Blueberry Pancake Syrup

Fresh fruit in the Summer is great. It really is. But turning that fruit into a maple pancake syrup is just a little bit better.

After I made homemade strawberry syrup, I couldn’t eat it fast enough. It’s a great sweetener for pancakes, ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal—just about anything. After giving it a try I can say that making the recipe with blueberries is just as good.

You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe—it doesn’t make a difference. Unlike the strawberry version, you need to strain the syrup once it’s cooked to get the skins out. Don’t waste the solids though! They’re full of sugar and make a great jam-like spread for toast or mixing into yogurt.

Blueberry Pancake Syrup

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 1 1/2 cups):

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup blueberries
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. In a small pot over a burner, combine the sugar and water and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Boil the water until the simple syrup reduces to about half of its original volume.
3. While the water is boiling, puree the blueberries and maple syrup in a blender or food processor until they make a smooth sauce.
4. Off of the heat, combine the blueberry puree and simple syrup and whisk together. Whisk in the vanilla and cinnamon as well.
5. Put the pot back onto the stove and continue boiling until the syrup reduces to about half of its volume again. Don’t over-reduce the syrup to be quite as thick as maple syrup because once it cools off of the heat it will thicken.
6. Strain the sauce through a sieve to remove the blueberry skins.
7. Store any extra sauce in a sealed container in the refrigerator when not enjoying.