No-Fail Vanilla Simple Syrup

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Flavor and sweeten coffee and tea with this homemade vanilla syrup that’s simple to make at home with 3 ingredients in 5 minutes. It’s perfect for making Starbucks drinks at home.

Vanilla syrup in a glass bottle.

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Vanilla Simple Syrup

The best way to flavor and sweeten drinks is with simple syrup. Simple syrup is a liquid sweetener made by dissolving sugar into water. Vanilla simple syrup adds vanilla to the sugar and water.

This vanilla syrup uses vanilla extract to flavor and it’s incredibly easy to make at home for a fraction of the cost of store-bought. Use high-quality vanilla extract to get a better tasting syrup.

Use this vanilla simple syrup to make homemade Starbucks iced coffee drinks that require vanilla syrup on the recipe. It’s an easy way to instantly turn a latte into a vanilla latte.

RELATED: 17 Simple Syrup Recipes

Recipe Highlights

  • Vanilla syrup is a simple syrup with vanilla extract. There’s only 3 ingredients: sugar, water, and vanilla extract.
  • This recipe makes a cup of vanilla syrup which can be used to flavor and sweeten your coffee or tea.
  • Use vanilla syrup to flavor hot and iced drinks and to flavor whipped creams and cold foams.

RELATED: Starbucks Iced Blonde Vanilla Latte Copycat

Ingredient Notes

Vanilla simple syrup ingredients.
  • Vanilla extract: Not all brands are the same when it comes to vanilla extract. The low cost options taste like chemicals so you should splurge if you can. A little goes a long way and a bottle will last a while.
  • Sugar: Use regular white sugar or cane sugar. You can use brown sugar but it’s a little slower to dissolve.
  • Water: Filtered water is best for a better tasting syrup.

For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

My Vanilla Extract Pick

Photo Credit: williams-sonoma.com

Don’t look for a better vanilla extract since there isn’t one. It’s excellent, with a non-chemical-y flavor.
BUY NOW ON WILLIAMS SONOMA

Step-by-Step Instructions

Heating sugar and water in a saucepan.

Step 1: Put sugar and water in a saucepan and simmer on low heat. Stir to make sure sugar dissolves completely.

Take off heat and add vanilla extract. Let cool.

Pouring vanilla simple syrup into a glass bottle using a funnel.

Step 2: Pour vanilla syrup into an airtight container.

Expert Tips

  • Don’t cook the vanilla extract since it can lose flavor. Only add it at the end after the dissolved sugar and water is off the heat.
  • There’s no need to bring the sugar and water to a boil. Heating the water just hot enough to dissolve the sugar is enough.
  • Vanilla syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
  • Use 1-2 tablespoons of syrup per serving of coffee.

RELATED: French Vanilla Creamer

Questions You May Have

Can I make a drink for kids using this vanilla syrup?

Stir 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla syrup into a cup of warm milk to make a vanilla steamer.

What else can I use this syrup for?

Add some syrup to sparkling water to make your own vanilla soda! Add it to hot tea (Earl Grey and vanilla are great together), iced tea or hot chocolate.

Can I use another sweetener?

You can use any sweetener you prefer. Replace the white sugar in the recipe with brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or date sugar.

Vanilla syrup in a glass bottle.

Related

If you tried this Simple Vanilla Syrup recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and let me know how you like it in the comments below.

No-Fail Vanilla Simple Syrup

Author: Jee Choe
3-ingredient vanilla simple syrup recipe for coffee and tea.
4.9 from 76 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Drinks
Yield8 servings

INGREDIENTS
 

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Put sugar and water in a saucepan and simmer.
    Stir to make sure sugar dissolves completely.
  • Take off heat and add vanilla extract.
  • Pour syrup into an airtight container.
    The syrup will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

NOTES

  • Don’t cook the vanilla extract since it can lose flavor. Only add it at the end after the dissolved sugar and water is off the heat.
  • There’s no need to bring the sugar and water to a boil. Heating the water just hot enough to dissolve the sugar is enough.
  • Recipe makes 1 cup (16 tablespoons) of vanilla syrup. To flavor and sweeten coffee, use 1-2 tablespoons of syrup per 1 cup serving.

NUTRITION

Calories: 77 | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Sugar: 19g

10 thoughts on “No-Fail Vanilla Simple Syrup”

  1. I made your chocolate syrup and loved it. Now I’m waiting on the Madagascar vanilla to come in from Amazon so I can try this. Thank you for your tips!!

    Reply
  2. 5 stars
    I LOVE this recipe and I wanted to make it again but I don’t have time to go to the store and I’m out of sugar. Do you think it would taste good with coconut sugar or Brown sugar?

    Reply
  3. 5 stars
    So good! I just made this for my morning coffee and I love it. I added a little vanilla bean paste to it to get that perfect aesthetic, cafe look and I can’t wait to make my first at-home latte with her!

    Reply
  4. This is a great way to use every penny, and that’s a lot of pennies, out of that expensive bean after a long soak in alcohol when making extract. I put my used beans in sugar to infuse and use granually or simmer with sugar and water for a simple syrup like your recipe. I can see why folks are upset consuming vanilla flavoring (contents of the glands in the ass of a beaver (castor oil) used to flavor and scent many things in the day) when companies use misleading labeling and advertising marketing products as “vanilla”, even “real vanilla”, rather than vanilla flavored. I buy beans by the pound from Madagascar and have bottles, barrels, jars and jugs of beans extracting throughout my home. The smell on days I give them all a good stir is absolutely delicious and the taste it gives your baked goods is even better, beyond compare. 2nd to saffron as most expensive spice, he vanilla orchid is hand pollinated during a very short window of time and was done by only one guy once upon a time not so long ago. The history of vanilla is an interesting read. Knowledge and technology are increasing and improving the geologically and reproductivly challenged plant’s survival and expansion rates. If Mother Nature would cooperate in the few tropical places it does thrive and supply and demand would stabilize, then prices would come down. Consumer Tip: Real vanilla is gonna cost you, dearly.

    Reply

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