How to Make Lavender Simple Syrup
This post may contain affiliate links. View our disclosure.
This lavender simple syrup is a great use for the lavender growing in your garden, and an easy way to infuse drinks and desserts with the delicate scent and flavor of lavender.
It only takes a few Tablespoons of dried lavender to make a batch.
If you don’t have your own lavender plants, purchase some dried lavender buds from a farmer’s market or order some online. Just make sure the lavender you’re buying is labeled as culinary lavender.
You want to use English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) in anything you’re going to consume. It has a light, sweet smell and a pleasant taste. French lavender has a high camphor oil content and a bitter taste. It’ll make your food and drinks taste like soap.
Munstead, Hidcote and Royal Velvet are among the most popular varieties of culinary lavender.
Lavender Simple Syrup Recipe Using Dried Lavender
This recipe makes approximately one cup of lavender-flavored simple syrup, which is the perfect amount for a batch of lavender lemonade. If you need more, just double or triple the recipe accordingly.
What You’ll Need:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tbsp dried culinary lavender
- Food coloring (optional)
What You Do:
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan.
Bring the pot to a boil, over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Then, reduce to a simmer, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stove, and allow the lavender to steep for one hour.
Then, use a fine-mesh sieve to strain the lavender buds out of your simple syrup.
Use your lavender simple syrup right away, or store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator, until you’re ready to use it. It’ll keep for at least a few weeks. Sugar is an excellent natural preservative.
If you want to store your simple syrup longer, just leave an inch of headspace at the top of the jar for expansion, and pop it in the freezer. English lavender is only in bloom for three or four weeks a year, but if you freeze a bunch, while it’s in season, you’ll be able to enjoy it year-round.
The lavender simple syrup on the left is its natural color. The simple syrup on the right has been dyed with food coloring.
Your lavender simple syrup will have a natural, lavender tint to it, but it won’t be enough to turn drinks lavender. If you plan to use your simple syrup to make lavender-colored lemonade or cocktails, you may want to use food coloring to dye your simple syrup a darker purple, so your drinks will appear lavender, once the simple syrup is diluted in the other ingredients.
How to Make Sugar-Free Lavender Simple Syrup
Watching your sugar? It’s easy to make a sugar-free version of this recipe. Just swap the sugar called for with your favorite 1:1 sugar substitute. No other adjustments are necessary.
How to Make Lavender Rich Syrup
Need a thicker syrup? Then, make a rich syrup instead. It’s made with twice as much sugar, so it has the consistency of pancake syrup. To make a batch, just increase the sugar in the simple syrup recipe to two cups, and follow the rest of the recipe as it’s written. This will yield two cups of lavender rich syrup.
How to Use Lavender Simple Syrup
Stir a Tablespoon of lavender simple syrup into your favorite hot or cold beverage, or try it drizzled over an un-iced cake. It’ll make your cake moist, while adding the perfect hint of lavender.
More Uses for Lavender
How to Make Lavender Simple Syrup
Here’s how to make lavender simple syrup to flavor drinks and desserts. Includes instructions for a sugar-free version.
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tbsp dried culinary lavender
- Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
Measure ingredients into a saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
Then, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the stove, and let steep for one hour.
Strain out lavender buds, and store simple syrup in an air-tight container in the refrigerator, until you use it. It’ll keep for a few weeks.
If you’re using your lavender simple syrup to make drinks that you want to make lavender, consider adding a few drops of food coloring to dye your syrup a dark purple. Once the syrup is diluted by the other ingredients in your drink, recipe you’ll have lavender drinks.
Notes
Sugar-Free Version:Â Swap out the sugar called for with your favorite 1:1 sugar substitute.
Lavender Rich Syrup:Â Double the sugar called for in the recipe to produce a thicker syrup.
- Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Syrups
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: how to make lavender simple syrup, lavender simple syrup recipe, sugar-free lavender simple syrup
