Thrifty Thursday: Making Simple Syrup

Simple syrup (also known as sugar syrup) is basically 2 parts sugar and one part water, boiled together until the sugar dissolves. Why make simple syrup? If you are like me, you enjoy iced tea and lemonade in the summer. You would also know that if you need to sweeten your drink and you add a spoonful of sugar to a cold beverage it doesn't dissolve well. Many finer restaurants serve simple syrup aside a glass of iced tea as a sweetener. It's also used by bartenders to sweeten certain cocktails.

A week or so ago I shared some strawberry recipes with you. Well I happened to have a freezer bag full of strawberries from the last batch I bought. I have been cleaning out my freezer in preparation of my new side of beef, so I decided to try to make some simple strawberry syrup as I absolutely love my tea flavored (no one else here appreciates that) forcing me to flavor one glass at a time. I usually just add a splash of cranberry juice from a bottle, but felt this was a perfect way to reuse that strawberry juice that was draining from my thawing strawberries.

This can be made with any frozen fruit's juices, next time I'll try blackberries as I have some of those in the freezer as well. Once you've made the syrup, store it in a small glass jar with a tight fitting lid in the refrigerator indefinitely. 

How to Make Simple Sugar Syrup

1 part water

2 parts sugar

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then add the sugar to the pan. Stir to combine until sugar is dissolved. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool. Pour cooled syrup into a jar and store in the refrigerator.

How to Make Simple Strawberry Syrup

1 part strawberry juice from thawed strawberries

2 parts sugar

If possible, place a fine grate cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place the frozen strawberries on the cooling rack so that the juice drips down onto the cookie sheet. If you don't have a fine grate cooling rack, just thaw the berries directly on the cookie sheet. Remove the thawed berries and carefully pour the juice into a measuring cup. Make note of the measurement and pour juice into a saucepan. Add two times the amount of sugar that was in your measuring cup (so if you had 1/4 cup strawberry juice, add 1/2 cup of sugar). Bring juice to a boil in a saucepan, then add the sugar to the pan. Stir to combine until sugar is dissolved. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool. Pour cooled syrup into a jar and store in the refrigerator (I used a small glass empty spice jar).

Use one spoonful of syrup to sweeten and flavor your tea or lemonade. :)

To see my post on uses jars as glassware, be sure to visit my cooking blog! This is an entry into this week's Thrifty Thursday event. Visit and see what other thrifty ideas are out there!