Apple Syrup is a tasty homemade syrup that’s perfect for the fall season. It goes great on pancakes, waffles, french toast, and much more! You can even sub in cider to make this into a delicious Apple Cider Syrup as well.

 

With fall pretty much right on top of us, we’re eager to start enjoying all sorts of tasty apple dishes like our Apple Overnight French Toast Casserole and of course our favorite Fried apples! We wanted a simple way to add in that fall flavor to a bunch of different desserts and breakfasts, so we ended up making some of this Cinnamon Apple Syrup.

This sweet and delicious homemade syrup is loaded with flavor: we take a simple syrup made with apple juice and brown sugar, spice it up with some cinnamon and nutmeg, and round it all out with some vanilla and butter. There’s so many different uses for this syrup once it’s all cooked up and ready: use it to top pancakes and waffles, or mix it in with your coffee like a Starbucks Apple Syrup.

Why you’ll love our delicious Cinnamon Apple Syrup recipe

• Apple Syrup is a tasty way to sweeten up fall breakfasts. Homemade Pancakes, waffles, and Homemade french toast all taste so much better when you top them with a delicious homemade syrup!
• You don’t need any special ingredients to make this tasty apple syrup recipe! All these ingredients are available year-round and should be easy to find at your local grocery store or supermarket.
• For somethting so delicious, this homemade syrup recipe is shockingly easy to make. You don’t need any weird ingredients, add in extra steps, or waste any time. Add the ingredients to a saucepan, cook them into a syrup, and enjoy!

Homemade Apple Syrup Ingredients

You don’t need many ingredients to make this delicious Apple Syrup for yourself. Chances are you probably have most- maybe all- of these ingredients on hand already! Here’s what you’ll need:

• Brown Sugar – Ideally a light brown sugar here. Dark brown sugar can be a little too heavy with the molasses flavor.
• Spices – We went with some cinnamon and nutmeg but you could easily upgrade by using a storebought or homemade Apple Pie Spice.
• Cornstarch – If you’re wondering how to thicken syrup, then cornstarch might be the answer. We added a couple tablespoons and think it helped take this apple syrup much more drizzlable instead of thin and watery.
• Lemon Juice – Just to add a touch of acid back into the syrup and balance the flavors a bit. Don’t worry- it’s not going to make anything taste sour.
• Apple Juice – Aim for a pure, 100% apple juice here with no added sweeteners. It’ll help you keep your apple syrup from getting sickly sweet.
• Vanilla Extract – Adding a little touch of this at the end really helps round our flavors out.
• Butter

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Apple Syrup

Making this tasty Apple Pancake Syrup recipe is so simple. No need to mix up the cornstarch separately, sift your ingredients, or anything extra like that- it’s going to be so easy to make! Here’s what you’re going to do:

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Once thoroughly mixed, start gradually adding in lemon juice and apple juice.
2. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk frequently while syrup reduces. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until thickened to preference
3. Remove from heat, add in vanilla and butter, and stir to combine. Serve warm and let cool completely before storing.

Substitutions

You might be missing some of the ingredients for our Apple Syrup, but don’t worry! Here’s a few substitutions you can give a try:

• Brown Sugar – We really recommend using brown sugar for this syrup- it’s going to make it taste so much richer and tastier. If you are low on- or out of- brown sugar, granulated white sugar, dark brown sugar, demerara sugar, or some combination of the three will work.
• Apple Juice – Instead of using apple juice, we’ve also seen some people use apple cider for recipes like this. You might want to compensate for the tangier, spiced taste of some apple ciders by using more sugar and/or using less spices.
• Lemon Juice – An interesting alternative to consider for lemon juice is apple cider vinegar. ACV would make for a tasty addition in this recipe- plus, it lets you add in even more apple flavor to your apple syrup.

Variations

Want to spruce up our Apple Syrup recipe a little? Here’s a couple of ideas to change things up:

• Apple Syrup with Diced Apples – A lot of people love to make apple syrup with little chunks of apples mixed in. Pick out some tart apples, core, peel, and then dice them into bite-sized pieces. Add them in with all your other syrup ingredients before cooking so they can soften up. This kind of syrup works especially well over waffles or pancakes.
• Infused Apple Syrup – You could also try storing your finished apple syrup with some whole cinnamon sticks or ginger. Adding these in before storing your syrup will help gradually infuse extra flavor into the syrup. Once it gets to a point where you like it, just pull the cinnamon/ginger out.

Storage / Freezing

Storage: Once your Apple Syrup has cooled completely, you can transfer it to a clean resealable container. Kept like this in the fridge, expect it to stay good for a week or two.

Freezing: You could try freezing this syrup if you really need. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and keep in the freezer for 2-3 months. Let thaw overnight before warming back up before use.

Other Fall Breakfast Recipes

Looking for other fall breakfast recipes? Try these:

Other Apple Recipes

Here are some additional apple recipes to make: