This sweet simple apple syrup is perfect for topping pancakes, waffles, ice cream and more! It’s thick and sweet, making it great for pouring and drizzling. Use it on your breakfast or desserts!
I also like to use it in cocktails and coffee too for sweetening my drinks with a delicious caramel apple flavor.
This easy apple syrup uses real apples, letting you make this DIY fruit syrup from scratch. It’s also only 3 ingredients!
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✏️ Recipe creation
Homemade pancake syrup is actually way easier than you’d expect, and this apple syrup is a great way to use up leftover apples. You can store your syrup for a long time, so it’s great to keep around.
I wanted to create a homemade syrup recipe from scratch that used real fruit. Using brown sugar in this recipe also gives this a caramel hint – it’s delicious!
I love whipping up a batch of this syrup in a mason jar as a gift for friends and family, especially in time for Pancake Day.
🥘 Ingredients
This lemon curd recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- Apples
- Water
- Light brown sugar
- Lemon juice (optional)
See the recipe card for quantities.
Ingredient substitutions
I like to use green apples in this recipe, such as Granny Smith apples or Bramley apples, but any type of apples will work! Note that sweeter varieties will give you a sweeter syrup, but they should all work a treat.
Using soft light brown sugar gives a delicious caramel hint to your syrup, but you can swap this for white sugar to lessen the caramel flavour or for dark brown sugar to increase the caramel flavour.
Using fresh lemon juice adds a fresh and zesty lift to your syrup, but you can also use bottled lemon juice if you don’t have real lemons on hand. You can also leave it out completely and your syrup will still be tasty.
Ingredient tips
- You’ll get more juice from your lemon if you roll it firmly against a hard surface before cutting and squeezing.
- Your syrup will have more apple flavour if you use ripe apples.
🔪 Equipment
I use the following equipment for this recipe:
- Knife and chopping board
- Medium saucepan
- Masher
- Sieve
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Weighing scales
- Measuring spoons
- Storage jar
Equipment alternatives
If you don’t have a masher, you can carefully mash the heated apples using a fork instead.
It’s best to store your apple brown sugar syrup in sterilised canning jars / mason jars but you can store it in other containers as long as they’re food safe and airtight e.g. plastic Tupperware.
Instead of a sieve, you can strain your mashed apple mixture using a cheesecloth or muslin cloth – be careful not to burn yourself on the hot mixture though!
Equipment tips
- To measure your ingredients, it’s best to use weights rather than cups for better accuracy.
- I like using digital scales for weighing my ingredients as it's easy and accurate. I quite like KitchenAid or Salter scales.
- It’s best to use measuring spoons. Cutlery teaspoons and tablespoons have different volumes to the measuring ones!
- Using a metal sieve is much easier to press through your hot apple mix for straining.
- For your apple syrup to keep longer, you should sterilise your jars before use. See FAQs below for help!
📖 Method
Step 1: Heat the chopped apples and water in a saucepan, until bubbling and mushy.
Step 2: Mash the apples and then simmer for a further 5mins.
Steps 3 - 4: Strain the apple juice into a bowl, pushing as much liquid through a sieve or cheesecloth as possible.
Steps 5 - 6: Heat the apple juice in a clean saucepan, stirring in the sugar and lemon juice. Simmer, stirring continuously, until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Allow to cool to room temperature and then pour into sterilized jars and enjoy!
🍱 Storage
You can store your finished apple syrup in sterilised jars such as mason jars, canning jars or jam jars (or other airtight containers) in the fridge. They should keep fresh for up to 1 month.
💭 Top tips
- Press as much of the apple liquid through the sieve as you can to get all of that apple goodness into your syrup.
- Keep stirring your apple syrup as you melt the sugar, otherwise it can burn on the bottom of your pan.
❔ FAQs
A simple syrup is one where sugar is dissolved in water. This is usually done by heating the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves.
Simple syrups are popular for use in drinks such as cocktails.
This apple syrup recipe is a thicker and darker version of a simple syrup – perfect for drinks as well as topping breakfasts and desserts!
Your apple syrup should last for up to 1 month stored in a sterilised airtight container in the fridge.
To sterilise jars, you can wash them with hot soapy water then place them on a baking sheet in the oven at 275F / 140C / 120C (fan) / Gas 1 for 10-15mins until dry.
Note that most lids have rubber seals, so remove these before you heat them. If they’re built-in, you can’t heat the lids along with the jars.
Alternatively, you can boil jars and lids in hot water in a large saucepan on the hob for 2-3mins.
Allow your jars to cool before use.
Yes, you can make your apple syrup ahead and store it for up to a month in the fridge.
The best way to juice a lemon is to first cut it in half, through the middle rather than tip to tip. Press your lemon half into a citrus squeezer or juicer to release the juice.
You can instead use a fork to press into the juicy fruit part and twist the fork while you squeeze the lemon half. Do this over a strainer to catch any pips / seeds.
Homemade pancake syrup is the best! The flavours and sweetness are fresher without any artificial preservatives to affect the taste.
Personally, I love this homemade apple syrup with its delicious crisp apple flavour and a hint of caramel sweetness. The added lemon juice really gives it a fresh zesty lift too!
Yes, this DIY apple syrup is a gluten-free recipe.
Yes, this apple syrup is a vegan recipe (i.e. vegetarian and dairy-free).
Troubleshooting
If you’ve got any specific questions on making this best ever apple syrup recipe, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to help out!
Alternatively, you can get in touch via my Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest – I’d love to hear from you!
🥞 Suggested uses
A homemade apple syrup from scratch is perfect for drizzling over hotcakes, pancakes and waffles for breakfast (or Pancake Day!).
You can also use this sauce to top your apple pies for a delicious caramel apple flavour and added sweetness. Pair with whipped cream for the ultimate apple pie indulgence!
Why not try swapping it for the golden syrup in my favorite treacle sponge pudding recipe for a fresh apple twist - delicious!
This apple syrup will take your ice cream to the next level too. Serve it at BBQs, garden parties and dinner parties for a twist on the usual ice cream treats.
For a Fall treat, why not stir a teaspoon of this caramel apple syrup into your morning coffee? Caffeine + Sugar = BEST MORNING EVER!
You can also make great Frappuccino’s and iced coffees with this syrup – get a hit of that Starbucks goodness in the comfort of your home!
♻️ Variations
I love the caramel apple flavor of this thick syrup. You can add ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon to your hot syrup when you’re dissolving your sugar in order to have a more Fall flavor – apple and cinnamon is a match made in heaven!
You can also add ½ teaspoon of maple extract flavoring to your syrup if you’d like an apple maple syrup.
I like adding lemon juice to this syrup to give it a fresh flavour and help to cut some of the sweetness of the thick syrup, but you can leave this out if you don’t like the taste of lemon.
🧁 Other goodies
Looking for some other goodies to make?
For more great coffee syrup and pancake syrup ideas, check out my boozy recipe for salted rum dulce de leche syrup! Stir into your favourite drinks and drizzle generously over ice cream, pancakes, waffles and more.
You can also use a delicious curd in place of syrup as a dessert topping – why not try my best ever lemon curd (great for fillings too) or passionfruit curd.
If you love syrups, you can check out my article on golden syrup substitutions for some other great pancake topping ideas!
Looking forward to some new recipes? Check out my Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages for a few sneak peeks and some sweet inspiration!
Or if you’d like to hear about our latest recipes, why not subscribe to our newsletter?
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📋 Recipe
Apple Syrup
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 medium apples cored and chopped, roughly 250g
- 120 ml (½ cups) water
- 200 g (1 cups) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice ¼ lemon, optional
Instructions
- Heat the chopped apples and water in a saucepan, until bubbling and mushy. Mash the apples and then simmer for a further 5mins.
- Strain the apple juice into a bowl, pushing as much liquid through a sieve or cheesecloth as possible.
- Heat the apple juice in a clean saucepan, stirring in the sugar and lemon juice. Simmer, stirring continuously, until the sugar has fully dissolved.
- Allow to cool to room temperature and then pour into sterilized jars and enjoy!
Notes
- Makes 1 jar of apple syrup (small-medium) - roughly 300g / 200ml / 7oz
- This is a gluten-free and vegan apple syrup recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
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