To make maple lemonade, stir 1 cup of fresh lemon juice and 3/4 cup of maple syrup together in a pitcher, then add 4 cups of cold water. Taste, adjust, and pour over ice. It makes about 6 cups.
A lot of lemonade recipes start with simple syrup, which means heating sugar and water and waiting for it to cool. Maple syrup is already a syrup, so you can skip the stove. Your lemonade will come out a little golden instead of pale yellow.
What you need
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from 5 to 6 lemons)
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup, plus more to taste
- 4 cups cold water
- Ice and lemon slices, for serving
How to make it
- Juice the lemons and strain out the seeds.
- In a large pitcher, stir the lemon juice and maple syrup together until the syrup is fully mixed in.
- Add the cold water and stir well.
- Taste. Add a little more syrup if you want it sweeter, or a splash more water if it's too tart.
- Chill until cold, or serve right away over ice with lemon slices.
Which syrup to use
Amber is warm and smooth with caramel notes. It sweetens the lemonade and lets the lemon lead. Dark is deep and robust, so it gives you a bolder maple taste and a deeper color. Both work. It comes down to how much maple you want in your glass. Just be sure to use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup.
Tips
- Squeeze your own. Store-bought juice works in a pinch, but fresh lemons taste more like lemons.
- Mix syrup and juice first. The syrup blends in faster before the water goes in.
- Want more lemon? Before you juice the lemons, peel off 3 or 4 wide strips of zest and add them to the pitcher. Take them out after a few hours so the lemonade doesn't turn bitter.
- Make it sparkling. Use 2 cups of cold still water and 2 cups of sparkling water. Add the sparkling water just before serving so it stays fizzy.
- Make one glass. Stir 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with 1 1/2 tablespoons of maple syrup, then add 1/2 cup of cold water. Pour over ice.
- Add herbs. Press a few mint or basil leaves lightly with a spoon and drop them into the pitcher.
- Keep it cold. Covered in the fridge, it keeps for a few days. Stir before pouring.
Make it your own
For a lemonade and iced tea mix, pour equal parts of each over ice. For ginger lemonade, stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of minced fresh ginger into the pitcher. Chill it for a few hours, then strain out the ginger before serving. For strawberry lemonade, blend 1 cup of hulled strawberries with a splash of the lemonade, then strain it into the pitcher and stir.
Hosting? The recipe doubles easily. Mix it in a big pitcher or a drink dispenser and set out a bowl of lemon slices so people can add their own.
