Name: Homemade Pancake Syrup (Easy 10-Minute Recipe)
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 cups brown sugar*; 1 cup water; 1/2 cup butter (1 stick); 1 teaspoon vanilla or maple extract

Recipe

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Skip the store-bought bottle. This homemade pancake syrup is rich, buttery, and made with simple pantry ingredients in just 10 minutes.

This homemade pancake syrup recipe comes together in one pot and keeps beautifully in the fridge. I'll show you exactly how to make it and store it so you can drizzle it over your favorite breakfasts.

homemade pancake syrup made with brown sugar stored in a clear bottle. Stack of pancakes on a plate behind the syrup

Brown Sugar Pancake Syrup

I first shared this recipe in 2014 because I had young kids who poured (not drizzled) maple syrup over their homemade pancakes like it was going out of style.

I didn’t want to buy the cheap stuff because of the corn syrup, artificial colorings, and flavors; so making this brown sugar syrup has been a total lifesaver.

Homemade Pancake Syrup Ingredients

It's made with water and brown sugar as the base (honey won’t work), butter for flavor and a pourable texture (viscosity), and a little vanilla (or maple extract) for flavor.

Homemade Pancake Syrup Without Maple

The brown sugar cooks down in water, creating a thicker-than-simple-syrup liquid that resembles maple syrup. You can swap the vanilla extract for maple to give this syrup a maple flavor.

How to Make Pancake Syrup

You’ll find a step-by-step short video in the recipe card. Here is an overview of what you’ll be doing:

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer to reduce the liquid.
Add the butter and dissolve it while simmering. Turn off the heat, and add the vanilla.
Serve it drizzled over your pancakes or waffles, or use it to dip French toast sticks.

small saucepan with brown sugar and water simmering to make pancake syrup

How to Store It

An old maple syrup bottle or a lidded jar is perfect for storing leftovers. Once it’s cooled, transfer it into the bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to a month. It needs refrigeration because of the butter. Reheat as much as you need in a microwave-safe cup in 15-second increments.

large stack of cinnamon pancakes topped with butter and syrup

Best Pancake Recipes

According to my readers, these are the best pancake recipes. Start with the fluffy recipe, or a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, the disappearing banana pancakes, or everyone’s favorite blueberry pancakes recipe.

Homemade Pancake Syrup (Easy 10-Minute Recipe)

bottle of homemade pancake syrup in front of a large stack of pancakes

Servings: 16

Cook Time: 10

Skip the store-bought bottle. This homemade pancake syrup is rich, buttery, and made with simple pantry ingredients in just 10 minutes.

5 from 62 votes

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Watch how it’s made:

Ingredients

2 cups brown sugar*
1 cup water
½ cup butter, 1 stick
1 teaspoon vanilla or maple extract

Instructions

Make the syrup:

In a medium saucepan, add the brown sugar and water. Heat them over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 4 minutes to reduce it.
Add the butter and stir for about 2 minutes, until it has melted into the brown syrup. Turn off the heat, add the vanilla or maple extract, and stir.
Enjoy warm drizzled over pancakes or waffles.

Storage & future use:

Allow the brown sugar syrup to cool down. Then, transfer it into a jar or old syrup bottle. Refrigerate for up to a month.
To reheat, microwave in 15-second intervals if the jar or bottle is microwave-safe, or heat the amount you need in a smaller dish or measuring cup. You can also warm it up in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until the syrup is heated through.

Notes

Both light and dark brown sugar work to make this recipe. The difference between the two is the amount (%) of molasses; the darker one has more and yields a richer/deeper syrup flavor.