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Blueberry Syrup

Blueberries tumbling from bucket
Image by lepiaf.geo
I’ve been mulling it over since I was asked for this recipe, and realized that I don’t have an actual recipe. Just sort of a method and some not-very-accurate measurements. 🙂 But since you asked…

Here goes:

1) Thaw frozen blueberries in the fridge overnight. Probably 3-4 cups of them.

2) In the morning, I put the still partially-frozen berries in a pot, with just a little bit of water, over low-medium heat. I stir them here and there, until they are soft and have some nice juice/syrup in the pot.

3) Next, I add sweetener. It could be honey, or Rapadura or Sucanat. I just add it until they seem sweet enough, and the fact is that some blueberries are just naturally sweeter than others (shucks- you’re just gonna have to taste it!). I would guess that it’s somewhere between 1/8-1/4 of a cup (less with honey, more with raw sugar). It also just depends on how sweet you like it! I keep the burner on low while I add the sweetener, giving time to bring out the flavors.

4) When it’s all nice and juicy and well mixed, I pour it in the blender and whiz it up. Done.

This is a yummy, healthy and frugal (at least, if you have a freezer full of berries!) option for drizzling over pancakes or waffles instead of maple syrup.

If I want something chunkier, to use as a topping along with whipped cream, I will just follow the same basic recipe but I won’t blend it. This makes a really nice berry topping, with the mixture of whole berries and sweet juice.

This also works easiliy with other berries, like raspberries, blackberries or even strawberries. I just happen to have a plethora of blueberries right now, which is not a bad problem to have! 🙂

Does anyone else like to make berry syrup for pancakes? Do you have an actual recipe to share with us? 🙂 If not, how do you usually top pancakes or waffles?

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16 Comments

  1. My wonderful hubby made french toast this morning! I love to put real butter and powdered sugar on top. Or fresh berries if I’ve got some. But I am definitely going to try some homemade berry syrup!

  2. I usually make it with maple syrup – just teeny touch. We love berry syrup in our home and often serve it over sweet souffles or dutch babies.

  3. I pretty much do the same thing with blueberries… I imagine the sweetener content for, say, raspberries would be a bit higher due to their tartness.

  4. I just blend up my berries straight with one of the hand blenders and pour over food….it takes seconds. They are great for baby food too. We have one cup of blueberries left in the freezer….note to self pick and freezer more blueberries next year. We are still enjoying our strawberries though.
    Then again I could sneak some of your blueberries each time I open my freezer it crosses my mind :o)

  5. We like to add some crystalized ginger (when we have it) to the blueberry syrup, too. 🙂 It’s great on top of ice cream!

    Blessings,
    Michele

  6. We love berry syrup too! One of my sweetest memories as a child was picking blueberries with my Mom. Then coming home and her making blueberry syrup along with homemade biscuits straight from the oven.

  7. My method for blueberry syrup is basically the same. I like to make extra and keep the rest in a mason jar with a wire bale lid. Very nostolgic and pretty! The syrup is great on ice cream as well – a real treat!

  8. I have a freezer full of blackberries from last summer, so I would like to try it with them! Thanks for the tip. 🙂

  9. i like to make a syrup out of agave nectar and lemon juice but heating them together gently on the stove. i’d say it’s like 2/3 agave, 1/3 lemon juice. i’m also a big fan of chocolate sauce on pancakes!

  10. I like to put strawberries or raspberries and a stevia-sweetened plain yogurt (greek style) over my waffles.

  11. I am super sensitive to sweeteners (even honey and maple syrup, unfourtunately), but often use non-sugar jam (the type sweetened with grape juice) or apple sauce (with no sugar) on top of pancakes. I don’t seem to react to all-fruit type sugars.

    I will be trying the blueberry syrup though for my husband, it sounds great!

  12. I do the same thing, except I use maple syrup and honey. My husband LOVES flavored syrups, so we make sure to always have this syrup or berries to make it on hand for him. I also love not blending it and then putting it in my oatmeal! Mmmm… I know what we’re having for breakfast tomorrow!

  13. Jess, I would definitely use a bit more sweetener for raspberries. I find them quite a bit more tart than blueberries.

    Sandi, why don’t you go ahead and take a little? We’ll call it payment for borrowing your freezer space. 🙂

    Michele, crystallized ginger would be really yummy. Great idea!

    Nola, I’m sure the syrup would be great just using concentrated fruit juice or even stevia to sweeten it instead.

  14. Thanks so much for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it. We picked and froze gallons of blueberries last year. My girls love blueberries so I imagine they will love blueberry syrup. I always make my own pancake syrup because I try to keep HFCS out of our diet, but I’ve never tried to make any fruity syrup. We buy the best home made peach syrup at a local farmers market type place and they love that. Thanks again… can’t wait to try it out!

  15. I am pretty big on avoiding sugar if possible. So what I usually do for my waffle/ French toast/ pancake topping is mix together several cups of frozen fruit (fresh would work too), 1 can of apple juice concentrate, and 1-2 T cornstarch mixed in a small amount of water. I cook that mixture, stirring it until it’s thick. But your blueberry syrup sounds great! I’ll have to try that sometime. Never thought of doing that.

  16. I make blackberry syrup in a similar manner. Also, a couple years ago, some friends of ours brought us some apricots from their trees. I made apricot jelly and butter (you can make both from the same fruit – much like mozzarella and ricotta from one batch of milk). Well, the jelly would NOT gel. No matter what I did. So, we left the jars in the back of the pantry where I wouldn’t have to see them.

    A couple years later, Rich needed something to flavor yogurt for the baby, pulled it out and found that it was just starting to gel a little. Enough that it wasn’t just pouring liquid. We now use it as syrup on French toast, German pancakes, American waffles (I had to say that, because I thought it was funny that the first two things I mentioned were nation specific).

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