I love real grade B maple syrup. Even just a teaspoon perks up the lowliest oatmeal, and the minerals in the syrup are prevalent. But it’s expensive! Even buying it at Trader Joe’s, I pay $16 for 32 ounces. I know that’s a steal compared to many parts of the country, but I still was looking for an alternative liquid syrup that I could use on pancakes. Also I wanted to have a ‘real food alternative’ to white sugar for guests’ coffee and other drinks.
And I found it! An inexpensive alternative to maple syrup… Rapadura simple syrup! And it’s very easy to make.
Rapadura is a type of sugar that is very minimally processed and therefore still has most of the natural minerals in the cane sugar intact. I use the Rapunzel brand. It is a dark brown granulated sugar, but not moist like the commercial brown sugar. It has all of the molasses intact so it does have a light molasses taste, but is not as concentrated as actual molasses.
Tips for making Rapadura simple syrup
- If you accidentally add too much water, no problem! Just boil it a little longer to evaporate the extra water.
- Simple syrup will last about 6 months in the refrigerator if sealed properly.
- If there’s tan foam in your storage container, it’s harmless to eat it, or it can just be skimmed off.
- The end product is quite dark, as you can see the sun isn’t shining through it in the picture. It is not as thick and strong as molasses though.
- a little of this goes a long way so be careful when adding to things until you know how strong/sweet it is
Rapadura Simple Syrup
Ingredients:
Ratio of 2 parts Rapadura sugar to 1 part water
optional: maple or vanilla extract (1 Tablespoon per 2 cups sugar)
note: in the picture, the glass pitcher is about 33 ounces and I used 5 cups of sugar to fill that up.
Method:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, boil your water. Once it’s a full rolling boil, add the sugar and turn down the heat to medium, stirring. Keep simmering the sugar for about 5 minutes.
Take the pot off of the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes, add optional extract.
The simple syrup will be thinner when hot than when it cools down and especially when it’s refrigerated. Store in fridge for about 6 months.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Where do you get your Rapadura?
Hi Renee… I get mine from Azure Standard in bulk, it really lasts a long time and ends up being the cheapest sweetener…
Wow this is great! I’m lucky I can get maple syrup in bulk, but If I can’t get it I now know what to do! This seems like it would be a great alternative to molasses as well!
What’s maple extract? I’ve never heard of that before!
Hi Michelle.. maple extract comes in those little brown bottles in the store, like almond or orange, etc. I’ve seen organic maple extract in health food stores before… should give a very good maple flavor to this simple syrup. Although it’s pretty strong tasting on its own!
This is a fabulous idea! I’m definitely going to make this when I am off the GAPS diet.
I am so thrilled with this recipe!! I love to serve pancakes to company but started serving other breakfast food do to the high cost of syrup!! Now I can make all I want thanks to your great recipe! Thank you so much!!
you’re very welcome Nancy! For syrup even adding a bit of hot water to thin would work, and would also heat up the syrup at the same time…
brilliant! What great solution, and I love that rapadura has such good levels of minerals especially iron. I’m going to make this recipe today.
For sources, you might find a rapadura – type sugar in the bulk bins at a natural foods store. One store near us carries some that is labeled “sucanat” but looks and tastes exactly like Rapunzel brand rapadura.
I used to make ‘maple’ syrup all the time as the alternative to the imitation syrups at the store. Then I switched to the real thing, but the cost is prohibitive for our budget even though it is the healthiest choice. But of course, my old way way used refined white sugar! Now that we have nearly cut out the refined white sugar (still use organic white in some recipes) I am so glad to see your variation with the Rapadura. I will be making this syrup recipe FOR SURE, especially since I just finished the real stuff….
I’m so excited to have found your website! I’ve owned “Nourishing Traditions” for a bit & we are slowly moving towards a real, traditional food diet. Money is the big issue but we do what we can!
Do you use Rapadura in replace for all your white sugar needs? Trying to find something for baking (been buying Trader Joe’s organic evaporated cane juice sugar)… not sure where to get it though. I want it in bulk to save $!
Thanks!
I just made this and ate it with pancakes and strawberries. Awesome! Cheaper, more flavor, and sooooo easy to make. Win-win! Great idea Kim
Made this today and it’s delicious. This is a keeper! And a little really does go a long way, it is very flavorful. Thanks for the great idea.
I found out during troubles with breastfeeding that the herb Fenugreek is actually used to help breasmilk production, but also it is the flavoring found in imitation maple syrup like Mrs. Buttersworth. Could you use it instead of the maple extract? If so, would there be any addtional nutrients in it? Just curious
For a sweetener in pancakes, muffins and other baking, we actually use pitted dates or fresh apples (grated w/cheese grater) quite a bit. Added this to my Whole Foods/Trader Joes list for shopping today!
hey Kim. glad to find this way ‘cos it’s really promising. I have a question regarding the last step: do we have to keep it in the fridge for 6 months or is it edible for 6 months? please clarify. Thank you
Oh that’s a cool trick! I am lucky enough to be able to get fairly local grade B maple syrup for about $35/gallon but this looks good too!
Hello kim.Great site! for flavouring when you boil the sugar you can add 2 to 3 cardamom seeds. It’s an Indian touch.