morgan says
Hi Jenna, my thoughts are that two months is too long. You don’t want to risk mold on a lavender sprig in the oil – two weeks at most! stored in a cool, dry place. If you filter out all of the dried lavender and it’s purely lavender-infused oil, you could do 2 months out I’d guess. I hope that helps!
Jenna says
You mentioned lavender. What about using rosemary? Will that last longer?
Morgan says
Hi Jenna, I think they might be interchangeable!
Tiffany says
Can I use purchases dried rosemary sprigs in lue of drying them myself? Dried seems to be cheaper and easier to obtain. Same question for the lemon lavender sea salt. Thanks!
Morgan says
Hey, Tiffany! I think that you might lose some of the infused flavor with pre-dried rosemary for the olive oil, but if you do try it out, please let me know how it goes! You should be okay for the sea salt to use already dried herbs.
Krystan says
I was just wondering what size punch you used for the tags? I printed off your template but was hoping to find out the size so I don’t mess them up!
Thanks,
Krystan
Morgan says
Hi Krystan! Sorry for the late reply, just seeing your message. I actually don’t believe I have the punch anymore but it’s a small one – definitely smaller than your average hole punch. I believe I bought it at a scrapbooking store but I’m sure Michael’s (or the like) carries something like that!
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help!
Natalie says
Hi, I’m following this recipe and would love the files for the tags. Thanks so much
Rachael says
Hello! Do you remember how much rosemary you purchased? how many bottles did it make?
Rachael says
Can you also send me the template for your tags?
Morgan says
Sent.
Morgan says
Hi Rachael! The rosemary is all from my front yard, I ended up making a dozen or so bottles from a few handfuls of rosemary. Hope that helps!
Beth says
Love this. Can I get tag template. THANKS
Morgan says
Tags sent :)
Beth says
Can you email me the tags for the flavored oils! Love it! Thanks
TaylorM 13 says
An interesting post and amazing pictures. :) I’m definitely going to try this out during the weekend. Thanks!
Kelly says
Hi!! I LOVE what you did with the olive oil and the tags. Can you send me the graphic?? I am a maid of honor and want to make these for the bridal shower! Thanks so much!
Morgan says
tags sent!
Bradee says
Love this!! Can I get a template on the tags?
Morgan says
Hi! Just wanted to make sure you received the tags as I didn’t see an email come through with this comment :).
Karissa says
I’d really like the template for the tags as well. This is such a great idea – plan to make these as gifts for my co-workers this season! :)
Morgan says
Sent! :)
Karissa says
I didn’t get the template via email. Can you please re-send?
Thanks so much,
Karissa – karissa.kleven@gmail.com
Abby says
Beautiful idea!
please could you forward the template to me.
Morgan says
sent ;)
a says
Hello, I love your instructional on the rosemary infused oil and would like to receive the template that you used for the tags.
Thank you,
REPLY
Morgan says
Sent!
Haley says
Hi there! I absolutely adore this idea and will be using it for our May wedding. Do you think 6oz. bottles would work ok, or should I stick to 8oz? Could you please send me the template at your convenience? Thank you so very much!
Morgan says
Hi Haley, sent you an email and files :).
Alina says
A really lovely idea and I bet it’s nice too – thanks for the tips. Will be trying this out myself I think :)
Alina x
Lindsey says
Thank you for the detailed image-powered step-by-step instructions on this cool DIY gift. Even after I scoured the web for similar bottles, the website you recommended is what I landed on. Picked out some teardrop-shaped glass bottles on their site and ordered online. They arrived safe & sound and VERY well packaged! : )
I have rosemary growing in the backyard that I’ll trim. Tackling it tomorrow!
Jenn King says
Can I get your template for your tags? I love this! Thanks for sharing!
Dona Rey says
Hello, I love your instructional on the rosemary infused oil and would like to receive the template that you used for the tags. My email is wah.77@hotmail.com.
Thank you,
Morgan says
Hey all! Everyone who has sent a request for labels should have received them. Shoot me an email if not! morgan@pepperdesignblog.com
Laura says
wonderful idea! please send me link or template for the labels. Thanks!!!
Lindsey says
Thanks for the great idea! :)
Anna says
Hi- thanks for posting this, I’m so excited! Unfortunately I made a little mistake during the process and walked away for one minute while the oil & rosemary was warming on the lowest burner setting, but when I came back it was boiling . I am guessing I should start over? I already have the bottles cleaned and half of the dried rosemary in them. Will they be ok to leave dried in the corked bottles for another couple days (to give me time to get more rosemary, rinse it and dry it properly?). Or do you think I should start over all together? What a bummer!
Morgan says
I haven’t run into this issue so I can’t say for sure… But before scrapping your first batch I would give it a go by allowing to completely cool and then tasting to see if boiling altered it. Good luck!
Melody Scott says
They look exquisite, but I’m a little afraid after all the comments that it will turn out cloudy. I will try a batch just for home use! The blog is beautifully photographed. I linked to it from here: 50 Holiday Meal Gifts, I hope that sends you more visitors.
Morgan says
Thanks for sharing, Melody :-).