Maple syrup is the boiled-down sap of maple trees. Corn syrup is made from corn starch that has been broken down into glucose. Both are liquid sweeteners, but they come from different places, and they do different jobs in the kitchen.
Where maple syrup comes from
Maple syrup starts as sap. In late winter and early spring, when nights freeze and days warm into the 40s, sap runs in sugar maples and is collected through small spouts in the trees. The sap is then boiled. Water steams away until what's left is syrup.
It takes a lot of boiling. On average, about 40 gallons of sap make 1 gallon of syrup. Under federal rules, the finished syrup has to be at least 66 percent solids by weight, and those solids have to come only from the sap.
Nothing else has to go in, and corn syrup can't go in at all. If corn syrup is on the ingredient list, it isn't maple syrup. Ours has one ingredient, and it's boiled over a wood-burning fire.
Where corn syrup comes from
Corn syrup starts as corn starch. The Food and Drug Administration explains it this way: starch is a chain of glucose molecules joined together, and when that chain is broken into individual molecules, the result is corn syrup, which is essentially glucose.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is made from corn syrup. Enzymes are added to convert some of the glucose into another simple sugar, fructose. The two common types, HFCS 42 and HFCS 55, are named for how much fructose they contain: 42 and 55 percent. According to the FDA, HFCS 42 is used mainly in processed foods, cereals, baked goods and some drinks, and HFCS 55 mostly in soft drinks.
One is a crop of the woods, one is a product of the mill
That's the plainest way to put the difference. Maple syrup is made in a short season, in a forest, by boiling one thing. Vermont's sugaring season usually lasts four to six weeks, and when it's over, that's the year's syrup.
Corn syrup is made from a starch, in a process that can run all year. Neither fact makes one of them good and the other bad. They're different ingredients with different stories.
How they taste
Maple syrup tastes like maple, and the flavor changes with the grade. Golden is the most delicate. Amber is warm and smooth with caramel notes. Dark is deep and robust. Syrup made early in the season is lighter, and it gets darker and stronger as the weeks go on.
Corn syrup is mostly used for what it does in a recipe, not for a flavor of its own.
What each one does in the kitchen
Cooks reach for maple syrup when they want its flavor: on pancakes and waffles, in glazes and dressings, in coffee, in baking.
Corn syrup shows up in candy making for a technical reason. Caramel needs to stay smooth, and sugar likes to form crystals that turn it grainy. Iowa State University Extension calls corn syrup an interfering agent: the glucose in it helps keep the sugar from crystallizing.
That's why the two aren't simple stand-ins for each other. If a candy recipe calls for corn syrup, it's there for a reason, so it's safest to follow the recipe. And if a recipe calls for maple syrup, corn syrup won't bring the flavor.
Where pancake syrup fits in
Pancake syrup sits between the two on the shelf, which is where the confusion comes from. The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association describes it as, generally, flavored corn syrup with no real maple in it, and under federal rules it can't be sold as maple syrup.
So the bottle next to the maple syrup at the store is often closer to corn syrup than to maple. We go through the full comparison in real maple syrup vs. pancake syrup, and the ingredient list in what pancake syrup is made of.
On a label, pancake syrup generally lists corn syrup first, then flavorings and colors, while pure maple syrup is called maple syrup and any ingredient list names only maple syrup. Our guide to reading a maple syrup label shows what else to check.
Which one to buy
It depends on the job. For candy that needs to stay smooth, the recipe will tell you. For the top of a stack of pancakes, or anywhere you want the taste of maple, buy maple syrup, not a syrup that's only maple flavored. Our list of ways to use it has plenty of ideas.
