Simple syrup, made at home, is a quick, economical way to sweeten cocktails and mocktails, including homemade lemonade and Lemon Drop Shots.
Ok quick rant. Nothing gets my goat faster than seeing a food blogger shoot ingredients for a recipe featuring a bottle of store-bought simple syrup.
Simple syrup is literally combining equal parts sugar and water and heating in a sauce pot until dissolved.
This liquid sweetener doesn't even have to be heated.
You can make simple syrup without heating by giving the sugar time to combine with the water.
Making this recipe with your own two paws, by the way, will you save you a lot of cash. A 12.7 ounce bottle of sweetener on Amazon is $13.
Making it yourself costs $1.25 for 16 ounces. (I'm assuming you've got a four-pound bag of sugar that you paid $5 for. There are nine cups of sugar in a four pound bag. There are 2-¼ cups of sugar in a pound.)
Why You Should Make Your Own
- Cost-as noted above, you're going to save a lot of money making it yourself.
- Freshness: you can make as little or as much as you want and store it in the fridge. No bottles sitting around for months at a time.
- Control your final product. Maybe you want a thicker liquid or sweeter or less sweet? Just reduce or increase the sugar you use as desired. Maybe you're off sugar, you can make Stevia syrup or using another sugar alternative. Keep in mind you'll use less artificial sweetener as shown in a Stevia syrup ratio.
- Improved taste--this recipe dissolves quicker than regular granulated sugar in a glass of ice tea or lemonade or coffee. It also works in cocktails.
- Customize it. You can make liquid sweeteners with really any flavor imaginable. How about toasted marshmallow simple syrup? 😋
How To Make Sugar Syrup
Measure a cup of granulated sugar and eight ounces of water.
Pour both into a saucepan.
Heat until combined, about five minutes.
Package in a jar or bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Perhaps label the jar with a tag or write the expiration date on a piece of tape and put it on the container because you won't likely remember when you made it.
Make it using a one to one ratio. One cup of sugar to one cup of water. Or just equal parts sugar to water. If you want a small amount of syrup, use half cup of water to a half cup sugar.
Reduce the ratio so that you're using a two to one formula. Use two parts sugar to one part water. To make a thick sugar syrup, use two cups of granulated sugar to eight ounces (or one cup) of water.
For more drink recipes, I've got a list of 25 summer mocktails and my most popular drink recipe is Lemon Drop Martini (3-Ingredient Recipe with Limoncello).
Simple syrup contains roughly 100 calories per ounce. How many calories does vodka have?
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Recipe
Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is one of the easiest, cheapest recipes you can make. DIY sweetened syrup will make a big difference in the quality of your drinks.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 8 ounces water
Instructions
- Combine sugar and water in a saucepot.
- Heat to simmering until sugar has dissolved, about five minutes.
- Let cool.
- Store in a mason jar or a bottle in the refrigerator for up to one month.
Notes
If you don't have access to heat, you can just combine the sugar and water and let it sit, about an hour, until the sugar has dissolved.
Package it in a jar or bottle and give it a shake before using.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 97Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 0gSugar 25gProtein 0g
Ellen
So easy to make and so many uses! I will be keeping this in my fridge so I have it at all times.
Jessica
You're right about this being more economical than buying a bottle from the store. I couldn't believe how easy it is to make simple syrup at home. I don't think I'll ever pick a store-bought option again.