Flavored syrups are easy to make. They’re a mixture of water, sugar, a flavor, and maybe a thickener. Juice can be substituted for the water.
You can use the syrup on your pancakes. We have often used a syrup and added fruit to make a fruited syrup to put over pancakes or a dessert,
See how to make a flavored dessert syrup.
You can also take a favorite pancake syrup, especially a flavored syrup, and use it over a dessert or ice cream. We’ve even taken pancake syrups and made candy popcorn.
Linde, who manages our store, pours flavored pancake syrup over her popcorn to make a simple candy popcorn. (It’s a bit sticky because it hasn’t been cooked as much.)
How to Use Flavored Syrups
There are so many things you can make with flavored syrups and so many ways to use them. Here are some of our favorite ideas to get you started.
- Make Snow Cones. You will need an ice shaver. Make the shaved ice and pour the flavored syrup over the top. Thin the syrup if needed.
- Make Popsicles. Make a punch with the flavored syrup and then freeze the punch in pop molds.
- Make Candy Popcorn. You can make candy popcorn with any sugar syrup. See this recipe. Use it as a template for other recipes or get our free Popcorn Handbook.
- Make Popcorn Balls. Cook the flavored syrup for a few minutes more so that the syrup is not so sticky and form a popcorn ball.
- Make a Dessert Sauce. Cook the syrup to thicken it if desired. Remember, it will thicken as it cools. You can also thin it with water. Use your flavored syrup dessert sauce to top off your favorite desserts.
- Make Flavored Lemonade. Add a flavored syrup to your lemonade or other beverage.
- Make Soda Pop. You can add your own flavored syrup to soda water. You can use a syrup to make a punch and then carbonate it. See how to carbonate a punch.
- Make a Smoothie. Add a fruit-flavored syrup to your smoothie. See this Caramel Banana Smoothie. A buttermilk syrup would be a good substitute for the caramel sauce or use this Designer Dessert Sauce.
Buying Instead of Making Your Syrup
- Use a pancake syrup. Choose anything from a cream syrup to a fruit syrup like raspberry.
- Use a syrup mix. We sell syrup mixes. Buttermilk syrups are fantastic and are more economical than bottled syrups so they lend themselves to applications like making candy popcorn.
- Use a beverage (Torani) syrup. While these are simple syrups, they come in fantastic flavors with a wide variety of applications. See the Torani website for ideas. Many of those ideas are appropriate for other syrups.
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(Updated from May 17, 2016)
