Maple syrup can sweeten just about any meal: stir it into coffee, shake it into a salad dressing, brush it on salmon or roast it with vegetables. Here are 18 ideas, from breakfast to dessert, and each one links to a full recipe.
Pancakes will be fine without you for a day.
Breakfast
- Maple granola. Oats and nuts tossed with maple and baked until golden and crisp. Eat it with milk, over yogurt or by the handful.
- Maple cinnamon oatmeal. A warm bowl of oats with maple and cinnamon stirred in. Add fruit or nuts if you like.
- Maple French toast. Thick slices of bread soaked in eggs, milk and a little maple, then cooked in butter. Finish with a generous pour on top.
- Maple yogurt bowl. Plain Greek yogurt with fruit and granola, with maple stirred in and drizzled over the top. An easy start to the day.
- Whipped maple butter. Soft butter whipped with maple until light. Spread it on toast, biscuits, waffles or pancakes.
- Maple candied bacon. Thick-cut bacon brushed with maple and black pepper and baked until glossy and crisp. Sweet and salty, and good next to eggs.
Drinks
- Maple latte. Espresso or strong coffee with steamed milk and a spoonful of maple stirred in. It works iced, too.
- Maple lemonade. Fresh lemon juice, cold water and maple, stirred together and poured over ice. Make a pitcher for a hot afternoon.
- Maple old fashioned. Bourbon or rye and bitters, with maple standing in for the sugar cube and a twist of orange peel. A little maple goes a long way here.
Dinner and sides
- Maple glazed salmon. Salmon fillets baked with a maple, soy and mustard glaze. Quick enough for a weeknight.
- Maple mustard chicken. Chicken thighs roasted with a maple and Dijon glaze. Sweet and sharp in one pan.
- Maple roasted carrots. Carrots roasted with maple until tender and browned at the edges. They go with roast chicken, pork or fish.
- Maple Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts roasted until crisp at the edges and tossed with maple and a splash of vinegar. A good side for a holiday table.
- Maple roasted sweet potatoes. Sweet potato chunks roasted with maple and a pinch of salt. An easy side for almost any dinner.
Sauces
- Maple vinaigrette. Maple, cider vinegar, Dijon and olive oil shaken together in a jar. Use it on salads and roasted vegetables.
- Maple BBQ sauce. A tangy, ketchup-based barbecue sauce sweetened with maple, for ribs, chicken or burgers. Brush it on near the end of cooking or serve it on the side.
Sweets
- Maple whipped cream. Cream whipped with a little maple, not to be confused with maple cream. Spoon it on pie, fruit or hot cocoa.
- Maple candied pecans. Pecans coated in maple and baked until crisp. Good on salads, on ice cream or straight from the jar.
Which syrup to use
Every recipe above calls for pure maple syrup. If you're used to pancake syrup, here's how the two differ and what changes when you switch.
For drizzling and stirring in, like French toast, yogurt, lattes or a vinaigrette, use Amber. It's warm and smooth with caramel notes, the one that goes on everything.
For glazes, barbecue sauce, roasting and baking, where you want the maple to come through, use Dark. It's deep and robust, and built for cooking and baking. Can't decide? Our bundle comes with one of each. The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association makes a similar point about darker syrup: the darker grades suit cooking and baking.
A few more ideas, no recipe needed
The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association has some easy ones. Stir maple into tea. Drizzle it over roasted squash. Whisk it into a marinade. Add it to baked beans. Toss popcorn with maple and sea salt.
It also suggests some good pairings to play with: maple and bacon, maple and mustard, maple and apples, maple and aged cheddar, maple and lemon, and maple and balsamic vinegar.
Baking with maple
You can also bake with maple in place of white sugar. Our guide to swapping maple syrup for sugar in baking has the numbers and a worked example.
