Next in my ongoing series with for Free People of Giftable Recipes, is a simple adaptable recipe/DIY for homade finishing sea salts. These would make the perfect gift for any food-lover (dare I say, foodie, I kinda hate that word). You can really have fun with the flavoring on these, creating your own to suit the tastes of the recipient. Or change it up and make flavored sugars, too.

Plus, you can really have fun with the packaging on these. Package in cute jars, wrap paper or fabric around the lid, finish with ribbons or twine and make fun handmade tags or labels, to really personalize the gift. I kept it simple and just painted the lids with chalkboard paint so I could write what was inside. I plan to actually give these as gifts this year, so I will make some fun personalized gift labels for whoever these end up going to.

Flavored Finishing Sea Salts 

Vanilla Sea Salt

This smooth and aromatic salt would be great to rim drinks, for the top of truffles, caramels, cookies and other sweet treats, and don’t let it fool you, it would be great with savory items as well.

1/2 cup sea salt

2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds reserved

Remove beans from vanilla pod and mix thoroughly with sea salt. Package in an airtight container of your choice.

Sezchuan Peppercorn Sea Salt

This spicy salt has a kick plus a nice earthy rustic flavor and it would be great on grilled veggies, meat and seafood, popcorn, homemade chips, veggie burgers, stir-fries, etc.

1/4 cup Sezchuan peppercorns (aka Sichuan peppercorns) or any other peppercorn of your choice

1/4 cup sea salt

Dry roast the peppercorns over a medium/high heat in a dry skillet on the stove top for 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool then add to processor (a spice grinder or mortar and pestle would also work) and grind to the size of the sea salt, add the salt to incorporate, pulse a few more times.  Package in an airtight container of your choice.

Citrus Sea Salt

This bright and fresh flavored salt would be great on vegetables, grilled or roasted chicken or seafood, shellfish, steamed rice, chocolates, cookies etc.

1/2 cup sea salt

1 tablespoon fresh citrus zest from well scrubbed fruit such as lime, orange, lemon, grapefruit or any combination of those (I used Organic Navel Oranges)

Mix together the zest and the salt, making sure there are no large clumps of the zest. Spread out evenly on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Allow the citrus zest dry out in the oven at 200ºF for about 60 minutes. Once cooled, package in airtight container of your choice.

Lavender Sea Salt

This fragrant and flavorful salt would be great on sweet treats like truffles, chocolates, ice cream, shortbread cookies, scones, etc. Also try it in savory dishes like roasted squash, herbed flatbreads or with grilled chicken , lamb or salmon, etc.

1/4 cup dried lavender (make sure it is culinary grade lavender)

1/2 cup sea salt

Add the dried lavender to your food processor (a spice grinder or mortar and pestle would also work) to quickly chop the lavender, then add the sea salt, whir it together a bit, then package in an airtight container of your choice.

These recipes were originally shared on the Free People Blog BLDG 25. Share your thoughts below on how you would use these particular sea salts or what flavors you would try making yourself?