Breakfast is one of my favorite times of day, especially on weekends. During the week, I get to send the kids off to school and the hubby off to work, and settle in with a cup of orange juice and a bowl of oatmeal, an omelette, or toast and cream cheese and just relax before diving into my day.
On the weekends, though, I go all out. Waffles, French toast, biscuits and gravy…but my most requested breakfast is a simple plate of pancakes, with a generous helping of homemade syrup.
Weekend breakfasts are a great time to reconnect with the family and talk about things that have nothing to do with school or work. Plus, getting the kids in the kitchen to help whip up a batch of their homemade syrup of choice is the best!
Homemade Syrup Recipe
There are plenty of recipes on the internet for many different syrup flavors, but I wanted to focus on three of my family’s favorites – classic maple, sweet buttermilk, and versatile strawberry. I love using these awesome glass bottles on amazon.com to store and serve my syrup from. They are perfect for these recipes! Aren’t they cute?
Homemade Maple Syrup
Homemade maple syrup is the easiest of all, as you only have to boil everything together and it’s ready! The only ingredient that may be hard to find is the maple extract. Amazon has many different ones to choose from, but I recommend this one – it’s been my favorite so far!
Depending on how thick you want your syrup will dictate how much brown sugar vs. granulated sugar you use. I like to use a 1:1 ratio – it’s the perfect consistency for me and my family!
The thing I love most about making this homemade syrup recipe (aside from the flavor) is – you guessed it – how frugal it is! Store bought pancake syrup is full of artificial ingredients, and you can eliminate those things from your life by making your own with ingredients you know and trust. And pure maple syrup can be pricey – by using only 1/2 teaspoon of maple extract, you can duplicate it at a fraction of the cost!
Homemade Buttermilk Syrup
Buttermilk syrup is also pretty straightforward. You boil the buttermilk, sugar, and butter together for about a minute once it’s all melted and combined, then there’s a fun science experiment involved! Grab the kids for this: have them whisk in the vanilla and baking soda, and watch the foam rise to the top of the pot!
This buttermilk syrup is a recipe my mother used to make fairly often, and if it wasn’t so sugary, I’m pretty sure I would drink it straight – it’s SO sweet but it’s SO good!!
My husband likes to pour it over his pancakes, and then top it off with his other favorite syrup for extra flavor…
Homemade Strawberry Syrup
This one is my personal favorite! I’ve used this stuff on not only pancakes and waffles, but crepes, ice cream, in smoothies…even on top of some scratch brownies I made!
It’s just as easy as the other two, but involves a bit more time and effort to get it right.
You begin by bringing 3 cups of strawberries to a boil, then cook them over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Your kitchen will smell amazing the whole time!
You then strain the juice from the berries, return the juice to your pot with your sugar and vanilla, and simmer it another agonizing 5-10 minutes until it thickens.
See at how delicious that looks!? And it’s so pretty, to boot!
Now I want pancakes…
Homemade Syrups: 3 Ways!
Ingredients
Homemade Maple Syrup
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp maple extract
Homemade Buttermilk Syrup
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
Homemade Strawberry Syrup
- 3 cups strawberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup water divided
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Homemade Maple Syrup
- In a medium pot, bring sugars and water to a boil for 1 minutes. Whisk in extracts. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before using.
Homemade Buttermilk Syrup
- Combine buttermilk, sugar, and butter in a pot over medium high heat, and stir, allowing butter to melt and ingredients to combine. Bring to boil for 1 minutes, then remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda and vanilla until combined - mixture will foam, so you may want to do this over the sink! Serve while still warm, or heat up if using from refrigerator.
Homemade Strawberry Syrup
- Combine strawberries and 1/2 cup water in a pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook 15-20 minutes, until berries have broken down. Stir in remaining water and remove from heat. Strain juice from berries using a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Discard solids, and return juice to pot, adding sugar and bringing to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer another 5-10 minutes until thickened. Whisk in vanilla and remove from heat. Serve while warm.
I just made this and it was the best recipe ever! Thank you for the super delicious recipe. Can’t wait to make more them.
How long can these be stored for?
I am also wondering how long these will keep for