Apple Brown Sugar Syrup Recipe (Starbucks Copycat)
This homemade Apple Brown Sugar Syrup is a Starbucks copycat made with fresh apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and water. It's perfect for coffee, tea, cold brew, pancakes, oatmeal, and your favorite fall drinks.
Ingredients
- 1 medium Honeycrisp or Gala apple diced
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Wash and dice the apple into small cubes. Leave the peel on if desired.
- Add the apple, brown sugar, water, cinnamon stick, and salt to a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Let the syrup cool for about 10 minutes.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pressing gently on the apples to extract as much syrup as possible.
- Pour the syrup into a clean glass bottle or mason jar.
- Cool completely before refrigerating.
Notes
- Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, and Pink Lady apples all work well.
- Dark brown sugar creates a richer caramel flavor.
- Add a pinch of nutmeg for extra fall spice.
- Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
- Freeze in ice cube trays for up to 3 months.
- Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per coffee drink, depending on your preferred sweetness.
- The syrup has about 42 calories per tablespoon.