Five Simple, Natural Recipes for Homemade Pancake Syrup
Pancakes are somewhat of a religion in our household, but contrary to what most people think, we don’t enjoy them exclusively with pure maple syrup. Yes, around here it is easily accessible and somewhat affordable, but I like to change things up for pancake toppings from time to time.
A favorite of ours is fresh yogurt with apple butter, but we get even more creative than that and today I’m showing you some of those variations. Pictured above from left to right: buttery maple, honey-orange, molasses-cinnamon, vanilla-rice syrup, and blueberry syrups!
When I was growing up, we scooped local honey from a big bucket into a small cast iron pot and set it on the wood stove to melt for our pancakes. With store-bought pancake syrups consisting basically of corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring, my mother made sure to keep all Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin bottles far from our breakfast table.
Now my children also enjoy all-natural syrups on their pancakes and waffles, their current favorite being the Molasses-Cinnamon. These are recipes that I’ll be teaching them to make before they move out on their own and hopefully the tradition of homemade pancake syrups will be passed down to their children as well.
A few things to note about these recipes:
As much as possible, all ingredients are organic.
For the best flavour and consistency, these syrups are made to be served warm. They will be stiff if you serve them straight from the refrigerator, so set the glass jar in a pan of hot water and let them warm up. Alternately, scoop out a portion of syrup into a small bowl and warm it for a few seconds in the microwave.
Store all syrups in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, although they probably won’t last that long.
A jar of homemade pancake syrup makes a lovely gift. Perhaps alongside a jar of homemade pancake mix? Sounds like a smashing start to a breakfast basket to me.
Molasses-Cinnamon Syrup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup demerera sugar or brown
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 6 Tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon salted butter
Instructions
- In a small pot, whisk together sugar, molasses, water, and cinnamon over medium heat.
- Bring to a slow boil and continue stirring until ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter. Cool slightly. Transfer to a jug for serving or a glass jar for storing.
Nutrition
Buttery Maple Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup salted butter
Instructions
- In a small pot, whisk maple syrup and water together and warm over a burner.
- When syrup is hot, whisk in butter all at once.
- Continue stirring over medium low heat until butter is melted and syrup is hot. Pour into pitcher and serve, or make stacked pancakes.
Nutrition
For Stacked Pancakes:
Keep syrup hot on the back of the stove while you fry pancakes. Place pancakes in a 9×13 pan and drench with buttery maple syrup. Keep pan in a low oven while you continue to cook pancakes. Keep adding to the stacks and brushing on syrup after every addition. Serve warm.
Honey-Orange Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic honey
- 1 Zest of one orange
- 1 Juice of one orange
- 1 Tablespoon Grand Marnier Optional
Instructions
- Wash an orange and zest completely ( I use a microplane). Juice the orange.
- In a small pot, whisk together honey and the freshly squeezed orange juice over medium heat. Continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil and the orange juice is completely incorporated.
- Remove from heat and stir in orange zest.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Transfer to a jug for serving or a glass jar for storing.
Nutrition
Blueberry Syrup
Last summer I capitalized on the low prices and abundance of local blueberries and made my own blueberry syrup. I knew it would be good, but not THIS good. We became smitten, pouring it over ice cream sundaes, cheesecake, yogurt, and of course, our pancakes. I bought crates of berries, canned the syrup, and we’ve been enjoying it all winter long.
You should definitely bookmark the recipe for next June, but for now you can use frozen, thawed blueberries for a delicious, tart alternative to the sweeter syrups.
Vanilla-Rice Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice syrup I use Lundburg
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 vanilla bean split and seeded, optional
Instructions
- In a small pot, whisk brown rice syrup and water together and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- When syrup is hot, remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.
- Whisk until butter is melted and ingredients are incorporated. Cool slightly. Transfer to a jug for serving or a glass jar for storing.
Nutrition
Don’t worry, we’ve got our favorite pancake recipe coming next week!
Pancakes, waffles or French Toast, what is your household favorite?
This is fantastic. We are definitely fans of the pancake around here, and often eat oat or cornmeal ones. We don’t consume a lot of French toast or waffles, but we do make crepes on the weekend.
My family really dislikes plain maple syrup, so I have given up trying. What I’m using currently to appease all the taste buds is Log Cabin’s All Natural syrup. It’s alright, but I’m grateful to have some new options to try that don’t call for Mapleine. Blech!
They do not like maple syrup? I don’t think I have heard of that, but I am Canadian, so even if we didn’t like it (we all love it by the way), I couldn’t say it out loud!
What a wonderful way to liven up simple pancakes or french toast. We eat one of those every Sunday morning (our one family breakfast of the week) and although most of us enjoy plain maple syrup, I love these ideas for making them even more special. I especially like the buttery maple syrup version. So simple, but so yummy sounding. Thanks for some great ideas!
Most of the time we use plain maple syrup, too, and even though it’s prevalent here, it IS still special.
Each and every one of these syrups looks mouthwatering. I’d put them on ice cream too!
Oh yum, these all look terrific, especially the buttered maple syrup. One thing we’re doing lately is when I make smoothies (usually kefir/yogurt + frozen berries) we drizzle that over our pancakes of choice and it is a creamy, sweet, fruity treat.
My family loves pancakes and French toast while I am a huge waffle fan. Of course we use pure maple syrup as one of the toppings (other include jam or yogurt). I am certainly going to give all these recipes a try. They sound delicious. Great to offer these toppings at a brunch!
Oh, that would be fun, wouldn’t it? A crepe bar -or something.
For my family pancakes are the winner, but me, I love french toast. The syrups look delicious!
I love these ideas, especially the molasses-cinnamon syrup which is like gingerbread in a bottle!
I’d love any of these on my pancakes, but that honey-orange is really calling to me this morning! Yum!
Pancakes, waffles, or french toast … that is a tough call 😉 I love stuffed french toast but can’t imagine a weekend going by without pancakes!
That honey-orange syrup sounds so good! Can’t wait to give these a try!
What a great post. Your syrups all look amazing. We are great lovers of the pancake as well and I’m excited to add some variety with your syrups!
I am in LOVE with this post!!! We adore syrup around here but try to buy only organic and its gets pretty spendy! What a brilliant substitution! (And BETTER!)
Love YOU! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I just made some homemade syrup a few weeks ago but you definitely give a great variety a recipes. I’ll have to try your recipes, the orange honey one sounds amazing.
This is a perfect alternative to the store bought varieties. They “fake” syrups at the stores are filled with HFCS and artificial coloring and flavorings. Not something I like to feed my family.
Great recipes, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for commenting, Lisa! That is awesome that you are already into homemade syrups. I hope you enjoy these!
As Buddy The Elf says, “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.” Thanks for kicking it up a notch!
*giggle*
These sound terrific Aimee!! I made cinnamon syrup last fall for my pumpkin pancakes can’t wait to try some of these
We rarely make anything other than homemade maple syrup. I’m going to have to shake things up around here!
Fantastic alternatives to regular ol’ syrup! I’m especially eyeing the vanilla rice syrup, as brown rice syrup is a favorite unrefined sweetener of mine. The blueberry syrup also sounds great – I can’t wait until berries are once again in season!
Great photos and very useful post! We’d love for you to share your recipe at dishfolio.com!
Yum! We loved The bluberry syrup this summer and I think I’m going to have to try each of these yet. Our favourite “vessel” is definitely waffles but we haven’t owned a waffle maker since moving to Norway so pancakes are our go to now. Another fave is crepes. Yay for breakfast foods!
These all sound so interesting, Aimee! Love that Little House is one of your syrup inspirations!!
There’s apparently a whole cookbook based on the Little House books. I think I’d like it. 🙂
I’ve got the Little House cookbook, the apple pie receipe in it is the only one I use. The book gives a lot of historical info and isn’t boring. Any bookstore may have the book or you can order it from the Laura Ingalls Wilder websites.
Wow! I’ve never thought of making syrups like this! These look delicious.
This is great, Aimee. I’ll be branching out!
Love these recipes Aimee! I especially like the Honey Orange Syrup. I’ll be trying that one for sure.
I LOVE THIS!!! Pancakes or waffles are something we do every weekend. Special breakfast, and ours boys love it. I can’t wait to change it up and use these syrups and waffle/pancake recommendations. (and I haven’t ventured into french toast, or crepes yet…and the idea of stuffed french toast (I think Kara’s comment). Oh my! I need to find a recipe for that. Looks like breakfast for dinner tomorrow!
Oh my gosh, these sound amazing! Especially the blueberry–I’m intrigued. And drooling.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Normal pancake syrups are forever ruined for me. Which is probably a good thing!!
YUM.
I love these flavor syrups. These are perfect with homemade pancakes.
Oh my goodness, Aimee, these sound amazing! We usually stick to maple for him, agave for me, and sometimes a fruit syrup like blueberry or raspberry depending on what kind of fresh or frozen fruit I have on hand. I can’t wait to to try the buttery maple one and the vanilla rice syrup though! Yum, yum!!
What a bunhc of great ideas….quick question…what exactly is brown rice syrup? I’m not sure i’ve come across it before, Is there an alternative?
Brown rice syrup is a natural sweetener made from cooked brown rice. It is liquid and has a similar consistency to honey. A popular brand is Lundberg and can be found in health food stores.
These are gorgeous recipes, Aimee! I can’t wait to give them a try to see which one my family prefers. I’m with you on the blueberry syrup. It is a delicious way to enjoy those blueberries all year long!
I’m with the kids- love the cinnamon molasses one!
This is a fantastic post! I love the variety of flavors and the idea of giving these as gifts. Right up my ally. Thank you!
I love these recipes and your photos are beautiful!
Aimee, I love this post. Each and every one of these syrups looks amazing. I must try each if them.
I love these ideas! And I’m especially fond of the syrup inspired by Farmer Boy, one of my favorite childhood books! Thanks for all these great ideas 🙂
Thanks for all these great ideas! We love pure maple syrup but it is so expensive. These look like great alternatives that will be much healthier than store bought “pancake syrup”! Thanks again – LeAnne
I’ve never considered making my own syrup, but you’ve convinced me. These all sound wonderful.
What kind of molasses do you use? I haven’t used it much before, but I know there are different kinds.
I use a basic brand – Grandma Fancy. I’ve tried some others, but they get pretty strong!
Also, consider alternatives to syrup. For example, I always top my waffles with banana slices sauteed in a little butter. I also make waffles that have enough character to be interesting without a lot of syrup.
Does the syrup have a shelf life? Does it have to be stored in the frig?
Yes, they need to be stored in the refrigerator. I canned and processed the blueberry syrup successfully, so this could be another option.
Have you tried canning any of the others? And how do you can them? Water-bath? Pressure cooker? What lbs, time, etc? I’d love to try canning some! Thank you!
I’m so excited to stumble across your site! I’m experimenting with eating all local foods, and one thing I can’t get where I am is maple syrup. I’ve been looking for good homemade alternatives, and will definitely be trying the Honey-Orange syrup soon! Love it, thanks!
Thank you for these wonderful, creative recipes! I have been getting the store-bought syrups for years, especially whatever is the cheapest, but always hated the artificial colorings and HFCS. Just had the thought that I should try a homemade syrup–I didn’t know what was involved but I was sure it could be done. Looks like it can be done, and beautifully! Thank you!
Could I make these and can them to give as gifts for the holidays? I would love to start early, process and can them, so they were ready.
This sounds like a great idea! Is there anyway to make them last for longer than two weeks? Have you ever tried water canning?
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I love the honey-orange syrup recipe which I’ll definitely try. All the syrups look so yummy.
I love the honey syrup and vanilla syrup the most.